Ready for Rio? NBC will cover the 2016 Olympics most hours of the day

By Stephanie Topacio Long June 28, 2016

Guide to watching the Olympics online

If you hope to watch every minute of NBCUniversal’s coverage of the 2016 Olympics, resign yourself now to the fact that it just won’t be possible, even if you give up sleep. The media conglomerate’s plan for coverage is extensive, to put it mildly. All told, NBCUniversal will offer a whopping 6,755 hours of Olympics programming via multiple networks and 4,500 hours of live-streamed digital coverage, Variety reports.

While NBCUniversal’s coverage will be aired on NBC, USA, CNBC, Telemundo, Bravo, Golf Channel, MSNBC, NBCSN, and NBCUniverso, NBC in particular will be Rio-heavy. During the games (August 5-21), NBC will present 260.5 hours of Olympics-related content. Most days, daytime Rio programming will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET/PT, followed by prime-time coverage from 8 p.m. to midnight, and then a late-night block from 12:35 a.m. to 1:35 a.m. At 1:35 a.m., replays will pick up and run through 4:30 a.m. before the cycle begins again.

Bob Costas, who memorably suffered from pinkeye while covering the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, will be back to anchor NBC’s prime-time coverage, hopefully sans conjunctivitis. The late-night slot will be covered by Ryan Seacrest, while Al Michaels will host daytime programming on weekdays and weekends. Dan Patrick and Rebecca Lowe will also host daytime coverage on NBC, but on top of that, they will be on NBCSN as well.

Not only is NBCUniversal’s massive amount of TV programming unprecedented, so too are the viewing platform options. NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app will show all events for the third consecutive Olympics, but fans will be able to watch on connected TVs for the first time. It sounds like there will also be 4K Ultra HD and even virtual reality content for the first time as well. The company did not provide details, but plans to share them in the near future.

Whatever platform you plan to watch on, there definitely won’t be a shortage of coverage. Let the Games begin.

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Stephanie Topacio Long

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Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…

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