Get ready to transform your living room into an Olympic stadium this summer, as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games bring world-class athletics to screens across the UK.
From Friday, July 26 to Sunday, August 11, 2024, British viewers will have unprecedented access to every jump, sprint, and splash of Olympic glory from the comfort of their sofas.
However – if you want to watch it all – you’ll have to pay extra.
This year, UK audiences have two main broadcast contenders vying for their attention: subscription-based Discovery+, which includes Eurosport, will be going for gold with an impressive 3,800 live hours covering all 329 medal events.
Meanwhile, the BBC continues its legacy of free-to-air Olympic coverage, offering over 250 hours of live action across its channels and streaming platforms.
And what about streaming the Olympics in 4K? We have some bad news for you.
Discovery+ and Eurosport: Your Main Olympic Hub
As the primary rights holders for the Olympics in the UK, Discovery+ and Eurosport will offer the most comprehensive coverage of the Paris 2024 Games – whether you’re streaming via Discovery+, or watching Eurosport’s linear channels on one of the pay-TV platforms.
Streaming on Discovery+
Discovery+, which is the streaming home of Eurosport in the UK, will be streaming a whopping 3,800 live hours of Olympic content, covering all 329 medal events across the 32 Olympic sports.
The platform will offer several features to enhance the viewing experience, such as multi-feed audio which will allow users to select from up to 20 languages.
Discovery+ will also provide in-play discovery capability, allowing users to move seamlessly from live event to event, ensuring you never miss a critical moment.
And gold medal alerts will inform users of imminent unmissable moments, keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout the Games.
Eurosport has assembled a team of over 100 decorated Olympians to provide expert analysis and commentary.
This star-studded lineup includes gymnastics gold medalist Fabian Hambüchen, track cycling champion Arnaud Tournant, heptathlon Olympic champion Carolina Kluft, double Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell, and swimming gold medalist Alain Bernard.
The UK-specific team boasts familiar faces like diver Tom Daley, cyclist Laura Kenny, and rower James Cracknell, ensuring British viewers get insights tailored to their interests.
How Can I Watch Discovery+?
Discovery+ is a streaming-only app, therefore it relies on your broadband connection. It’s available on most smart TVs and streaming devices sold in the UK, including Amazon’s Fire TV, Roku and Sky Stream.
In addition, Discovery+ is also available as a separate Amazon Prime Video channel, which you can then watch on every device that supports the Prime Video app.
Discovery+ offers three separate tiers – Basic (£3.99/month), which only includes the lifestyle and factual content, and the two sports tiers – Standard (£6.99/month) which adds Eurosport, and Premium (£30.99/month), which also includes TNT Sports.
However, subscribers don’t need the Premium tier for the Olympics coverage, as the Standard tier already includes Eurosport.
Update: Until August 11, new and returning subscribers can access the Standard tier (which includes Eurosport and the Olympics coverage) for £3.99/month, a reduction from the usual £6.99 monthly fee.
Television Coverage on Eurosport
For those who prefer traditional TV viewing, Eurosport’s linear channels will be broadcasting extensive Olympic coverage.
This will be available to Sky, Virgin Media, and EE TV subscribers with the appropriate sports packages.
Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 will broadcast wall-to-wall action every day of the competition, with live coverage from 7 a.m. to 10.30 p.m. daily. There will be 350 live hours, with highlights and replays available throughout the night.
Pay-TV subscribers will also have access to the Eurosport 4K channel, with the Olympic events in 4K – something not available on Discovery+ (see more on that below).
It’s also worth noting that Sky TV subscribers can currently get a Discovery+ Standard subscription (which includes Eurosport) at no extra cost.
BBC’s Free-to-Air Olympics Coverage
While not as extensive as Discovery+’s offering, the BBC will provide significant free-to-air coverage of the Paris Olympics, ensuring that everyone in the UK can enjoy at least some of the global sporting events.
TV and BBC iPlayer Coverage
The BBC is set to broadcast over 250 hours of live coverage across BBC One and BBC Two over the entire 16-day event.
The Olympic journey begins with the opening ceremony on Friday, July 26, at 6.30pm on BBC One. Clare Balding will present the ceremony in the studio, and Hazel Irvine and Andrew Cotter will commentate on the spectacle unfolding near Paris’ famous river Seine.
One live channel and one live stream on BBC iPlayer will showcase the best action and British sporting stories all day, every day.
Additionally, Olympics Extra, a second curated live stream on BBC iPlayer, will ensure viewers don’t miss any breathtaking moments.
The BBC’s coverage will be led by a team of experienced presenters including Clare Balding, Gabby Logan, Hazel Irvine, and JJ Chalmers.
They’ll be joined by a stellar lineup of experts including cycling champion Laura Kenny, TV personality Fred Sirieix, long jumper Jazmin Sawyers, and rowing gold medalist Moe Sbihi.
Radio, Online, and Mobile Coverage
BBC Radio 5 Live will run a special Olympic schedule throughout the event, providing 12 hours of consecutive coverage a day from 10am to 10pm, plus medal winners live throughout 5 Live Breakfast every morning.
The BBC Sport website and app will be a hub of Olympic activity, providing live text coverage from 6:30am-midnight across the entire event, along with news stories, reports, and video highlights.
Push notifications will alert audiences to big events and how to follow them across the BBC, ensuring you never miss a big moment.
The website will also feature a medals table, allowing fans to keep track of their favourite nations’ progress throughout the Games.
Watching The Olympics In 4K / HDR
Unfortunately, like previous Olympics, 4K / Ultra HD streaming will not be available on Discovery+ or the BBC for the Paris 2024 Games.
However, Discovery+ is at least offering HDR streaming, which should improve picture quality on compatible devices.
Cord Busters understands that the decision to offer HDR instead of 4K streaming was driven by the sheer volume of content being broadcast.
With coverage of every moment of every event, and up to 54 concurrent streams at peak times, Discovery+ determined that providing HDR for all streams would offer a better overall experience for viewers rather than limiting 4K quality to only select events.
It’s worth noting, however, that pay-TV subscribers with the appropriate packages will be able to access 4K coverage through Eurosport’s linear channels.
With the Olympics taking place in a European time zone for the first time since London 2012, UK viewers are in for a treat with live coverage available morning, noon, and night.
As in previous years though, the BBC’s coverage may not be enough for die-hard fans – who will end up having to sign up for Discovery+.
Remember, however, that unlike pay-TV contracts, you can sign up for Discovery+ just for a month, to watch the Olympics – and then cancel if you’re no longer interested.
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If you want Olympics in 4K subscribe to Australian service Stan
Its absolutely infuriating how ES 4K will be available to Sky, Virgin Media ect, but those that have D+ directly don’t get 4K. Do these people actually listen to themselves and hear the BS?!
I could understand it being limited to the TNT tier, but why nothing at all? Its pretty bad that in 2024, an event of this size and they’re still floundering when it comes to the better quality options, and sorry, but HDR by itself just doesn’t cut it.
TNT Sports Ultimate is made available on D+, so there is zero excuse for ES 4K being omitted from the platform.