In a perfect world, here’s how you’d watch the 2024 Summer Olympics in 4K HDR: Turn on the Olympics with whatever streaming service you prefer, then start watching.
In reality, the process looks more like this: Dig around for press coverage of which streaming services will carry the games in 4K HDR, make sure your 4K TV or streaming player is on the list of supported devices, make sure you’re paying extra for 4K if your streaming service requires it, then hope that whatever event you’re watching isn’t limited to HD and standard dynamic range anyway.
The Paris Olympics are a microcosm of everything wrong with the state of 4K HDR live sports streaming. Figuring out what’s available in 4K and what you need to watch is too complicated, and it’s made worse by the paucity of 4K coverage and the need to pay extra for that coverage in some cases. Delivering 4K video has its challenges, but figuring out when and how you can get it shouldn’t be.
This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best live TV streaming services.
4K Olympics streaming in 2024
Here’s what I’ve gathered about NBC’s 4K coverage for the Paris Olympics, based on reports by Phillip Swann and Matthew Keys:
USA Network’s round-the-clock Olympics coverage will be available in 4K HDR on a dedicated channel. Most major cable and satellite providers will offer this 4K channel, but Spectrum will not.
On the streaming side, this channel will be available through Fubo and YouTube TV, both of which charge $10-per-month extra for 4K programming. Sling TV will also carry USA Network’s 4K feed at no extra charge, but only on 4K-compatible Fire TV and Roku devices. Sling says it will bring 4K to other platforms (such as Apple TV and Google TV) in the future.
Peacock, meanwhile, won’t offer any 4K HDR programming despite carrying the games in their entirety.
Communicating this information shouldn’t be difficult, but at every turn I’ve run in to conflicting or missing information:
- Fubo’s 4K HDR streaming schedule page still doesn’t list the Olympics one week out from opening ceremonies.
- Google says you can find 4K programming on YouTube TV by entering “4K’ into the search bar, but the Olympics don’t show up there either.
- Initial press coverage of NBC’s 4K Olympics plans didn’t mention Sling TV, which later announced 4K on its own.
- NBC’s own “How to Watch the Olympics” press release doesn’t mention any specific 4K streaming providers besides corporate parent Comcast on its X1 platform.
- NBC’s Olympics schedule page doesn’t say which events will support 4K HDR.
- There’s no official information on whether NBC’s Olympics coverage will be shot natively in 4K or upscaled from 1080p. (Phillip Swann reports that it’s the latter, citing an anonymous “network source.”)
Slim pickings
NBC isn’t alone in offering patchy 4K HDR coverage for major sporting events. The 2024 NBA playoffs were limited to HD video on ESPN and TNT, as was the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on CBS and Warner-owned channels. Super Bowl LVIII streamed in 4K HDR on YouTube TV and Fubo, but only 1080p HDR on Paramount+. Fox carried its share of MLB playoff games in 1080p HDR last year, while other networks stuck with standard dynamic range instead.
Last year, Digital Trends’ Caleb Denison wrote a great story on why so few live sports events are available in 4K HDR, and it comes down to cost and complexity. Supporting 4K HDR isn’t just about replacing the dozens of cameras that a live sporting event requires, but overhauling the cables and consoles that take in those camera feeds to accommodate the uptick in video bandwidth, and then upgrading the distribution network for the resulting broadcast.
That’s all understandable, but it means that if you’re paying $10-per-month extra for 4K and HDR with YouTube TV or Fubo, you’re not getting much in return. Perhaps that’s why both services have tried gussying up their 4K tiers with other perks, such as unlimited in-home streams and offline mobile device DVR viewing with YouTube TV’s “4K Plus” add-on, and some extra channels on Fubo’s “Elite” tier.
What’s harder to fathom is the lack of communication about the 4K content that is available. Fubo has the right idea with its 4K programming schedule—at least when it’s kept up to date—but YouTube TV still makes that information too difficult to find, and Sling TV doesn’t yet offer anything comparable. It’s also unclear why standalone services such as Peacock and Paramount+ can’t match live TV streaming services on 4K sports programming, especially when the latter limits 4K to its more expensive tier.
As it stands, customers are being kept in the dark about what exactly they’re paying for—and it makes you wonder if that’s the point.
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