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The 2024 Olympics in Paris are in full stride, and Olympics fever has well and truly gripped the nation. But as Team GB continue to rack up the medals, sitting comfortably in the top five, some sports fans in the UK are less than impressed with the BBC’s Olympics coverage.
Some people have fumed after missing their favourite events, with the broadcaster rotating through sports at dizzying speeds. Whether it was the BBC’s decision to switch away to the shooting and gymnastics during Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz’s tennis final, or airing studio chatter instead of 100m breakout speedster Noah Lyles’ 200m heat, viewers aren’t happy.
While sports coverage was plastered all over our screens on dozens of red button BBC channels and streams when London hosted the Olympics in 2012, and again in Rio in 2016, new broadcasting deals have meant that the BBC has been severely restricted in what it shows this year.
In 2018, Discovery won the exclusive European broadcast rights for the Olympics, meaning the BBC only has one live channel and one BBC livestream for the entire duration of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, showing just 250 hours of sport.
Viewers wanting to watch one of the 32 Olympic sports live and without interruption need to turn to Discovery+. The streaming service has rolling coverage of every single event, letting you stream all 3,800 hours of sport, compared to the BBC, which has been switching between sports in a curated format on BBC One, BBC Two and Olympics Extra on BBC iPlayer.
Thankfully, if you’re an Olympics junkie and no longer want to miss out on your favourite sporting events, Discovery+ has currently slashed the price of its standard tier in half, giving sports fans the chance to watch every sport live for just £3.99. Here’s how to get the deal.
Discovery+ standard subscription: Was £6.99, now £3.99 per month for 6 months, Amazon.co.uk
Discovery+ is the streaming hub of the Olympics, with coverage spanning around 55 dedicated channels. You also get access to Eurosport 1 and 2 with a Discovery+ subscription, airing live coverage of every sport between 7am and 10.30pm.
Discovery+ is currently running an Olympics deal, getting you a standard subscription for just £3.99 per month, instead of the usual £6.99. If you have an Amazon account, you can add a Discovery+ subscription to your account for £3.99 per month.
As well as access to the Olympics coverage, a subscription to Discovery+ also gets you access to live channels, including Eurosport, Animal Planet, Discovery, Discovery History, Discovery Science, DMAX, Food Network, HGTV, Quest, Quest Red, TLC, Turbo and ID.
A subscription to Discovery+ is also free for any Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers. Sky Stream is currently on sale (was £28 per month, now £26 per month, Sky.com).
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If you’re travelling abroad and want to stream the Olympics with Discovery+ then you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN roundup is here to help: get the best VPN deals on the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.
