My new favorite TV Channel: The NBC Team Handball channel on my Roku
Remember the days when the Olympics were only on 1 TV channel? Viewers had no choice, but to watch whatever the network decided to show. Were you going to see any handball? Not very likely. Heck, I didn’t even see any handball until the 84 games and even then it was just a few highlights.
Over the years we’ve seen that viewing experience evolve, almost always for the better. Here’s how you can watch Team Handball in the U.S. this Olympiad. And, new this year a “handball channel”. Hey, I might be back to 1 channel again. What goes around, comes around.
Traditional TV: NBC will be broadcasting the Olympics on several NBC owned channels. Some Team Handball will be shown on a daily basis on either the USA Network, NBCSN, MSNBC or CNBC.
NBC Handball TV Schedule: Link
Live Stream: For the past couple of Olympics we’ve also been able to watch live streams of every match. Sometimes this viewing experience has been frustrating, but we’ve seen the quality and reliability improve with each passing Olympiad. To watch download the NBC Sports App and make sure it’s loaded on your computer, tablet or smartphone.
NBC APP: Link
NBC Handball Live Stream: Link
Live Stream to your Connected TV: This Olympiad you will also be able to watch Handball on your TV if you have a Roku, Apple TV or other similar Over The Top (OTT) TV connection. In order to get this option, though, you’ll first need to add the NBC Sports channel to your channel lineup. I did this for my Roku and the process was similar to adding HBO Go, NBC News or any other channel. And, to fully activate the channel you will then need to go online to authenticate that you have a cable or satellite TV subscription. At which point you will get a code to enter in on your Roku to finish the activation process.
Of course, you can always just link your TV to your computer via an HDMI cable, but generally your picture via Roku and other platforms is better. And, hopefully, the Handball channel will also have on demand matches available. This, however, remains to be seen.
NBC’s How to Watch Rio 2016 Olympics page: Link