Rio Olympics 2016: A Mini-Guide on What To Watch and When To Watch

Rio Olympics 2016 has more than 6,700 hours of coverage planned. This is clearly 1,200 hours more than the coverage that London Games got in 2012. NBC's is planning huge marathon coverage of the games.

Even before the opening ceremony for the Rio Olympics 2016 started, which will be aired on Friday at 8 p.m., NBC has started airing the coverage of the Games. This has begun with men's and women's soccer matches which took place on Wednesday and Thursday on NBCSP and USA.

To put things in perspective, just 2 of 11 TV networks are scheduled to air more than 2,000 hours of Rio Olympics 2016 coverage. This goes along with 4,500 hours of streaming on the NBC Sports app. It is also covered in the network's website, NBCOlympics.com. This will be aired until the closing ceremony on Aug. 21.

What You Need To Watch the Rio Olympics

NBC's online resources require an existing cable subscription. An initial 30-minute trial is available. On each subsequent day, this will be followed by five additional minutes for the crowd who really want to choose only few Rio Olympics 2016 moments, reported LA Times.

There is a lot of confusion as to how the viewers will adjust their timing and follow the Rio Olympics 2016. They are offered too many schedules and viewing options. "Good luck," joked the executive producer Jim Bell during a presentation via satellite at Television Critics Assn. press tour.

The Rio Olympics 2016 Coverage Plan

NBC has a big plan in mind. To make things simpler, NBA has planned to compile the coverage of Rio Olympics 2016 into a block of prime-time programming. This is hosted by Bob Costas. This will typically run from 8 p.m. to about midnight. The events that are covered are that which have traditionally drawn big ratings. A few of them will be track and field, gymnastics, beach volleyball, platform diving and swimming. The same can be expected about Olympic athletes as well.

NBC will also air daytime events from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with host Al Michaels. It will cover the events of Rio Olympics 2016 late at night from 12:35 a.m. to 1:35 a.m., with host Ryan Seacrest. This will be followed by taped replays of the day's action. It is expected to stretch almost until the morning.

A few of NBC's other networks will also take care of specific events at the Rio Olympics 2016. Bravo will air tennis primarily and the channel will move the golf events moving to the Golf Channel. There will be other channels also like Telemundo and NBC Universo which will also offer about 275 hours of coverage from Rio. This telecast will be in Spanish, reported Washington Times.

Athletes To Watch Out For

There are few sportsperson who are to be looked out for at the Rio Olympics 2016. This years' Games standouts are Simone Biles (the U.S. gymnast), who is favored to win multiple gold medals. It would be unfair to not mention the indestructibles: U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. It is also expected that the U.S. will continue its recent run of dominance in women's soccer, men's basketball and women's beach volleyball.