Watch the Opening Ceremony today at 6.30pm BST / 1.30pm ET for the official start of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The competitions have already started with football, handball, rugby sevens and shooting all underway but the Games don't really begin until the hosts have had a chance to show off at the Opening Ceremony – and what better way to watch this extravaganza from under the Eiffel Tower than in glorious 4K HDR on your big screen TV with some super surround sound too?
Some spectators' travel plans may have been upended, with one in four Eurostar services cancelled due to the arson attack on the French rail network, but hopefully the Opening Ceremony won't be affected. It may not have been a smooth start for the 33rd Olympics in Paris, but we should still be in for quite a show.
We're expecting a concert by French 2024 Eurovision singer Slimane in front of the Basilica Cathedral of Saint-Denis, a performance by Celine Dion (possibly duetting with Lady Gaga), and a parade down the Seine with the athletes on nearly 100 boats. This will all be accompanied by 3000 dancers performing urban, contemporary, classic and break, costumes by Louis Vuitton and Dior, and if it all goes wrong, it will relocate to the Stade de France. But we're sure that won't happen. Diver Tom Daley and rower Helen Glover will be the UK flag bearers for the ceremony. And it will all be broadcast in 4K HDR and in Dolby Atmos sound – if you know where to look. Here's how to watch the Opening Ceremony in 4K live stream all of the 2024 Olympic Games.
Can I watch the Opening Ceremony in 4K?
USA Network in the US, Stan Sport in Australia and Eurosport in Europe will broadcast the Olympics Opening Ceremony in 4K HDR.
The Olympic Broadcasting Services will provide a 1080p signal which the likes of NBC, Stan and Eurosport will upscale to 4K. No 4K stream is available in the UK, sadly.
Away from home? You can watch your home nation's stream from abroad using a VPN.
Is the Opening Ceremony in HDR?
It is. That's because the Olympic Broadcasting Services will provide an HDR feed of the Opening Ceremony to select broadcasters around the world. So if you can access a 4K stream of the event, it will also be in HDR.
Is the Opening Ceremony in 8K?
While the Opening Ceremony will be recorded in 8K according to the 4KHDR Summit), no broadcaster has committed to showing it in the format. Intel has said its Xeon processors are being used to bring an "end-to-end 8K live streaming experience" for the first time ever, while YouTube footage exists of six 8K broadcast trucks from China Media Group arriving in Paris for the Games. What happens to this footage is anyone's guess, but expect to see it included in 8K demos for years to come.
How to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony in 4K in the UK
While the BBC used to house all the Olympics coverage, now it has to compete with paid options (Discovery+ and Eurosport). That's the bad news. The extra bad news is that while these will all broadcast the Opening Ceremony (with coverage for both starting at 5.45pm), it won't be in 4K – Discovery+ and iPlayer will focus on using their bandwidth for simultaneous streams, while Eurosport's 4K broadcasts are limited to Europe.
Tourists to the UK from the US, Europe and Australia can watch in 4K via their relevant streaming subscriptions by using a VPN.
How to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony in 4K in the US
The only way to watch the Opening Ceremony in 4K in the US is on USA Network from NBCUniversal. Its coverage of the Paris Olympics is in 4K HDR with Dolby Atmos, and runs 24/7 from the morning of 24th July through to the evening of 11th August, the day of the Closing Ceremony. Coverage of the Opening Ceremony starts at Noon ET.
You can watch USA Network through a Comcast Xfinity cable package, as well as via the Xfinity Stream app, Altice, Cox, DirecTV/DirecTV Stream, Dish, Fubo, Sling (which recently added 4K support) Verizon and YouTube TV. You can also watch it through Peacock, but not in 4K.
How to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony in 4K in Australia
Stan Sport is the only way to watch the Opening Ceremony in 4K in Australia. It's streaming all medal events, and all "major moments" from the games in 4K, including the Opening Ceremony. You'll need the Stan Premium base plan (AU$21 a month) plus the Stan Sport add-on (AU$15 a month). That gets you eight exclusive international channels, all ad-free.
If you can forego 4K, Channel 9 and 9Gem will broadcast the Opening Ceremony for free – they're both available via the 9Now streaming service.
How to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony in 4K in Europe
Viewers in Europe hoping to catch the Opening Ceremony in 4K will have to tune in to Eurosport 4K. This is available from now until 11th August via Astra (19.2° East) on German DTH satellite platform HD+ on UHD1.
As well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the event channel will broadcast over 200 hours of the games live from Paris in native UHD (aka 4K).
Households with Astra will need a subscription with an active HD+ channel package to receive UHD1. You'll also need the HD+ TV app, which comes as part of many smart TVs, an HD+ UHD set-top box or the HD+ module.
Watch Opening Ceremony from abroad
If you're abroad, you won't be able to watch your usual Olympics Opening Ceremony live stream. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you due to geo-restrictions. You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though.
It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in the right country, allowing you to watch any Olympics live stream from anywhere in the world.
We rate NordVPN as the best VPN for streaming. It offers a 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.
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