Olympic Opening Ceremony 2012 Live Stream: How to Watch Friday's Festivities

The Olympics opening ceremony is just days away, and with billions of people worldwide expected to tune in, you can expect that no excitement and no expense will be spared.

And given the massive audience that's expected, NBC isn't leaving anyone out in the cold, at least permanently. The network is just going to force everyone to wait until primetime to watch the ceremony. On their TVs. Hours after the event has aired. 

Where: Olympic Stadium, London, England

When: 8 p.m. ET

TV: NBC

Live Stream: None

The opening ceremony and the closing ceremony are the only Olympic events that won't be aired via live stream, according to the Wall Street Journal. As far as television coverage, the network will wait until prime time on both the East Coast and the West Coast instead of airing the event live, which would be at about 4 p.m. ET.

NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel told the WSJ that because the ceremonies aren't live sporting events and are instead meant to be viewed like any other televised entertainment show, he didn't see the need for it to be live streamed. Zenkel said: 

"

We are live streaming every sporting event, all 32 sports and 302 medals. It was never our intent to live stream the Opening Ceremony or Closing Ceremony.

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It's late, but at least it's something. And it'll be worth it to see the likes of David Beckham, Paul McCartney and Maria Sharapova take part.

For those of you who can't wait to get a glimpse into the ceremony, Twitter will be hosting an Olympic events page, according to the WSJ, which will feature commentary and photos from athletes and fans. 

According to Yahoo! Sports, Friday's festivities will include a parade of all of the athletes participating in the 2012 Games, speeches by members of the Olympic Committee and the arrival of the Olympic Flame.

Of course, one of the main attractions will be Beckham, who was infamously left off Great Britain's Olympic football squad. Perhaps this is London 2012's way to make up for it. Beckham told Sky News that he does have a role in the proceedings but declined to give anything away.

Guess we'll all just have to wait for the surprises the Opening Ceremony has in store.