Olympics Opening Ceremony 2016 Live Stream: Viewing Info for Exciting Display

The 2016 Summer Olympics will kick off on Friday in Rio de Janeiro at the Maracana Stadium with the opening ceremony, which is sure to be a dazzling display of Brazilian culture.

The ceremony will begin at 12 a.m. BST on Saturday morning (7 p.m. ET on Friday in the U.S.). As part of the BBC's comprehensive coverage of the games, BBC iPlayer will be streaming the opening ceremony live in the UK, while in the USA, NBC will be showing it via its NBC Sports app.

According to Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today, NBC will be delaying its broadcast of the ceremony—both on television and online—with coverage beginning an hour later for Eastern and Central time zones, while those on Mountain Time and Pacific Time will need to wait two and four hours, respectively.

Per Reyes, NBC Sports Group Chair Mark Lazarus said the delay gives NBC the ability to "curate" its coverage for the viewers. He said:

"

We think it's important to give context to the show. These opening ceremonies will be a celebration of Brazilian culture, of Rio, of the pageantry, of the excitement, of the flair this beautiful nation has. We think it's important that we are able to put that in context for the viewer so that it's not just a flash of color.

That's consistent with what we did (for the 2012 Olympics) in London and what we did (for the 2014 Winter Olympics) in Sochi.

"

Newsday Sports' Neil Best added further details:

The ceremony will have some way to go to top London's triumphant opening in 2012.

Per the BBC's Alex Ritson, the event—which is expected to draw in an audience of around three billion people—has a smaller budget than the £31 million devoted to the ceremony four years ago.

Nevertheless, Antonio Abete, the chief executive of Filmmaster Events—the company staging the show—said the ceremony will be a visual extravaganza:

"

We are completely confident we can create an amazing show, without spending the huge amounts that the previous Olympic ceremonies had.

[...]

Usually the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games focuses on the culture and the history of the host country. In this case, we'll be different, because Brazil is an incredible country.

In Brazil you cannot find only one culture, but more than one. Let me say, more than two, three or four. So, it will be a mix, and we will create a show, the biggest event in the world, not just Brazillian culture but world culture.

"

Per Ritson, Brazilian filmmakers Fernando Meirelles and Daniela Thomas are serving as creative directors, while 6,000 volunteers will be helping the event take place.

According to the Olympics' official website, a number of dancers from the streets of Rio have been invited to perform in the Maracana as part of the festivities. It also shared a snippet of what to expect:

Per Brazilian outlet Globo Esporte (h/t Billboard's Judy Cantor-Navas), Brazilian stars Anitta, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil are among the musical acts confirmed.

According to the Games' website, samba singer Elza Soares and 12-year-old Sao Paulo rap sensation MC Soffia will also be performing and supermodel Gisele Bundchen will be making an appearance, so there will be plenty of local flavour in the show.

As is traditional, the Olympic torch will arrive in the stadium as part of the ceremony as its monthslong journey comes to an end, and the lighting of the Olympic flame will signal the opening of the Games.

According to the Games' official website, around 12,000 people will have borne the torch on its sojourn around the country, during which it visited more than 300 cities.