How I added a handful of hidden YouTube TV channels for the Olympics

By Phil Nickinson Published August 2, 2024

We’re halfway through the Paris Olympics, and something just hadn’t felt right. NBC and Peacock have done pretty well with the Paris Games. You can watch pretty much everything live, or catch up later in the day in the U.S. But this is 2024, and it just seemed like I didn’t have any options — and options in high-res — as I might have expected, being a subscriber to YouTube TV.

Turns out, I was right. And it’s a good reminder of one of my larger complaints about the biggest live streaming service you can get. (That’s the pessimistic view. The optimistic view is that this is still a cool YouTube TV tip.)

See, one of YouTube TV’s strengths is that you can sort its channel listings pretty much however you want. There’s alphabetically, of course. Or you can opt for whatever channels you watch most. But I’m still a huge fan of being able to customize the order of the channels however I want.

There’s one problem with the custom sort, though — and it’s still a pretty major one, even after all these years. New channels will be added from time to time. But you won’t actually see them unless you go into the custom sort and enable them, because they’re hidden by default when they’re added.

The remedy is easy, but it’s still something you can only do from a phone or tablet, or from a web browser. Just go into the channel listings, hit the button for the sorting options, then edit the custom sort and unhide any channels you want to see.

And then enjoy the second week of the Games.