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Nbc To Air Some Events Live In Prime Time In 2008?


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From August 2004:

With the 2008 Games in Beijing, Ebersol has a plan to tackle the usual low ratings for an Asian Olympics.

"We've been talking with the various international sports federations for 18 months," he said, "and with a 12-hour time difference from New York, we'll soon be in a position to announce that a certain number of major events will be mid- to late morning in Beijing, which will allow them to be seen live in mid-evening in the U.S. You can't do that with a 15-hour time difference" as was the case with Sydney.

Any chance of this happening? I'm mostly at peace with NBC's plausibly live coverage, but I'd love to see this happen. We probably won't ever see a return to a situation like Seoul in '88, where the entire schedule is catered to American TV. But still, it'd be nice to see a live track & field or swimming final here and there. I'd imagine that having a few event finals at 11 or 12 AM Beijing time on a Saturday or Sunday (10 or 11 PM on the American east coast) wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience. Anyone know when a preliminary events schedule might be put into place?

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From August 2004:

Any chance of this happening? I'm mostly at peace with NBC's plausibly live coverage, but I'd love to see this happen. We probably won't ever see a return to a situation like Seoul in '88, where the entire schedule is catered to American TV. But still, it'd be nice to see a live track & field or swimming final here and there. I'd imagine that having a few event finals at 11 or 12 AM Beijing time on a Saturday or Sunday (10 or 11 PM on the American east coast) wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience. Anyone know when a preliminary events schedule might be put into place?

T&F finals are mostly held in the PM - so you won't see much of those live. Swimming might have some midday finals. Diving could be in the 11AM - 12 noon slot. They don't need to warm up for those. Maybe gymnastics, boxing, volleyball (both in and out). Rowing of course. Sports that do not require a few hours' warm-up could hold their finals in the morning; but not T&F (except those long-walking races & the marathons). But basketball, etc., would have to be in the evening there because that's when their working people would be free to attend the events and FILL the seats.

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T&F finals are mostly held in the PM - so you won't see much of those live. Swimming might have some midday finals. Diving could be in the 11AM - 12 noon slot. They don't need to warm up for those. Maybe gymnastics, boxing, volleyball (both in and out). Rowing of course. Sports that do not require a few hours' warm-up could hold their finals in the morning; but not T&F (except those long-walking races & the marathons). But basketball, etc., would have to be in the evening there because that's when their working people would be free to attend the events and FILL the seats.

yea do you no when the full event schedule will be realeased?

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yea do you no when the full event schedule will be realeased?

They keep tweaking & tweaking that until everyone's satisfied. I'd say they'd settle on a final schedule some 15 months before August '08 because they would then go to the Ticket-Selling phase of the operations. So, from the Ticket Program, you could probably glean the final schedule.

But how it's going to be shown in your area -- that probably won't be released to the localized public 2 months before the Games. Not many outside of the Org COmmittee, the Federations and the networks would need to know far in advance of that.

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They keep tweaking & tweaking that until everyone's satisfied. I'd say they'd settle on a final schedule some 15 months before August '08 because they would then go to the Ticket-Selling phase of the operations. So, from the Ticket Program, you could probably glean the final schedule.

But how it's going to be shown in your area -- that probably won't be released to the localized public 2 months before the Games. Not many outside of the Org COmmittee, the Federations and the networks would need to know far in advance of that.

ok thanks for that

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  • 2 weeks later...

Now that the new items aren't displayed on the forum page it's taken me a while to catch up with this, but it seems that BOCOG is seriously considering switching the swim finals to the morning. Hmmm. Not sure what to think of that _ I'm sure it wouldn't be any good in getting the swimmers to perform at their peak.

Beijing 2008 Swimming Finals Controversy

Posted 1:27 pm ET (GamesBids.com)

A move to have the swimming finals at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games moved from the evening to the morning to take advantage of American prime-time viewing has Australian head coach Alan Thompson labelling the idea “absolutely ridiculous”.

The International Olympic Committee and its broadcasting partner NBC have put in a request to swimming’s governing body FINA to move the finals to the morning, and are waiting for a reply.

Thompson said Saturday “you can’t sell integrity of the sport. When we found out about semi-finals being introduced it was accepted because it was a change to the sport and a change, as it turned out, for the better. But this is just a one-off thing.

“If we were looking to change the sport, if we decided that this was a better way to run a meet with finals in the morning, then maybe you would look at it. But this is just for commercial television purposes that is going to satisfy one television audience – not worldwide television audiences – and I don’t hear them wanting to run the track and field finals in the morning. The integrity of every other sport remains.

“All I’m hearing is that FINA are waiting to make recommendations. It’s been going on for quite a while now”

According to Thompson competition times would suffer too. He said, “it’s proven that you are more able to swim faster in the evenings. If our sports scientists tell us that we can get the best swims out of our swimmers in the morning then that’s fine. But there’s no indication of that. But it just seems absolutely ridiculous for the major meet in the quadrennium, for the major meet in someone’s life, that, for additional TV ratings in one market, we can lose the integrity”.

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Now that the new items aren't displayed on the forum page it's taken me a while to catch up with this, but it seems that BOCOG is seriously considering switching the swim finals to the morning. Hmmm. Not sure what to think of that _ I'm sure it wouldn't be any good in getting the swimmers to perform at their peak.

i think that is a stupid idea. Swimming finals should be held in the evening session of the games

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i think that is a stupid idea. Swimming finals should be held in the evening session of the games

Ehhh...it doesn't matter. They don't really warm up. They just jump in the pool, get wet, shake their muscles and that's it. And since the Beijing venue is an indoor one, then the sun/proper lighting aren't really going to be a factor.

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Ehhh...it doesn't matter. They don't really warm up. They just jump in the pool, get wet, shake their muscles and that's it. And since the Beijing venue is an indoor one, then the sun/proper lighting aren't really going to be a factor.

yea but swimming finals should be held in the evenings. What will happen in Beijing, will the swimming heats be held in the evending session with the semi finals and finals being the morning session the following say? who nos :huh:

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yea but swimming finals should be held in the evenings. What will happen in Beijing, will the swimming heats be held in the evending session with the semi finals and finals being the morning session the following say? who nos :huh:

Yeah, swimming one's heats in the evening, and then having to wait till the following mornings for the final doesn't seem like the best of lead-ups for swimmers to be able to produce their bests. And what about those swimmers in multiple events who will be giving their all in a morning final, and then have to back-up that evening for more heats (let's face it, a final will take more out them than a heats swim).

I guess there might be advantages to swapping around the traditional timing, but there's just something about it that I instinctively am not comfortable with.

Oh well, whatever schedule they decide on, at least in Oz every event in Beijing will be in our time zone. I could imagine all offices and workplaces stopping work regularly if the swim finals end up being in work hours.

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Yeah, swimming one's heats in the evening, and then having to wait till the following mornings for the final doesn't seem like the best of lead-ups for swimmers to be able to produce their bests. And what about those swimmers in multiple events who will be giving their all in a morning final, and then have to back-up that evening for more heats (let's face it, a final will take more out them than a heats swim).

I guess there might be advantages to swapping around the traditional timing, but there's just something about it that I instinctively am not comfortable with.

Oh well, whatever schedule they decide on, at least in Oz every event in Beijing will be in our time zone. I could imagine all offices and workplaces stopping work regularly if the swim finals end up being in work hours.

good points, yea well new zealand has pretty favourable timezones as well

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Yeah, swimming one's heats in the evening, and then having to wait till the following mornings for the final doesn't seem like the best of lead-ups for swimmers to be able to produce their bests. And what about those swimmers in multiple events who will be giving their all in a morning final, and then have to back-up that evening for more heats (let's face it, a final will take more out them than a heats swim).

I guess there might be advantages to swapping around the traditional timing, but there's just something about it that I instinctively am not comfortable with.

Oh well, whatever schedule they decide on, at least in Oz every event in Beijing will be in our time zone. I could imagine all offices and workplaces stopping work regularly if the swim finals end up being in work hours.

Same here :)

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Yeah, swimming one's heats in the evening, and then having to wait till the following mornings for the final doesn't seem like the best of lead-ups for swimmers to be able to produce their bests. And what about those swimmers in multiple events who will be giving their all in a morning final, and then have to back-up that evening for more heats (let's face it, a final will take more out them than a heats swim).

I guess there might be advantages to swapping around the traditional timing, but there's just something about it that I instinctively am not comfortable with.

Oh well, whatever schedule they decide on, at least in Oz every event in Beijing will be in our time zone. I could imagine all offices and workplaces stopping work regularly if the swim finals end up being in work hours.

Same here :)

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To get more prime-time viewers, NBC wants some key events in the 2008 Games moved to the morning. International broadcasters and athletes aren't happy about it

A strongly worded letter has been sent by a chairman of an Australian broadcaster saying that altering the timings of finals in swimming, basketball and track and field would decimate the worldwide audience and give the impression that the IOC cares more about the US than anywhere else.

Some athletes are also complaining that changing the times would go against the natural body cycle and that this would have a detrimental effect upon both the speed and quality of their performances as the human body is at its peak ability late in the afternoon - this would mean fewer records being set and less competitive action in Beijing 2008.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1205106,00.html

It appears that this could turn into another America vs the Rest of the World situation.

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To get more prime-time viewers, NBC wants some key events in the 2008 Games moved to the morning. International broadcasters and athletes aren't happy about it

A strongly worded letter has been sent by a chairman of an Australian broadcaster saying that altering the timings of finals in swimming, basketball and track and field would decimate the worldwide audience and give the impression that the IOC cares more about the US than anywhere else.

Some athletes are also complaining that changing the times would go against the natural body cycle and that this would have a detrimental effect upon both the speed and quality of their performances as the human body is at its peak ability late in the afternoon - this would mean fewer records being set and less competitive action in Beijing 2008.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1205106,00.html

It appears that this could turn into another America vs the Rest of the World situation.

thanks for the article

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To get more prime-time viewers, NBC wants some key events in the 2008 Games moved to the morning. International broadcasters and athletes aren't happy about it

A strongly worded letter has been sent by a chairman of an Australian broadcaster saying that altering the timings of finals in swimming, basketball and track and field would decimate the worldwide audience and give the impression that the IOC cares more about the US than anywhere else.

Some athletes are also complaining that changing the times would go against the natural body cycle and that this would have a detrimental effect upon both the speed and quality of their performances as the human body is at its peak ability late in the afternoon - this would mean fewer records being set and less competitive action in Beijing 2008.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1205106,00.html

It appears that this could turn into another America vs the Rest of the World situation.

\

Yes, this seems to be turning into a bit of a bunfight, with apparently the European NOCs appalled at the idea as well.

According to the press here, they're expecting some firm statement about it all this week _ FINA was apparently meeting in Budapest this weekend and the IOC executive committee is of course meeting this week (to decide the 2014 short list). The chief executive of Swimming Australia, Glenn Tasker, has also said it would seek compensation from FINA if the decision to turn round the schedule goes ahead. I wonder if this could end up in the courts?

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\

Yes, this seems to be turning into a bit of a bunfight, with apparently the European NOCs appalled at the idea as well.

According to the press here, they're expecting some firm statement about it all this week _ FINA was apparently meeting in Budapest this weekend and the IOC executive committee is of course meeting this week (to decide the 2014 short list). The chief executive of Swimming Australia, Glenn Tasker, has also said it would seek compensation from FINA if the decision to turn round the schedule goes ahead. I wonder if this could end up in the courts?

defiantely something to look at, i hope they dont change the schedule and keep swimming final in the evening, where they should be

this from the Australian Olympic Committee:

Decision this week on Beijing swimming finals

19 June 2006

The IOC Executive meets this week to consider a request to hold morning swimming finals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics instead of the usual night-time events.

The US television network NBC is behind the push to switch to daytime swimming finals to coincide with American prime time viewing habits.

AOC President John Coates is meeting with IOC President Jacques Rogge in Lausanne today to discuss the issue.

“I’m concerned for the wellbeing of the athletes” Coates said.

“Swimming heats at night, doing a warm-down and then possibly a drug test would make it a very late night for our swimmers who would then have to back up the next morning for the finals” he said.

Australian Swimming and the Seven Network, the television rights holder in Australia, are also opposed to the move.

“I fully support Australian Swimming” Coates said.

The head of the Seven Network, Kerry Stokes, has written a protest letter.

“To switch to morning finals would impact on the viewing public and the overall support for the Games in Australia” Coates said.

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I really don't think it is appropriate to change the timing of events for American TV. I'm American, and I would definitely like to see some events live, but the number one priority should be the athletes. How would NBC react if Asian broadcasters petitioned to change event times for an American Olympic Games? It wouldn't be good!

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Thanks for that.

It looks like the IOC has putt the issue in their "too hard" basket for now.

It's usually the local Org. Committe's call to make -- but with input from both the federation involved and of course from the broadcasters who paid big bucks. Perhaps some sort of compromise will be reached.

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I really don't think it is appropriate to change the timing of events for American TV. I'm American, and I would definitely like to see some events live, but the number one priority should be the athletes. How would NBC react if Asian broadcasters petitioned to change event times for an American Olympic Games? It wouldn't be good!

It happens. Back in Atlanta in '96, the famed women's team gymnastics final was held at 6 PM local team, and hence was seen on tape delay throughout the entire US. NBC wanted it to be held in primetime, but the event was moved up in order to appease viewers in other parts of the world (i.e. Europe) where anything later than 6 PM would've meant a post-midnight start time.

I don't want to sound like the ugly American, but the fact that is that American TV pays way, way more for the Olympics than any other country in the world, so one would think that they do deserve a little consideration. I don't like the idea of ALL swim finals being moved to the morning, but it would be nice to have some major events available in primetime.

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I really don't think it is appropriate to change the timing of events for American TV. I'm American, and I would definitely like to see some events live, but the number one priority should be the athletes. How would NBC react if Asian broadcasters petitioned to change event times for an American Olympic Games? It wouldn't be good!

Broadcasters can always petition. And they can turned down similarly.

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