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Sun 16 Jul, 2006 01:39 am
'The whole thing about the Olympics is that audiences around the world are on the edge of their seats watching big sport live, and that's what creates the drama. That will be lost in 2008.'
Every time the Olympics goes into a time zone that doesn't suit the American audience, the whole programme is changed:
(source: today's Observer, page 5)
Related report online:
BBC at war over 'mad' Olympic start times
A BBC spokesman said: 'The BBC is very disappointed to hear reports that the swimming finals in Beijing will be rescheduled to suit prime time in the USA. Any plan for finals which would be seen during the night, UK time, will reduce the exposure of the sport and deprive many viewers of watching British swimmers competing for medals.'
The spokesman added that the BBC was working with the European Broadcasting Union, which represents the continent's major broadcasters, and stressed EBU members' long-standing backing for Olympic sports. 'It would be regrettable if this support is ignored in favour of short-term, commercial interests,' he said. NBC, which pays around £500m to show the Olympics, fears it will lose viewers and advertising if it has to show key events during the night.
Yes, I heard a discussion about this on the (Oz) ABC last week, Walter. One of the swimmers said she'd be competing after midnight if the plan went ahead. It seems rather bizarre & unfair to schedule events for a television viewing audience in another country. I can't see why all events can't be run at "Beijing time". I mean, if US viewers are keen to watch Olympic events live, then surely they can do as folk all over the world did to watch the World Cup. People here were setting their alarm clocks to 4 am to catch the matches live. No big deal.
Correct, and the following should be considered, too:
Quote:Kerry Stokes, executive chairman of Channel Seven, which shows the Olympics in Australia, pointed out in a letter to Rogge that the last time the IOC moved events around to suit broadcasters, in , and the media were fiercely critical of the perceived US influence on a global event.'
Unfortunately it's a question of "paying the piper". The networks in their bidding pay huge sums to get to air the olympics (and other events) and there are always some control provisions. Naturally they want to maximize profits from advertising and that requires getting maximum U.S. audiences, hence time control of popular events. Reduce that and you reduce the amount the networks will pay. If it's any consolation, U.S. audiences suffer the same interference on football (U.S. variety) and baseball programming.
Yep.
You know, it's probably about maximizing the audience for US advertisers during the most popular events.
I was fortunate enough to be in Europe during the 1988 summer olympics in Korea. It was an entirely different viewing experience from what I've ever seen here in the US.
We not only got to see every athlete in the various competitions (not just the top 6 plus the Americans), we also got to see nearly all the sports and not just the ones with a high audience appeal. I really enjoyed seeing the lesser known sports for the first time.
Ever since then, I've continued to be greatly disappointed in the olympic coverage here in the US. I rarely bother to watch it anymore since I can't stand most of the remarks/criticisms made by the sports commentators.
Just my opinion but the broadcasts of Olympic events here in the US SUCKS. They'll broadcast swimming, track & field events and gymnastics (and fugure skating for the winter olympics) but the events I'm interested in (archery, biathlon, etc..) never get shown.
One network gets the contract to air the events and ignores half of them entirely while blocking any other network from showing them at the same time. I don't even bother watching any more.
What Butrflynet said, that's totally different here.
I HATE the way the olympics are broadcast here. I hardly even try to watch anymore, they make it so hard to follow the way they constantly jump from one event to another, hardly show any of the competitors, etc.
And it's just plain
wrong that the athletes will be competing at weird times just to suit people watching on TV. Bad enough to just ignore all the viewers in other countries and what would suit them, but to make the people actually
competing affected...Grrr!
Well, my thinking is that the Olympics should primarily be an event & a celebration for the host city. The rest of the world can see the events in
their own time, perhaps setting the alarm for ridiculous hours of the morning, when need be. I'm not at all impressed about advertisers distorting the experience in this way for their own gain.
Boo hiss!
Great news for me!
Mexico City is on CST, one hour earlier than New York.
Sydney was a nightmare.
Putting the alarm clock at 4 a.m. to wake up and watch a final with blurry eyesight was not the best way to see the games.
The US olympic coverage is crappy. Everyone I know agrees on that.
But I don't get the US olympic coverage
AND
benefit from the crazy schedule
.
So have the finals at 9 A.M. and let the Europeans rant!
msolga wrote: I mean, if US viewers are keen to watch Olympic events live, then surely they can do as folk all over the world did to watch the World Cup. People here were setting their alarm clocks to 4 am to catch the matches live. No big deal.
I suspect that if there were a large US viewing audience (target market target market) for the World Cup, they'd be re-scheduling those games as well.
ehBeth wrote:
I suspect that if there were a large US viewing audience (target market target market) for the World Cup, they'd be re-scheduling those games as well.
YES.
I don't remember well about USA '94, but most games of the World Cup in Mexico '86 were scheduled at noon.
Noon. 12:00 hrs.
Not the best hour to play in the Mexican summer, you might imagine.
But Mexican noon was (we didn't have daylight savings then) 8 p.m. in most of Western Europe. Prime time.
So Walter, when you put your alarm clock at 3:00 a.m. some day in 2008, think that you're paying a debt you contracted in 1986.
ehBeth wrote:msolga wrote: I mean, if US viewers are keen to watch Olympic events live, then surely they can do as folk all over the world did to watch the World Cup. People here were setting their alarm clocks to 4 am to catch the matches live. No big deal.
I suspect that if there were a large US viewing audience (target market target market) for the World Cup, they'd be re-scheduling those games as well.
Yep, that's probably right, ehBeth. Might is right!
Lucky for me that these events mean nought to me! :wink:
There was a time not too long ago when the Olympics were clean and idealistic. That wonderful era has disappeared.
.
The change began with the Soviets and East Germans using drugs to win and brag about their superior system. Soon the others followed and Samaranch introduced pro athletes into the games.
.
Drugs and money destroyed the Games completely.
.
It has become a spectacle of greed and cheating. Every four years the world is subjected to a commercial feeding frenzy that is the opposite of the Olympic Ideal.
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