Beijing planning on being friendly to US TV audiences

BRITISH viewers may have to stay up all night to watch some of the most glamorous events in the Beijing Olympics because of plans to stage them at times suitable for US television.

In a controversial move, NBC, the American network, has requested that the swimming and gymnastics finals should be staged in the morning in China.

Such a decision would upset both the competitors, who usually are at their physical peak in the evening, and also European TV companies, angered that the proposed timing would mean that they would be forced to screen the events live in the early morning.

I can’t remember such a thing ever happening before, but it makes sense for NBC to try. They invest a massive amount of money in the Olympics, and viewership is falling, at least partially because results are so easily accessible online. When 8pm rolls around much of America already knows who’s won.