The rest of the world might have been dazzled by the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony but angry US viewers clamoring for a glimpse of the spectacle on Friday were made to wait after a media blackout.
US network NBC, which owns exclusive rights to Olympics coverage in the United States, refrained from showing the opening ceremony live, preferring instead to delay coverage by 12 hours for a prime-time evening slot.
A spokesman for NBC, which paid nearly 900 million dollars for Olympic broadcast rights, said the decision was taken to maximize viewing figures.
"It's a business decision," the spokesman told AFP. "It protects our affiliates, our advertisers, and shows it to the largest number of viewers possible," he added.
Bizarrely, the co-hosts of NBC's breakfast television show barely mentioned the ongoing ceremony during their broadcast, which was reportedly pre-taped...for full story
Hehehehe....
Last night, to my surprise the local television network covering the games came back to life after a two-year hiatus. The sound is weak but at least most of the people in my city got to see the opening ceremonies LIVE (beating the Americans)!!! I thought my grandparents were going to miss the entire Olympics. Most especially the basketball tournament grandpa and I endured poor reception and almost saw Lithuania defeat USA in men's basketball at the Sydney Games. We both saw Argentina beat USA twice in two years (World 2002 - Olympic 2004). I can't bear him not see Olympic basketball. The sport is special to both of us (even though I love football more). I'm happy that we could see the games live. Thank you very much Solar Sports!
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