ABU Joins EBU in Protesting Beijing 2008 Scheduling Decision

BEIJING, November 6: The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
(ABU) has joined the European Broadcasting Union in calling on the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reconsider changes in its events
schedule for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The IOC last week announced that it had moved the swimming
and gymnastics finals to the morning, Beijing time, instead of holding them in
the evening. The move was reportedly the result of heavy lobbying by NBC, which
wanted to broadcast those popular events in prime time in the U.S.

Genichi Hashimoto, the president of the ABU and also the
president of NHK, made the protest call at a news conference in Beijing today
on the eve of the ABU's annual General Assembly. “We are very disappointed and
strongly regret the changes that have been made to the time schedule for
swimming and gymnastics,” said Hashimoto. “The Olympic Games is a
highly-anticipated event which everyone all over the world is looking forward
to watching. We have to give serious consideration to this matter so that such
a regrettable incident will never happen again in the future.”

The move could cost Asian broadcasters millions of dollars
in lost ad revenue, said John Barton, ABU’s head of sports.