A protest by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) over the swimming and gymnastics finals at the Beijing 2008 Games was rejected Wednesday by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) who said its decision was irreversible. But the new schedule suits U.S. broadcasters.
The IOC decided last week to hold the swimming finals and most of the gymnastics in the morning, meaning that Europeans will need to stay up very late to watch the swimming finals, which are very popular.
But the morning finals in Beijing mean they will be held in the prime time in the U.S.
IOC Director of Communications Giselle Davies said, “the decision on the competition schedule for 2008 was taken by the IOC’s executive board after a thorough consultation process with all stakeholders – broadcasters, athletes, international federations – and is final”.
The EBU released a statement saying “viewers in Europe as well as the vast majority of the global TV audience will be disadvantaged”.
The Australians had also opposed the change.