Broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific want the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reconsider its decision to hold some Beijing 2008 Summer Games finals in the morning reports AFP.
The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), which has 160 members in 56 countries and regions, said the move could cost Asian broadcasters millions of dollars in lost advertising revenue and urged the IOC to reconsider.
ABU President Genichi Hashimoto, who also heads Japanese public broadcaster NHK, said in a statement, “we are very disappointed and strongly regret the changes that have been made to the time schedule for swimming and gymnastics. 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”.
He added that the decision went against the spirit of the Olympic movement. “We want the Olympic family to be strong. We want to see a true partnership of equals regardless of commercial muscle”.
ABU members have a potential television audience of three billion people.
