The 49th table tennis championship in Zagreb, Croatia is making
fans of the sport happy across the country because the broadcast of
the matches are during China's prime time.
They are aired around 10 PM?and most games finished by 12
midnight, making it convenient for table tennis fans to watch all
the matches in full and make it to bed at a reasonable time.
But not all sports fans are so lucky. During last summer's World
Cup, passionate Chinese football fans had to stay up all night
throughout the 20-day tournament.
That's probably because Asians don't have a strong showing in
the world soccer field. But in table tennis, China's paddlers
dominate the table tennis field. And because fans want to watch the
games on TV, Chinese broadcasting organizations, like China Central
Television (CCTV) fight for the rights to air the games and pay big
money to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
Driven by increasing sponsorship and TV profits, both domestic
and international sports organizers are willing to rearrange the
tournament schedules to satiate sponsors and fans.
In the case of last year's World Cup, the country's broadcaster
CCTV replayed each game the day after at reasonable times. But with
the scores already known, few people watched the replays,
preferring the excitement of live coverage.
And for next year's Summer Games in Beijing, the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) has also yielded to the highest paying
broadcaster's demands.
Last October, the IOC decided to hold the swimming finals and
much of the gymnastics in the morning Beijing time, to the delight
of American broadcaster NBC, which paid US$3.55 billion for the
exclusive North American media rights. That's because with the time
difference, it is evening prime time in the US.
"Setting the competition schedule for 2008 was decided by the
IOC's executive board after a thorough consultation process with
all the stakeholders -- broadcasters, athletes, international
federations -- and is final," explained IOC Director of
Communications Giselle Davies.
(China Daily May 24, 2007)