U.S. TV Viewers Win Early Olympic Gold : Finals of Many Events in ’88 Games Will Be Aired in Prime Time

The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, will not begin for another 16 months, but already there are winners.

One is the North American viewer, who will have an opportunity because of the made-for-television schedule to watch 135 of NBC’s 179 1/2 hours of coverage from Seoul live and 80 1/2 hours in prime time.

ABC had only 1 1/2 hours more of prime-time coverage during the 180 hours it televised of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The schedule, released this month at the International Olympic Committee’s session in Istanbul, Turkey, is the result of prolonged and sometimes quarrelsome negotiations between the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee (SLOOC) and the international federations for each of the 23 sports involved in the Sept. 17-Oct. 2 Summer Games.

NBC officials could hardly have been more pleased with the outcome, which means the SLOOC accomplished its goal in the negotiations.

Michael Eskridge, NBC executive vice president, said last week the schedule is “absolutely superb.�

Not so enthusiastic are some sports officials and athletes, who are concerned that morning and early afternoon starting times, scheduled for the benefit of the American television audience, may adversely affect performances.

At the same time, most say they understand the need to accommodate American network television, which pays many of the Olympic movement’s bills with its rights fees.

Of the 237 finals in the 23 sports, almost half will be held between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Taking into consideration the time difference of 17 hours, those finals will be on television in Los Angeles between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. the night before. With a 14-hour time difference between Seoul and the East Coast, New Yorkers will be able to see those finals between 8 p.m. and midnight.

“It’s a trade-off,� said Todd Smith, executive director of U.S. Diving. The earliest of the four diving finals, the women’s springboard, is scheduled for 10 a.m.

“It may not be the perfect time to dive, but it’s equal for everybody. Our technical diving committee was won over when it remembered that the men’s platform final in Los Angeles in 1984 began at 11 a.m., and it was one of the best competitions we’ve ever had.

“We, of course, also like being on prime-time television. It’s more exposure for our sport.�

Among other sports that have morning or early afternoon finals scheduled are those that for U.S. television ratings are considered the big five: track and field, boxing, gymnastics, swimming and basketball. One women’s semifinal basketball game is scheduled for 9:45 a.m.

In an effort to maximize its potential television revenues, the Seoul organizers submitted a tentative schedule to the three major American networks that would have forced some athletes to compete in finals as early as 8 a.m. That schedule was amended after discussions with the international federations.

The South Korean government also announced plans to return to daylight-saving time in 1988 to make the SLOOC’s schedule even more attractive to the American networks. Using standard time, an event that begins at noon in Seoul would begin at 11 p.m. in New York instead of the more preferable 10 p.m.

“We say we are going to daylight-saving time for other reasons, but it’s really for the Olympics,� said one SLOOC official, who did not want to be identified.

When NBC won the bid over ABC and CBS, it became even more important for the SLOOC to provide an attractive schedule for American audiences because of a unique contract with the network.

The SLOOC will receive at least $300 million from NBC, with the potential for another $200 million depending on the network’s profits from advertising sales.

ABC paid the L.A. Olympic Organizing Committee $225 million.

“The better the schedule is, the better we’ll do in advertising sales,� Eskridge said. “The better we do in sales, the more we can pay the organizing committee.�

At the guaranteed rate of $300 million, that is two-thirds of the television rights fees the SLOOC has negotiated. Japan has agreed to pay $52 million, the European Broadcasting Union $28 million, Network Ten in Australia $7 million and Hong Kong’s Asia Television $900,000. Discussions are in progress between the SLOOC and television interests from Canada, Africa, Eastern Europe and Central and South America.

Eskridge said NBC had little input into the schedule because it already was weighted in favor of the American networks. In other words, don’t blame NBC.

“A lot of the adjustments that were made because of the location of the Games were made prior to the bidding (among the networks),� he said. “The only changes that have taken place since we became directly involved are in the area of fine-tuning.�

Eskridge said his only disappointment is that, because of a conflict in the main stadium, the men’s marathon winner will not cross the finish line on Oct. 2 until about 4:45 p.m. That is 2:45 a.m. in New York and 11:45 p.m. in Los Angeles.

“The organizers have tried to make us happy,� Eskridge said. “But they’ve tried to make everybody happy.

“The international federations have been involved from the beginning. I think they’re pleased. Nobody put a gun to their heads. They didn’t have to agree to the schedule, but they did.�

The last to reach an agreement was the International Gymnastics Federation, which objected when its individual all-around and apparatus finals were scheduled for 8 a.m.

“We told the organizing committee that that wasn’t realistic for the athletes, who are used to being up for six to eight hours before they compete,� said Mike Jacki, executive director of the U.S. Gymnastics Federation.

“We told them we could compromise to a certain extent, but that we wouldn’t consider anything before noon.

“They said, ‘How about 11 a.m.?’

“We said, ‘How about 7 p.m?’

“We agreed on noon.�

Jacki said he believes that still is too early.

He said he is particularly concerned because the team finals for men and women begin at 8:30 p.m. Two days later, the gymnasts will be asked to compete more than eight hours earlier for the individual all-around championships.

“We compromised too much,� he said. “I’m afraid we’re going to have fatigued athletes, which isn’t fair to the athletes and isn’t fair to the sport.

“We need to give the athletes their normal amount of preparation time, the same amount they’re used to in other international competitions.

“But we tried to accommodate the organizing committee. If the request had come directly from television, we might not have responded. But the organizing committee has concerns that we understand.�

The International Swimming Federation also compromised, altering its schedule so that only finals will be held on two of the first four days of competition. The program for those nine finals will begin at noon, which is 7 p.m. in Los Angeles.

After that, the schedule will revert to normal with heats and finals on the same day. Those finals will begin at 8 p.m., which is 3 a.m. in Los Angeles.

“We don’t have any real great problems with it,� said Jeff Dimond, a spokesman for United States Swimming.

“The Olympics is our big showcase every four years. We’re not going to cut off our nose to spite our face by having the schedule changed so that we’re not on television. This is our big chance to get air time. We’ll do what they want.

“We’d like to have all the finals in prime time. Los Angeles was perfect for us. But that’s the nature of the beast when you have the Olympics overseas. We’re happy to get in a couple of shots on prime time.�

As for starting some heats at 9 a.m. and some finals at noon, Dimond said, “Swimmers are used to getting up at 5:30 a.m. anyway.�

Smith said the same is true for divers.

But that is not the case for all athletes, such as those in track and field who are accustomed to competing in mid-afternoon or in the evening.

“Asking some athletes to be ready for an Olympic final at 10 a.m. is too much,� said hurdler Edwin Moses, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s athletes commission.

“Some athletes might be afraid to go to sleep because they might miss their wake-up calls.�

But Moses said the athletes commission recognized the realities when it made its recommendations.

“We realize that the Olympics also are a commercial venture and that compromises have to be made,� he said. “We just asked that the schedule not be too drastic.�

Is the schedule too drastic for athletes?

“It’s not perfect, but I guess we can live with it,� said L.A. attorney Michael Lenard, a team handball player who is vice chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s athletes advisory council.

“We’ve all done things to accommodate television. It’s something that’s accepted. So we’ve come up with a compromise that everyone can barely live with.�

The real losers are European television viewers, who will see virtually none of the finals live. Prime time in New York, between 7:30 p.m. and midnight, is 12:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. in London and 1:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. in Paris.

“I haven’t heard any gross complaining from the Europeans, even though I’m sure they’d like to have the schedule another way,� Eskridge said.

“Then again, they paid only $28 million.�

SEOUL OLYMPICS STARTING TIMES TRACK AND FIELD

Date Event Times Seoul N.Y. Sept. 23 Women’s marathon finish 11:50 a.m. 9:50 p.m. Sept. 24 Men’s 100-meter final 1:30 p.m. 11:30 p.m. Heptathlon, final event 4:30 p.m. 2:30 a.m. Sept. 25 Men’s 400-meter hurdles final 1:35 p.m. 11:35 p.m. Women’s 100-meter final 1:50 p.m. 11:50 p.m. Women’s 3000-meter final 3:20 p.m. 1:20 a.m. Sept. 26 Men’s long jump final 2:05 p.m. 12:05 a.m. Sept. 28 Pole vault final 12:30 p.m. 10:30 p.m. Mens 200-meter final 4:00 p.m. 2:00 a.m. Sept. 29 Women’s 200-meter final 4:40 p.m. 2:40 a.m. Decathlon, final event 5:45 p.m. 3:45 a.m. Oct. 1 Women’s 1500-meter final 12:55 p.m. 10:55 p.m. Men’s 1500-meter final 1:10 p.m. 11:10 p.m. Relays 1:55 p.m. 11:55 p.m. Oct. 2 Men’s marathon finish 4:45 p.m. 2:45 a.m.

Date L.A. Sept. 23 6:50 p.m. Sept. 24 8:30 p.m. 11:30 p.m. Sept. 25 8:35 p.m. 8:50 p.m. 10:20 p.m. Sept. 26 9:05 p.m. Sept. 28 7:30 p.m. 11:00 p.m. Sept. 29 11:40 p.m. 12:45 a.m. Oct. 1 7:55 p.m. 8:10 p.m. 8:55 p.m. Oct. 2 11:45 p.m.

BASKETBALL

Date Event Times Seoul N.Y. L.A. Sept. 27 Women’s semifinals 9:45 a.m. 7:45p.m. 4:45p.m. Women’s semifinals 11:45a.m. 9:45 p.m. 6:45 p.m. Sept. 28 Men’s semifinals 12:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Men’s semifinals 4:30 p.m. 2:30 a.m. 11:30 p.m. Sept. 29 Women’s final 12:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Sept. 30 Men’s final 12:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m.

BOXING

Date Event Times Seoul N.Y. L.A. Oct. 1 Finals (6) 10:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m. Oct. 2 Finals (6) 10:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m.

GYMNASTICS

Date Event Times Seoul N.Y. Sept. 20 Men’s team final 8:30 p.m. 6:30 a.m. Sept. 21 Women’s team final 8:30 p.m. 6:30 a.m. Sept. 22 Men’s individual all-around final 12:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m. Sept. 23 Women’s individual all-around final 12:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m. Sept. 24 Men’s apparatus finals 12:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m. Sept. 25 Women’s apparatus finals 12:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m.

Date L.A. Sept. 20 3:30 a.m. Sept. 21 3:30 a.m. Sept. 22 7:00 p.m. Sept. 23 7:00 p.m. Sept. 24 7:00 p.m. Sept. 25 7:00 p.m.

SWIMMING

Date Event Times Seoul N.Y. L.A. Sept. 18 Heats 9:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. Sept. Heats 9:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. 19-20 Finals 12:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Sept. Heats 9:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. 21-25 Finals 8:00 p.m. 6:00 a.m. 3:00 a.m.

DIVING

Date Event Times Seoul N.Y. L.A. Sept. 18 Women’s platform final 11:00 a.m. 9:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Sept. 20 Men’s springboard final 10:30 a.m. 8:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27 Women’s springboard final 10:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m. Sept. 29 Men’s platform final 10:30 a.m. 8:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL

Date Event Times Seoul N.Y. L.A. Sept. 29 Women’s final 8:30 p.m. 6:30 a.m. 3:30 a.m. Oct. 2 Men’s final 12:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m.