TODAY

Sydney is 18 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time, meaning it will be midday in Australia when The Times goes to press daily. The Times, with a staff of 16 in Sydney, will be uniquely positioned to report on many events on a same-day basis--and often ahead of those events appearing on television. NBC, which owns U.S. broadcast rights, has decided to show all events on tape delay over its network and cable affiliates. Live coverage on the Canadian Broadcast Co. (CBC) is available only on the old, large C-band satellite-dish systems.

DELAY OF GAMES

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Event Sydney Time L.A. Time Pacific Time on TV Swimming 10 a.m. Sat. 4 p.m. Fri. 1:30-3 p.m.; 7 p.m.-mid. Sat. NBC U.S. men’s soccer 8 p.m. Sat. 2 a.m. Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. MSNBC Men’s gymnastics 7:30 p.m. Sat. 1:30 a.m. Sat. 1:30-3 p.m.; 7 p.m.-mid. Sat. NBC Volleyball 8:30 p.m. Sat. 2:30 a.m. Sat. 12:30-2 a.m. Saturday NBC

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ON TV

NBC

* 1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.: Swimming

* 7 p.m.-Midnight: Swimming finals: women’s 400 individual medley, men’s 400 freestyle, women’s 400 freestyle relay, men’s 400 freestyle relay; gymnastics, men’s team competition; women’s triathlon; weightlifting, men’s flyweight final

* 12:30 a.m.-2 a.m.: Women’s indoor volleyball, U.S. vs. China

MSNBC

* 10 a.m.-4 p.m.: Men’s soccer, U.S. vs. Cameroon; women’s basketball, U.S. vs. South Korea; women’s beach volleyball; women’s water polo, U.S. vs. Netherlands; equestrian, three-day team dressage

CNBC

* 4-9 p.m.: Boxing; women’s beach volleyball; women’s soccer, Germany vs. Brazil