31 hours available for Games watching
NZPA Sydney While New Zealanders are forced to get by with sparse television highlights of the Olympics, Australians can watch up to 31 hours of the spectacle each week, much of it live, direct from Moscow.
The Channel Seven network negotiated exclusive television rights to the Games, forcing the other three channels, including the State-run A.8.C., to rely on a bare few minutes of highlights in news broadcasts.
Five days a week Australian viewers get an hour of live and delayed highlights cover from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and in the evening from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed, by more live cover of events from 10.30 p.m. to midnight. On Friday the late night
session continues through to 3.30 a.m. on Saturday while the best night of all is Saturday when the live telecast starts at 9.30 p.m. and goes through to closedown at 3.30 a.m. on Sunday. A Channel Seven spokesman, Mr John Sturzaker, said that the network had originally planned more than 70 hours of cover a week but with the boycott and withdrawal of the United States and other teams this had been cut back to 31 hours. The broadcasts started last Saturday evening with full cover of spectacular opening ceremony live by satellite. Mr Sturzaker said yesterday that there was nothing to prevent Television New Zealand doing a deal with the Seven network to take all or part of
its cover, providing they could agree on a price. “They could do it provided they can demonstrate they have the rights to New Zealand from the 1.0. C. They could purchase our complete cover or take a highlights package,” he said. Mr Sturzaker Said that the network was already selling its material to a television channel in Hong Kong as well as sub-leas-ing it to other country stations in Australia where the network’s coverage did not reach. However, the cost would be high, especially if the material was sent via Satellite to New Zealand.
It would be cheaper to put together an edited package that could be flown from Sydney to New Zealand each morning, said Mr Sturzaker.
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Press, 22 July 1980, Page 30
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35931 hours available for Games watching Press, 22 July 1980, Page 30
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