By staff reporter Yang Binbin and inter reporter Wu Jinxin

Swimmers on the Chinese Olympics team have been rising before dawn since late 2007 to prepare not only for the competition but for the U.S. television audience as well.

Their early-morning routine, designed to tone their bodies for morning performances, is an example of the powerful influence of broadcasters covering the games, including the U.S. TV network NBC.

NBC’s request for holding all 34 gold-medal swimming finals in the morning was endorsed by the International Olympics Commission (IOC) in 2006. The network, which paid US＄ 800 million for the right to broadcast the Olympics, out-shouted the Australian Olympic Committee and some athletes who opposed a morning schedule.

The network successfully argued for the schedule to guarantee strong viewer ratings for swimming in the U.S. television market.

And the IOC listens when big broadcasters speak, since television revenue and viewers are critical to the Olympics success.

“If there weren’t for television broadcasting, it’d be like the Olympics didn’t happen at all,” said Ma Guoli, a former director of China’s most popular sports TV shows, CCTV Sports Center.

“The capacity of the Bird’s Nest stadium is less then 90,000 spectators,” Ma said, “but a global television audience of 4 billion viewers is expected for the opening ceremony alone.”

And NBC’s influence has extended beyond time scheduling to the very dates for the games. August 8 was chosen for the opening, not because eight is a lucky number for many Chinese, but to prevent conflicts with other televised sporting events -- the U.S. Tennis Open, which begins August 25, and the U.S. professional baseball season.

China’s Olympic committee originally asked IOC to hold the opening ceremony between August 15 and 31 to avoid Beijing’s summer peak rainy season. But the request was fiercely opposed by the American side.

IOC officials also cater to broadcasters because they recognize that an Olympics show is technically delicate. The commission decided in 2007, for example, that all of the 2008 competition would be broadcast in real time.

China’s CCTV will break from its traditional 30-second delay to broadcast the games live and in high-definition TV. CCTV Sports Center Director Jiang Heping admits he’s nervous.

“I’m most concerned about three things: the network crashing, hosts making mistakes, and front line reporters not being in place for interviews,” Jiang told Caijing.

And real-time broadcasting means state-run CCTV might confront events that normally would be deemed “unsuitable for broadcasting,” such as a protest or inappropriate remarks from a commentator.

Meanwhile, CCTV staffers will have to work around NBC and other broadcasters at the Olympics broadcast center in Beijing. Although the Chinese network is on home turf, it occupies only about 400 square meters of broadcast center floor space because it paid only US＄ 3 million in royalties. NBC, however, paid far more and got 7,000 square meters, or about one-fifth of the area.

Beijing itself is adapting to the influence of broadcasters, too. During the games, the city’s 17 million residents will find themselves starring in a huge reality show for some of the more than 30,000 journalists, many with broadcast outlets, coming from around world to the games.

“More than 30,000 reports and more than 100 satellite transmission vehicles are going through China’s back alleys,” Ma said. “Beijing has never been so transparent to the world.”

The Chinese government ruled that, during the Olympics, foreign journalists may at any time use news broadcasting vehicles that can stop not only on Tiananmen Square and at the Bird’s Nest, but at the homes of Beijing residents as well. Broadcasters have put 52 satellite news vehicles or portable devices, 58 high-definition broadcast trucks, and more than 400 pieces of satellite equipment into action in Beijing since late July.

An IOC member and vice president of NBC Sports, Alex Gilady, told Chinese media that his network has deployed a staff of 2,800 for the games. They plan to generate more than 3,600 hours of television programming for the U.S. audience, about half of which will be shot outside the stadiums.

Ma is among the Chinese broadcast professionals who welcome the attention.

“To become a truly great nation, China must learn to tolerate the entire world,” he said. “Only if the hosts become tolerant will the guests become tolerant.“

Related Special Report:

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games