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一場關於奧運會開幕式播放時段的爭議在美國鬧得沸沸揚揚，主角美國廣播公司堅持在推遲3小時而選擇在美國黃金時段播放剪輯版倫敦奧運開幕式，此舉以獲取收視率為由無可厚非，但卻引起了同行和民眾深深的不滿。實際上，推遲的傳統由來已久，早在北京奧運會時美國廣播公司一度推遲12小時的播放時間。想更深入瞭解這是怎麼一回事，就看看這篇雅思新聞閱讀吧。

Across the world, people are crammed around their television sets, eagerly watching the $42million spectacular of London’s Opening Ceremonies.

But those watching stateside will be forced to wait until 7:30pm EST, when NBC will broadcast the show, three and a half hours from the actual start of the ceremony, adjusted for time differences.

The network, which has sole rights to broadcasting the Olympics in America, has chosen to delay their broadcast to the chagrin of viewers hoping to catch a live glance of the elaborate ceremonies.

Further, they chose not to stream the events online, the Wall Street Journal said. This means that those wanting to watch on the West Coast must wait a full six and a half hours before seeing the commencement of the 2012 Olympic Games.

NBC, which has owned the American broadcasting rights to the Summer Olympic games since 1988, most likely held the broadcast so it would hit square in prime time. Advertisers pay more for time slots in such programming.

According to Ad Week, NBC purchased the rights to the Olympics from 2014-2020 for a staggering $4.38billion. They were awarded the right by the International Olympic Committee.

Some members of the media took to Twitter to speak out about NBC's programming decision. The Guardian's Matt Wells, who is based in New York City, tweeted, "NBC showing complete contempt for audience by not showing streaming Olympics opening ceremony live." He added, "what type of broadcaster pretends something isn't happening?" Olympics enthusiasts shared Wells' sentiment, lamenting NBC's decision to delay airing the Opening Ceremony.

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【新聞快訊】

正當全世界體育迷如癡如醉地欣賞英倫范兒的倫敦奧運會開幕式表演之際，美國電視觀眾遇到了四年一度的煩心事，那就是，擁有奧運會轉播權的美國全國廣播公司NBC，並沒有直播倫敦精彩夢幻的開幕式表演，而是延後了三個小時，於美國當年時間晚上七點半到十二點間的黃金時段播出錄播剪輯的開幕式轉播。

由於倫敦奧運會開幕式的開始時間正值美國當地時間週五的下午，作為商業電視臺考慮收視率的特性，美國全國廣播公司NBC再度做出決定，延遲轉播倫敦奧運開幕式，以便爭取在晚間的黃金時段吸引更多的美國觀眾，為廣告商爭得更多利益。

這一舉動雖然合乎商業法則的情理，但是對於希望第一時間分享奧運精彩的觀眾多少有點彆扭，NBC這一舉動也遭到同行的吐槽。

紐約的媒體人威爾斯在自己的推特上抱怨，“為什麼總是美國人被激怒呢，究竟什麼樣的媒體，才能假裝一切都還沒發生呢”，媒體人賈維斯則稱，“當我打開NBC奧運頻道，他們竟然給我看北京奧運會的開幕式”！

實際上，四年前的北京奧運會，NBC也沒有直播奧運會開幕式，而是延後將近12個小時，在美國當地晚間黃金時段錄影播出，但是仍然打破了收視記錄，開幕式的收視記錄高達21.5%。

在廣告費上賺得滿滿的美國全國廣播公司在感受到無數不滿之後，依然“假裝一切都還沒發生呢”。據悉，關於倫敦奧運會的廣告費已超過十億美元，遠遠超過了北京奧運會期間的廣告收入。