Networks Fight Shorter Olympic Leash

[Woodmonkey]

For several years now NBC has meticulously planned all the details for its coverage of the many sports events at the Summer Olympics in China.

But with the Games only 19 days away, many at the network are concerned about how they will be permitted to cover any unscheduled events, like political protests or government crackdowns — or whether the Chinese government will allow them to cover such things at all.

One of the most common hypothetical questions NBC officials have bandied about involves the opening ceremonies on Aug. 8.

Hundreds of athletes will parade into a stadium in front of world leaders, including President Bush, and a huge global television audience. If an athlete holds a protest sign or waves a Tibetan flag, how will the Chinese hosts react? Will the television networks show the scene? How will the Chinese handle the media for the rest of the Games?

The stakes are high for both the network, which paid $900 million for broadcast rights for the Olympics, and the reputation of NBC News. If it covers any controversies aggressively, it risks drawing the ire of the Chinese and interfering with coverage of sports events. But if it shies from coverage of any protests, NBC risks being criticized in the West for kowtowing to China — particularly since its corporate parent, General Electric, is aggressively expanding its investments in China.

One thing is for sure, vows Steve Capus, the president of NBC’s news division: “If there’s news, we’re going to cover it.”

NBC and other broadcasters have been at odds with Chinese authorities over what, where and when they will be allowed to film. During the last seven years, broadcasters had been assured that they would receive the same freedoms they have had at previous Olympics, but in the last few months, those promises have been contradicted by strict visa rules, lengthy application processes and worries about censorship.

Seeking to defuse growing tension, network executives met face to face two weeks ago with representatives of the International Olympic Committee and Chinese officials. At an eight-hour meeting in the International Broadcast Center in Beijing, the Chinese organizing committee relented slightly, saying that broadcasters like NBC that have paid for rights to the Olympic Games may transmit live from Tiananmen Square — but for only six hours a day, from 6 to 10 a.m. and 9 to 11 p.m.

The broadcasters, which include the BBC in Britain, the CBC in Canada, the Seven Network in Australia and SABC in South Africa, unanimously pressed for further access, according to minutes of the meeting obtained by The New York Times. According to two people at the meeting, when the Beijing vice mayor, Cao Fuchao, remarked that his country’s authorities would not reverse their decision to restrict access, Alex Gilady, an I.O.C. commissioner and NBC vice president, pointed his finger and said: “We still have one month to go. We will pursue this to the end.”

But time is not on the broadcasters’ side. Nineteen days from now, when the torch is lighted in Beijing, journalists and viewers could be facing the most restrictive environment for an Olympics in modern times.

At the meeting, on July 9, after months of uncertainty, Chinese officials said that all applications for live broadcasting would be approved throughout Beijing and the other cities where Olympic competitions were planned. Furthermore, the committee said that all broadcasters could tape reports from Tiananmen Square.

But the broadcasters say they will not believe it until they see it. One I.O.C. commissioner, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid further complicating the situation, said matter-of-factly that Chinese officials had “put a tourniquet” on the Olympics.

“Had the I.O.C., and those vested with the decision to award the host city contract, known seven years ago that there would be severe restrictions on people being able to enter China simply to watch the Olympics, or that live broadcasting from Tiananmen Square would essentially be banned, or that reporters would be corralled at the whim of local security, then I seriously doubt whether Beijing would have been awarded the Olympics,” the commissioner said.

The contentious negotiations are particularly perilous for NBC, part of NBC Universal, which is trying to produce 3,600 hours of coverage. The company paid a record amount for the broadcast rights, and it expects to generate $1 billion in advertising revenue. The coverage will be produced by NBC Sports under the direction of Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics.

But the network could find itself covering news outside the track or swimming pools if there are political protests or another government crackdown. Mr. Capus of NBC acknowledged that these Games were arguably the most newsworthy Olympics in a generation, since they have put a spotlight on China’s environmental problems and human-rights abuses.

He was diplomatic about the recent negotiations. “We are encouraged by the progress that we saw last week, and the potential for the cooperation that has been pledged,” Mr. Capus said.

NBC has good reason to cross its fingers. Its owner, GE, has had its sales in China grow rapidly this decade, to a projected $10 billion by 2010, from around $1 billion in 2000. The company is involved in more than 300 projects related to these Games, including technology for the new National Stadium. Jeffrey R. Immelt, the chief executive of G.E., has said the Olympics will create “decades of good will in China.”

NBC Universal has taken out an insurance policy to protect itself against the disruption or cancellation of the Games. This is a standard precaution: an NBC spokesman said that networks covering the Games had taken out such insurance since 1980, when the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics.

“It’s pretty much a given that this is not Barcelona, and this is definitely not Atlanta,” one of the correspondents said on the condition of anonymity, because the network prohibits speaking to the news media without authorization. “So how much access will we get? I don’t think we’ll know until we’re there.”

“Today,” NBC’s morning show, is traditionally the news division’s signature Olympic program, and a co-host, Matt Lauer, will be in China before the Games, broadcasting from the Great Wall and other cultural icons. Then his colleagues Meredith Vieira, Al Roker and Ann Curry will join him at the program’s set at the Olympic Green in Beijing. Because of the 12-hour time difference, the sun will be setting during the American morning show.

“NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams” will originate from Beijing for the first week of the Games. Tom Brokaw, the network’s senior correspondent, will be in Beijing, as will Richard Engel, NBC’s chief foreign correspondent, who spends most of his time in war zones and hot spots.

But NBC officials are not eager to discuss the peculiarities of broadcasting from China. Mr. Ebersol would not respond to a request for an interview, the network said.

Some news organizations have had to leap through hoops merely to rent office space, order phone lines and set up satellite dishes. Stations that reserved locations for live shots later have had their permissions revoked, and journalists have speculated that the bureaucratic hurdles have been put in place to discourage free reporting, despite the country’s promises.

Once the staff is in place in China, many of the hypothetical situations about the Olympics will hinge on a single question: what is sports and what is news?

Broadcasters expect that the country’s security apparatus will work hard to prevent a repeat of the early stages of the Olympic torch relay, where pro-Tibet protesters disrupted the run and extinguished the flame several times.

The primary television feed of the sporting events is produced by Beijing Olympic Broadcasting, a partnership between China and the I.O.C. If a demonstration occurs at an Olympic site, the official broadcast may not capture it. But networks like NBC have their own cameras in place that could film spontaneous developments at the events. In such cases, the responsibility falls to NBC to decide what to show the American audience.

“Those are decisions that will be made on the fly when it happens, and you hope they make the right decision,” one of the NBC correspondents said.

The Source