SBS Barred from Covering Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony
Korean TV station, Seoul Broadcasting Station (SBS) has been stripped of the rights to air the opening ceremony of the upcoming Beijing Olympics 2008.
This come after it had leaked footage from the rehearsals of the opening ceremony which had been shrouded in secrecy on it’s news program exactly a week ago on Korean TV and subsequently shown worldwide. This led to an uproar particularly from the International Olympics Committee and the Beijing Olympics organizers, causing embarassment for the Korea Republic.
Two nights ago on the 8 O’clock news, SBS announced that the BOB (Beijing Olympic Broadcasting) has punished them by barring them from covering and broadcasting the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said sanctions against SBS, which shares the South Korean broadcasting rights, included a ban on having its own cameras inside the stadium for the opening. “But they will have access to the signal. And do have the possibility to have a commentator in the stadium.”
According to a SBS spokesperson, “BOB didn’t issue the last opening ceremony rehearsal invitation. Moreover, it didn’t give permission to report on the opening ceremony. We can’t get in the rehearsal and report the opening ceremony on that day. However, according to the contract with the IOC, we can broadcast it by reading out of BOB. Despite this happening, we are still going to broadcast all of the Olympic Games without any problems. And with this, this unfortunate incident will end here. In future, SBS will continue to bring viewers exciting coverage on the Olympics and related programs.”
Regardless good or bad vibes, who doesn’t know SBS now?
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