NBC requested the changes o that the popular events can be shown live in prime time in the US. NBC also wanted more athletics and basketball at prime time in the US, but the IOC decided athletics finals, except for the marathon, will be held at night and the men's basketball final will be in the afternoon.
"One speaks of one or two sports, but in the end it's about 28 sports," said Hein Verbruggen, the head of the IOC's coordination commission for the Beijing Games. "Such a schedule is a matter of discussion with the host country, the broadcasters and the federations. ... What comes out of it is a compromise."
Swimming officials in Britain and Australia were among those unhappy about the switch.
IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said the final schedule puts rowing in the afternoons to catch prime-time TV audiences in Britain, where the sport is popular, while diving finals will be staged in the afternoons and evenings for the Australians.
