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.

（美国NBC2012伦敦奥运会宣传片）

【新闻快讯】

正当全世界体育迷如痴如醉地欣赏英伦范儿的伦敦奥运会开幕式表演之际，美国电视观众遇到了四年一度的烦心事，那就是，拥有奥运会转播权的美国全国广 播公司NBC，并没有直播伦敦碗里精彩梦幻的开幕式表演，而是推迟了三个小时，于美国当年时间晚上七点半到十二点间的黄金时段播出录播剪辑的开幕式转播。

由于伦敦奥运会开幕式的开始时间正值美国当地时间周五的下午，作为商业电视台考虑收视率的特性，美国全国广播公司NBC再度做出决定，延迟转播伦敦奥运开幕式，以便争取在晚间的黄金时段吸引更多的美国观众，为广告商争得更多利益。

这一举动虽然合乎商业法则的情理，但是对于希望时间分享奥运精彩的观众多少有点别扭，NBC这一举措也遭到同行的吐槽。

纽约的媒体人威尔斯在自己的推特上抱怨，“为什么总是美国人被激怒呢，究竟什么样的媒体，才能假装一切都还没发生呢”，媒体人贾维斯则称，“当我打开NBC奥运频道，他们竟然给我看北京奥运会的开幕式”！

实际上，四年前的北京奥运会，NBC也没有直播奥运会开幕式，而是推迟将近12个小时，在美国当地晚间黄金时段录播，但是仍然打破了收视记录，开幕式的收视记录高达21.5%。

据悉，美国全国广播公司关于伦敦奥运会已经卖出了超过十亿美元的广告费，远超过北京奥运会期间的广告收入。