The balance between satisfying the fans and the sponsors

The 49th table tennis championship in Zagreb, Croatia is making fans of the sport happy across the country because the broadcast of the matches are during China's prime time.

They are aired around 10pm and most games finished by 12 midnight, making it convenient for table tennis fans to watch all the matches in full and make it to bed at a reasonable time.

But not all sports fans are so lucky. During last summer's World Cup, passionate Chinese football fans had to stay up all night throughout the 20-day tournament.

That's probably because Asians don't have a strong showing in the world soccer field. But in table tennis, China's paddlers dominate the table tennis field. And because fans want to watch the games on TV, Chinese broadcasting organizations, like China Central Television (CCTV) fight for the rights to air the games and pay big money to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

Driven by increasing sponsorship and TV profits, both domestic and international sports organizers are willing to rearrange the tournament schedules to satiate sponsors and fans.

In the case of last year's World Cup, the country's broadcaster CCTV replayed each game the day after at reasonable times. But with the scores already known, few people watched the replays, preferring the excitement of live coverage.

And for next year's Summer Games in Beijing, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also yielded to the highest paying broadcaster's demands.

Last October, the IOC decided to hold the swimming finals and much of the gymnastics in the morning Beijing time, to the delight of American broadcaster NBC, which paid US$3.55 billion for the exclusive North American media rights. That's because with the time difference, it is evening prime time in the United States.

"Setting the competition schedule for 2008 was decided by the IOC's executive board after a thorough consultation process with all the stakeholders - broadcasters, athletes, international federations - and is final," explained IOC Director of Communications Giselle Davies