Programming Clash To Cause Major Delay in Australia

The TV station which broadcasts Formula One in Australia will delay broadcasting this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix by up to ten hours because of a programming clash.

The Nine Network, which has held the rights to broadcast Formula One in Australia for over fifteen years, will delay the telecast nationwide due to the clash with the nightly news programme in three state capitals. Instead, a movie will be broadcast at the time the race is scheduled to be held.

The problem has been sparked off by the early introduction of daylight saving for the Olympics. In Australia, the three states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania moved to daylight saving time two months earlier than usual because of the Olympics in Sydney. This meant that unlike previous years, the Japanese Grand Prix will be held after the change to daylight saving in these states, and so the coverage of the race if broadcast live would not finish until 6:30 pm, 30 minutes after the nightly news would normally begin.

This has caused an uproar amongst Australian Formula One fans, in particular fans who live elsewhere in the country, as a live broadcast of the race which may decide the championship would not clash with the news in those other states.

The Nine Network has refused to answer a majority of complaints from viewers, with those who were successful in contacting the station were informed that the needs of the Sydney and Melbourne residents, which account for nearly half the country's population, outweighed those of the viewers in the rest of the country.

The delayed broadcast of the Japanese Grand Prix comes two weeks after the US Grand Prix telecast was similarly delayed in those states that had not moved to daylight savings time, so that a uniform schedule could be used across the country. On this basis, it would seem almost certain the network will delay coverage of the season-ending Malaysian GP.

The broadcasting rights for Formula One in Australia will be up for re-negotiation in 2002.