Olympic broadcasts fizzle anew
A high-ranking OTE Telecom official resigned on Saturday after domestic TV broadcasts of the Olympics were disrupted as the result of an OTE technical problem. The resignation of the company’s general director for technical matters, Christos Balavanis, came two days after two senior officials with ERT, the state broadcaster, lost their jobs following a 25-minute interruption in the ET-1 state channel’s coverage of an Olympic soccer match. Saturday’s glitch left TV audiences in central and northern Greece with blank screens for 20 minutes. ERT immediately announced that it bore no responsibility. OTE attributed the disruption – which occurred during a sailing contest – to a fault in the transmission system, which it said was quickly patched up. Later on Saturday, Transport and Communications Minister Michalis Liapis chaired an emergency meeting at the OTE headquarters in Athens, in which it was decided to man a series of crucial unmanned wireless stations throughout the country. Further disruptions affected broadcasts in eastern Attica and Evia yesterday. ERT said it was not to blame.
