NBC might offer real-time coverage of Michael Phelps' run for an eighth gold medal on Saturday night, assuming he picks up numbers six and seven between now and then. At least that's what a tipster told TVNewser. The network has been delaying the Phelps achievements by three hours in the West, but given his potential history making race, it's a good bet that an exception will be made. Besides, the event would be aired at 7:58 p.m. L.A. time, which isn't exactly the middle of the night. For all the teeth-gnashing this week over the three-hour delay, the network isn't about to make any wholesale changes in schedule. That's because the tape delay simply ensures a bigger audience – and that means more ad revenue. As we’ve seen time and again during live coverage of the World Series and NBA Finals, L.A. commuters are still inching along on freeways at game time.

For NBC, the bigger problem is how to keep American viewers tuned in next week, when track and field gets going. Without Phelps - or much of a star-studded U.S. contingent - the second week's ratings are likely to taper off. Another problem: Many of the T&F events will be delayed by at least 12 hours, even on the East Coast. NBC apparently cut a deal with the Olympics people to have the swimming competition in the morning, Beijing time, which is perfect for prime time back east. But track events are in the evening in Beijing (more crowds, cooler weather). That’s morning in NY. From the WSJ:

Viewing for the Summer Games has traditionally tailed off in the second week as track and field and diving move to center stage. (The Winter Games follow the opposite pattern, as the highly popular individual figure-skating competitions usually begin halfway through). The Olympics as a TV event depend greatly on female viewers, for whom gymnastics is a big draw. This year, there is no U.S. track athlete who captured the public's imagination the way Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson or Marion Jones did. It didn't help that Ms. Jones helped make the sport synonymous with performance-enhancing drugs. Ms. Jones, a megastar of the Sydney Olympics in 2000, is now in federal prison for lying to investigators during an investigation of steroid abuse.