OLYMPIC GAMES TV watchers will try to break record

To break the record, viewers will have to top 50 hours and 5 minutes.
ZAP2IT.COM
While the likes of Michael Phelps and Haile Gebrselassie try to set world records with their athletic prowess in the Summer Olympics next month, a group of plucky Americans will try to break a decidedly less active record.
NBC is teaming up with the Guinness World Records folks to stage a TV-viewing marathon during the Games, hoping to break the record of 50 hours, 5 minutes. The viewing party will take place at the synergistically correct Universal Studios Orlando theme park, which is owned by NBC Universal.
The contest, of course, highlights the fact that NBC-owned properties -- Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, USA and Telemundo and an HDTV feed in addition to the network -- will have round-the-clock coverage from Athens. Guinness World Records is also using the event to promote a 50th anniversary edition of its compendium.
How to enter
Would-be record breakers can enter at NBCOlympics.com. Three contestants will be selected based on an essay they submit to the Web site, and 19 others will be chosen in local contests.
The 22 winners will then be flown to Orlando, where they'll plop themselves down in front of a television and watch nothing but NBC's coverage of the Olympics, beginning with the opening ceremony Aug. 13. To break the record, someone will have to watch until late Aug. 15.
Guinness-approved TV-watching rules apply. Contestants must keep their eyes on the screen at all times, except during break periods. They'll get one five-minute break every hour and a 15-minute break every eight hours; bathroom use is allowed only during the 15-minute break.
The winner, provided he or she breaks the record -- set in Germany in May -- will receive a trip to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, and a high-definition home theater system.