West-coast residents have been particularly incensed that they wait an additional three hours after the East coast gets whatever "live" coverage there actually

West-coast residents have been particularly incensed that they wait an additional three hours after the East coast gets whatever "live" coverage there actually is in prime time, even though they are in the time zone where the Olympics actually are. What this means is that even if NBC is showing "live" coverage of its big events in New York, which is across the continent from Vancouver, it delays them three hours for Seattle, which is less than three hours south of Vancouver. Is there a business reason for giving the East coast preferential treatment West coast events and vice versa?