KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Michael Phelps concluding his record-setting Olympic career and Usain Bolt blowing away the competition on the track are among the highlights so far of the 2012 Summer Olympics broadcast on AFN Europe.

But if you happen to be following the Olympics on AFN Europe, you may have missed the signature moments, unless your schedule allows for very late-night viewing. Many of AFN Europe’s viewers — a potential audience of up to 365,000 military and family members, civilians, retirees and State Department workers throughout Europe, Southwest Asia and North Africa — had to wait until after midnight to catch the feats of Phelps, Bolt and other athletes throughout nearly two weeks of Olympic coverage.

By the end of the games on Sunday, AFN forecasts it will have aired 746 hours of the London Olympics on several channels, AFN officials said this week.

But only about 50 percent of the coverage has been live from London due to the broadcast rights AFN has through NBC, which has the exclusive U.S. rights to air the games and has tape delayed a number of events to show during prime time on the East Coast, AFN officials said.

Although London is only an hour behind Central Europe time and 3.5 hours behind Afghanistan, the tape delay has meant that many of the games’ most anticipated events have aired past midnight on AFN.Click here to read more

Michael Phelps of the United States on his way to winning the men’s 100m butterfly at the 2012 Summer Games in London, England, on Friday, August 3, 2012. Viewers are complaining about AFN’s broadcast schedule of the Olympic games, which has forced some to wait until after midnight to catch the feats of Olympians such as Phelps and Usain Bolt. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/MCT Photo by