Mo Farah’s Race to Glory Sees Highest TV Figures for London 2012

BBC have announced viewing figures for London 2012 are hitting record highs with Mo Farah’s triumphant win seeing the biggest figures.

The number of BBC viewers tuning in to watch London 2012 has surpassed those recorded for Beijing 2008 with Mo Farah’s 10,000 metre triumph drawing the largest audience of the Olympics so far.

The Briton’s race to glory pulled in a peak audience of 17.1 million at 9.45pm on Saturday night across BBC One and BBC Olympics broadcasts.

The second most watched event was the climax of the heptathlon won by the unofficial face of London 2012 Jessica Ennis, drawing in 16.3 million viewers three quarters of an hour earlier at 9pm.

Watched by 15.6 million viewers, Britain’s Greg Rutherford’s gold medal winning long jump was the third most highly watched achievement of the Games via the BBC One and BBC Olympics platforms.

Danny Boyle’s London 2012 Opening Ceremony also proved to be a winner, attracting an unprecedented average audience of 22.4 million with a five-minute peak of 26.9 million and 15 minute peak of 26.7 million.

Four years’ earlier, the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony attracted far fewer numbers when the BBC audience averaged just 5.1 million with a five-minute peak of 5.9 million and 15 minute peak of 5.4 million.