Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony Scores Peak Of 9 Million Viewers On BBC1

A "peak audience of more than 9 million viewers watched the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on BBC1" -- complete with Rod Stewart, Scottie dogs, and dancing Tunnock’s teacakes, according to John Plunkett the London GUARDIAN. The "lavish opening spectacle had an average of 7.6 million viewers" (41.1%) between 8pm-11:40pm on Wednesday with a five-minute high of 9.4 million at 9:30pm. It topped the peak of 8.9 million viewers who tuned into the opening ceremony the last time the games were held in the U.K., in Manchester in '02, "but could not match its average audience of 8.2 million." A fundraising appeal for children’s charity Unicef "made during the opening ceremony" had reached £3.1M ($5.3M) by Thursday morning. More than half a million people in the U.K. "responded after watching an appeal by James McAvoy and Sir Chris Hoy at Celtic Park in Glasgow" (GUARDIAN, 7/24).