Glasgow’s 2014 Commonwealth Games reached 35.3 million viewers, while Birmingham’s BBC TV coverage reached 28.6 million. But the number of users streaming climbed dramatically.
During Birmingham 2022, viewing figures peaked at 6.6m ahead of the men and women’s 100m backstroke and breaststroke finals on day 3, followed by the Opening Ceremony, which had a 5 minute peak of 5.2m viewers.
A peak of 5.1m watched the result of the women’s 4x400m relay final, 4.8m tuned into the Closing Ceremony, the men’s 200m final saw 4.2m viewers and 4.1m watched Adam Peaty take gold at the men’s 50m Breaststroke final.
While TV viewing figures were down compared to Glasgow 2014, they were higher than for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games (22.8 million viewers in total). As a result of time zone differences, most Gold Coast events took place overnight or during the morning.
For streaming, the situation was better for the BBC:
Streaming records
Online, events were streamed a record-breaking 57.1 million times during the 11-day event, up from 9 million streams for the Gold Coast 2018 games and 8.2 million streams for Glasgow 2014.
14.3 million came to the BBC Sport website for the latest news and analysis and highlights were viewed 10.7m times.
Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport, says:
“All corners of the BBC have been right at the heart of the action in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games and we are proud to have brought the best of the live action and medal moments to our audiences. In what has been an already unforgettable summer of sport, we are thrilled to achieve a record-breaking Games and to further showcase Birmingham as a dynamic, exciting city with a truly rich heritage.”