The opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games - with its dancing Tunnock's Teacakes and show-stealing Scottie dogs - was watched by more than nine million viewers on BBC1.
The Glasgow spectacle, which featured musical performances by Rod Stewart and Nicola Benedetti, had a peak audience of 9.4 million - exceeding the number who watched the last time the Games were staged in the UK in 2002, when 8.9 million tuned in at the height of the Manchester opening.
An average of 7.6 million watched for the duration of the programme, which lasted more than three hours, down from the 8.2 million who stuck with the whole ceremony 12 years ago.
But the audience was up hugely on the levels for 2010 stage in Delhi, which drew an average of 3 million, and 2006 for Melbourne, which pulled in 1.3 million.
Last night's coverage accounted for more than two-fifths of the viewers watching TV at that time.
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