Viewers wooed by sport on the Beeb

A weekend of sport on the BBC went down well with viewers.

13:18 16 August 2004

The BBC is celebrating a weekend of solid viewing figures after the opening of the Olympic Games and the return of Match of the Day.

Gary Lineker and co won 3.4 million viewers as the BBC's premiership highlights programme returned to our screens for the first time since the Beeb won back the rights from rival ITV.

The Olympics also went down well, despite the British team's poor showing in the medals stakes.

The lavish opening ceremony, which went some way towards dispelling myths about the readiness of the venues, was watched by 8.5 million people, according to figures compiled by Hollywood Reporter.

A BBC spokesperson said: "We are pleased with the audience that we got."