BBC Sport was the driving force behind the coverage of the Olympic Games and new figures show that the broadcaster's online platform registered as many as 55 million visits from different devices around the world. The BBC said that 37 million of these visits came from UK-based sports fans, while the remaining numbers came from overseas.
The site hits its peak on August 1st, when Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins added to his medal haul from Beijing in 2008 and Athens in 2004. On the whole, however, the single-biggest day for visits to the site came on August 3rd, when Great Britain won three medals on the athletics track in the space of 47 minutes.
BBC figures show that online BBC videos received as many as 106 million requests during the Games, compared to just 32 million for Beijing. This, experts have suggested, underlines the expanding popularity of online video content.
Phil Fearnley, the General Manager, News and Knowledge of BBC Future Media, commented: "Our aspiration was that just as the Coronation did for TV in 1953, the Olympics would do for digital in 2012.
"We promised audiences would never miss a moment of the Games. We delivered on our promise and will build on this to leave a lasting digital legacy for audiences in years to come."
The BBC, as the host broadcaster of the Games, poured millions of pounds into delivering the best TV and radio coverage it possibly could. The broadcaster also developed its own app for the event and funded the use of 3D technology. While some media critics have criticised the BBC's coverage for being too partisan, most have been fulsome in their praise of the broadcaster.
