The eyes of the world will be focussed on Glasgow from 23 July, when the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow takes place at Celtic Park stadium in the East End of the city.

It’s the first time the Games have been back in the UK since Manchester in 2002 – and the first time they’ve been back in Scotland since the Edinburgh Games in 1986. Since then audience expectations for coverage of major sporting events have increased hugely, with the BBC’s coverage of the Olympic Games setting a new benchmark for choice, scale and quality. The standard has been set very high when it comes to broadcasting Scotland’s largest and highest profile event for many years - both in the sporting field, and through our cultural output.

Covering 17 sports, across 14 venues, over 11 days we’ll bring audiences the most extensive coverage yet from a Commonwealth Games – across TV, radio and online.

So that means all-day coverage on BBC One and BBC Three, Red Button, live streaming of every sport online and continuous coverage on both BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Scotland, bringing all the medal action as it happens.

BBC Breakfast will be on Clydeside for the duration of the Games while we’ll also have reporters based across all the venues so that we can bring you a front-row seat as we did for both London 2012 and this year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi.

As the domestic rights holder for Glasgow 2014, you’d expect us to offer audiences a fantastic range of output that matches the ambition of the Games itself. But as a public service broadcaster, you’d also expect us to take every step to ensure the resources allocated to our sports coverage and cultural output is proportionate and justified.

Broadcasting so much live content from 14 different venues across 11 days is a challenge, but I’m confident that our team of reporters, presenters, camera crew, vision mixers, producers and directors will provide the same amazing programmes for our audiences that they brought two years ago from London.

765 staff, third party suppliers and freelancers worked on our critically-acclaimed coverage of London 2012. There are fewer sports and days of competition at a Commonwealth Games but instead of a singular ‘Team GB’, we must tell the stories of competitors from all four nations of the UK plus the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. We’ve worked hard to identify ways of reducing our staffing requirements for Glasgow 2014, leading to a significant reduction in the number of staff working on the event while still ensuring we can deliver all of the action. In total, 609 staff, third party suppliers and freelancers, 20% less than for the London Games, will help us to deliver Glasgow 2014. Not all those people, of course will be on-site for the duration of the Games – but our commitment to cover every sport in every location for multiple BBC outlets, requires dedicated teams in order to mirror the editorial approach to London 2012. And for the sake of doubt, let me assure you that every member of staff has a clear role to play to bring the unparalleled coverage we're bringing.

You won’t be surprised to learn that our numbers are made up of teams from many areas of the BBC, first and foremost BBC Sport but representation is also essential from the likes of BBC Scotland, BBC Wales, BBC Northern Ireland, Gaelic, the 12 English Regions and BBC News. More so than any other event, the sporting stories from a Commonwealth Games need to be told to national, regional and local audiences.

Our TV sports coverage will be split between Pacific Quay in Glasgow and Quay House in Salford. As you can imagine, programme teams from BBC Scotland are extremely keen to reflect the action from the relevant venues, reporting the stories as they happen, including Sportsound, Fred MacAulay on BBC Radio Scotland and our news outlets. Pacific Quay will be the BBC’s ‘mission control’ for the duration of the Games, with network and regional programming coming live using the state-of-the art facilities in our Glasgow base. This is a first for the BBC and will save us significant sums of money.

Pacific Quay will also be the site for the bulk of our non-sport activity with 16 days of events at our pop-up venue ‘BBC at the Quay’, which will be based in Millennium Square. This will bring free events to visitors to the area, including a string of popular BBC programmes, such as The One Show, Radio 2’s Ken Bruce, BBC Radio 5 Live, Mastermind and A Question of Sport.

Glasgow 2014 is a highly ambitious project for the BBC – probably the biggest and most complex we’ll have delivered from Scotland. The London Olympics raised the bar for the BBC’s coverage of big sporting events and we hope in Glasgow 2014 there will be something for everyone from the BBC, no matter which nation or territory you are supporting.

Bruce Malcolm is Head of Commonwealth Games

• Read 100 Days to the Commonwealth Games
• Read also Introducing BBC at the Quay
• Follow BBC at the quay on twitter.

Today is a significant day as it marks the start of the countdown to the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. In 100 days, on 23 July, Glasgow will take centre stage in a packed BBC schedule, as the twentieth Commonwealth Games kicks off at Celtic Park. We’re really excited about the summer ahead and very proud of all of the amazing creativity and collaboration that’s going on across many parts of the BBC – which will deliver so much to our audiences between now and the opening ceremony and beyond.

Over the twelve days of the Games, Glasgow will welcome people from 71 nations to compete in and watch the sporting competition. It will also stage comprehensive arts and cultural events alongside it, providing something for everyone. Audiences have high expectations of our coverage, expecting the very best, agreeing that, “When it comes to covering live events and capturing amazing moments, no-one does it quite like the BBC”. 

This will be a massive occasion, with 17 different sports and 4,500 athletes going head to head for medals, keen to demonstrate their sporting prowess. The para-sports are not a separate event and will also be covered exclusively by the BBC. Glasgow 2014’s Para-Sports programme will be the largest in Commonwealth Games history with the highest ever number of medal events across the most ever sports – it’s a great opportunity to really show what we can do.

The BBC is set to provide extensive and comprehensive coverage, with TV, radio and online teams from Sport, News, Nations and English Regions broadcasting from Glasgow this summer. Many big BBC shows will come to Glasgow – including The One Show and Ken Bruce on Radio 2 - to give audiences an insight into all that’s going on in Glasgow. Look out too for a wealth of supporting programming celebrating many aspects of Glasgow and the Commonwealth to enjoy over the next 100 days. Seven Wonders of the Commonwealth, Friday Night is Music Night from Radio 2, Secret History of our Streets and Commonwealth on Film to name a few, alongside some One Show Baton Relay specials.

A particular highlight at Pacific Quay will be BBC at the Quay, a free 16 day pop up entertainment festival, with music events, broadcast shows, and interactive activities for everyone from 9am to midnight daily throughout the Games. Find out more about what's planned and stay up to date with all news from The Quay here. 

The Queen’s Baton Relay will shortly return to the home nations after its seven-month international journey around the Commonwealth. It arrives into Jersey on May 11th, and we’ll be celebrating its return and its journey around the British Isles on-air, culminating in a 40-day relay around Scotland before being presented to the Queen at the Opening Ceremony.

All in all, in 100 days’ time, the Commonwealth Games offers the BBC another opportunity to wow our audiences – and we’ll be ready.

• Comprehensive coverage of the 2014 Commonwealth Games can be found on the BBC Sport website. 
• Find out more about BBC at the Quay on the About the BBC Scotland website. 
• Follow @BBCScotland on Twitter. 

Today BBC Scotland and BBC Sport finally got to reveal what we have been keeping tight-lipped about for what seems like forever – our coverage of the Commonwealth Games. There are going to be some fantastic programmes, live events and cultural activity throughout the BBC over the next year as we head to Glasgow 2014 and I really hope there is something for everyone in our line-up.

Not only will there be a host of popular presenters involved in our coverage - including Hazel Irvine, Gary Lineker, Clare Balding, Gabby Logan, Ken Bruce, Susanna Reid, Bill Turnbull, Mishal Husain, Fred MacAulay and Dougie Vipond – but there will also be our popular programmes such as The One Show, BBC Breakfast, The Ken Bruce Show, A Question of Sport and Who Do You Think You Are? - all coming from Pacific Quay in Glasgow during Games time.

With live sport action during the event across all major TV and radio networks, along with online, sport fans will not be disappointed. As you’d expect, BBC Sport will provide the kind of coverage they did so brilliantly during the Olympics.

There will be daily coverage on BBC One, and Glasgow 2014 will be delivered seamlessly across mobile, tablet, desktop and connected TVs meaning audiences can get closer to the action, wherever they are. As well as this, the BBC Breakfast team are moving from their Salford base to Pacific Quay for the duration of the games so their viewers will really feel part of the action.

If you didn’t know, the Games are one of the few events where the UK nations compete against each other on a global stage.  Indeed it’s not only the nations but also the smaller territories like the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.  We intend to make the most of this 'friendly' competition. 

In addition to bringing all the sporting action from the Games, the BBC also aims to boost the accompanying cultural festivities by using some of its leading presenters for both on and off-air programmes - including 16 days of major events from a specially constructed BBC@TheQuay. This is going to be an exciting venue that will have a great mix of live programmes, music events and family-friendly fun throughout the day.

All the BBC Radio networks have committed to delivering fantastic content before and during the Games, including 5 Live which will, not only be covering the games throughout the whole day, there will also be a special afternoon programme, which is a unique collaboration with Radio Scotland, between 2 and 4 in the afternoon.

There are also some brilliant documentaries planned for 2014, including Clydebuilt: The Ships That Made the Commonwealth, along with major music concerts.  Other highlights include Glasgow Girls on BBC Three a musical drama telling the true story of a group of girls who banded together in 2005 to save their friend from deportation, and the final of the BBC Young Musician in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on 18 May 2014, where we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the venue in the final broadcast on BBC Four and BBC Radio 3.

You don’t have to wait until 2014 though, with coverage already beginning across the BBC with the epic Queen’s Baton relay journey.  This BBC Scotland team are responsible for providing coverage across all the BBC’s services including global and 24 hour news, Radio 2, and The One Show. Hopefully you’ve all already caught some of these stories.

So while we continue to work hard to progress even more ideas and plans, I’m sure  you’ll agree with me that the Commonwealth Games will not only be great for Scotland but will be an event that  everyone across the UK can enjoy, whether visiting Glasgow or watching in your own home. 

Bruce Malcolm is Head of Commonwealth Games

Read full details about BBC Scotland and BBC Sport's coverage of and associated programmes about the 2014 Commonwealth Games on the BBC Media Centre website. 

You can find Mark Beaumont's Queen's Baton Relay regular blog on the BBC News online. Mark introduced the relay coverage on this blog earlier this year. 

Bruce Malcolm was interviewed by the About the BBC Blog in autumn 2011. There are also blogs about BBC Scotland's Commonwealth Apprenticeship Scheme from Sharon Mair and contributions from some of the apprentices too. 

Editor's Note - Mark Beaumont is an adventurer and documentary maker. Here, the broadcaster reveals how he'll be working with the BBC providing coverage of the Queen's Baton Relay in the run up to the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

What adventure are you going on next Mark?

Someone asks me this every day. Now I can finally tell all…  

Starting on October 9th, I'm on a journey throughout the Commonwealth – once again sharing the whole experience online, radio and television with the BBC.  I once thought that pedaling 18,000 miles around the world involved a lot of countries, but this really is the most ambitious travel schedule I have ever imagined: 118,000 miles; 71 destinations; in just 288 days.

The Commonwealth Games are coming to Glasgow, Scotland in the summer of 2014.  This may be news to you, which is one of my main motivations for exploring the Commonwealth and in doing so building the knowledge and excitement ahead of my home games. I am backed by a great team currently working hard at BBC Scotland, but will be working with many of the BBC programme teams across the UK as the journey progresses.

I am not taking any credit for dreaming up this huge adventure.  The Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) has happened in some form since the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The tradition is for the Head of the Commonwealth, currently Queen Elizabeth ll, to write a message that is carried within a baton, by relay runners, until it is finally read aloud to officially open the Games. Imagine a truly international Olympic Torch, but without the fire hazard!

Most people know the word Commonwealth, but do we know what it is?  What is the modern Commonwealth?  What holds this essentially disparate spread of 71 nations and territories, that compromises a third of the world’s population, in union? 

No matter where I have travelled in the world or what I have been doing there, it is always the people I meet who make it special for me. I am particularly looking forward to following the Queen’s Baton Relay as it travels around the globe giving me a chance to meet some of the two billion people who make up the Commonwealth. It is such a privilege to be part of one of the greatest traditions of the Commonwealth Games and to be able to immerse myself in the diversity of the cultures that form this unique group of inter-connected countries. 

Wherever you live in the Commonwealth, or out, you are welcome to be a part of my QBR journey as it happens. I will be sharing as much as I can.  My hope is that this will be inspiring, engaging, fun, thought-provoking and if possible, make our world a little better understood.  

It’s a hugely ambitious travel and broadcasting project. I’ll be presenting many programmes across the baton’s epic global journey, including The One Show, BBC Breakfast, Radio 2 and Radio Scotland, along with BBC News outlets, and online. You will also be able to see video updates of the journey online with even more activity as the baton reaches the UK. There will be events across the country, and as the baton reaches the home straight in Scotland. 

So be a part of it. The journey begins on October 9th.

Mark Beaumont is @MrMarkBeaumont on Twitter