Eurovision 2018: Viewing rates of the contest in several countries

Another Eurovision Song Contest has just passed and of course the viewers who were co-ordinated in the country program were quite a few. In other countries, the audience increased, while there are few where they saw a large decrease in the number of viewers. Some countries also chose not to publish the contest. Let’s look at the cases that have been released in detail:

Sweden

In Sweden, things did not go well in terms of viewing. The final was the second lowest ever TV show in the last 20 years, with the first being in 2010 where the country had not qualified for the semifinals. The final was attended by 266,000 fewer viewers, with the contest being the second most popular program. Logically this year’s participation of Benjamin Ingrosso did not excite both the Swedish, even though he was placed high on the committees.

First Semi Final – 838,000
Second semifinal – 1,500,000
Final – 2,583,000

Denmark

In contrast, there was an increase in Denmark as the audience was the highest since the competition was held in the country. Rasmussen’s qualification and high expectations for the “Higher Ground” helped to rekindle interest in the country.

First Semi Final – 409,000
Second Semi Final – 735,000
Final – 1,131,000

Ireland

There has also been an increase in interest in Ireland with the country’s qualification after several years. 690,000 attended the final, which is the highest rate since 2013 when the country was last qualified.

Poland

An astonishing decline in viewing was noticed in  Poland. 1,400,000 watched this year’s big final and last year the number was 2,700,000. The blockade seems to have cost a lot to the Poles, while it is remarkable that the final is the lowest ever.

Finland

The viewing rate was also increased for Finland and it seemed that the viewers were expecting a good result from Saara Aalto. Nearly 1 million (976,000 viewers) were the average viewer of the final, where it was the highest since the country last picked up, in 2014 with Softengine.

Estonia

Elina’s qualification, after two years of blockades, brought more viewers to Estonia as well. 257,000 were this year’s viewers, and last year they were well below 200,000.

Netherlands

The lowest audience for the Netherlands and many attribute it to the controversial personality of Waylon’s representative. Typically, 1 million fewer viewers were tuned to watch this year’s contest.

First Semi Final – 1,097,000
Second Semi Final – 2,643,000
Final – 3,021,000

Serbia

Much better in Serbia. The country recorded the largest increase since 2008, when the contest was held in Belgrade. 2,262,000 watched the shows this year, compared to 660,000 last year. It seems that this year’s participation of Sanja Ilic & Balkanika has moved the Serbs.

Hungary

Hungarians interest in the show was declined this year. Only 403,559 viewers watched this year’s final when last year’s number was close to 800,000.

Austria: About 1,000,000 viewers (59% audience), more viewers than last year.

Israel: 1,050,000 (59.4%), reasonable  increase since Netta was from the beginning the big favorite for victory.

Norway: 1.370.000 with the overwhelming (84%) – hopes for Alexander Rybak’s second victory caused a huge increase in the audience.

Slovenia: interest remained decreased despite Lea Sirk’s qualification in the final 233,800 (12.4%).

USA

Steady rise was marked on the US side. which for the third consecutive year has been broadcast live the contest via Logo Tv. 52,000 viewers in 2016,64,000  viewers in 2017 while this year 74,000. Eurovision may not be so popular on the other side of the Atlantic, but gradually more and more people are interested in this music event.

Conclusion: Of course, more and more viewers will be tuned if their country is selected in the final. However, there are exceptions and they have to do with the type of song that each country had sent. An exemplary example is Hungary, which since 2011 counts only qualifications. This year, however, there were no high viewing rates as its participation was more targeted to a more specific audience.

On the other hand, Serbia has seen a spectacular increase in the TV show  that was the biggest since 2008. This has nothing to do with the fact that the country has qualified for the Grand Final after other years it has managed to qualify. Serbia has returned to its sounds with a highly Balkan song and viewers like to see their country’s participation.

Finally, many times the increased interest has to do with how much well known is the artist representing a country  like Norway with Alexander Rybak.