Eurovision 2017: This year’s contest in T.V viewing figures.

One week after the Eurovision 2017 Grand Final and after the glitter and noise of this year’s event have settled down, thats take a look at this years viewing figures of the most popular TV music show in the world.

Starting from the Northern part of Europe where the numbers bring mixed feelings about the final outcome of viewers.

DENMARK

• 1st Semi Final – 481.000 viewers
• 2nd Semi Final – 1.188.000 viewers
• Final – 1.213.000  viewers

In Denmark the Eurovision contest gained a total of 441.000 more viewers in comparison to last year’s figures. The qualification of , Anja Nissen, brought a wider number of people following the outcome of the Final upgrading the contest’s spot to No1 in the weekly T.V viewing board.

NORWAY

1,345 million of viewers watched this year’s Grand Final, which reflects a 78% of the total national t.v viewing. Eight out of ten watched the final a development that is justified by the fact that the Norwegian entry did fine this year qualifying to the final and achieving a top ten placing.

SWEDEN

• 1st semi final – 1,337 million viewers
• 2nd semi final – 887.000 viewers
• Grand Final – 2,849 million viewers

This years viewers were 800.000 less than last year when Sweden was the host country after Måns Zelmerlöw’s victory in Vienna , so a reduce in numbers seems rational. However, Sweden is one of the countries where the contest meets huge acceptance and fans every year.

FINLAND

• 1st Semi Final – 525.000 viewers
• 2nd Semi Final – 177.000 viewers
• Grand Final – 525.000 viewers

The third in a row disqualification of the country’s entry brought a rather low interest to Finnish T.V viewers as this year’s numbers were relatively lower than usual.

ESTONIA

248.000 spectators watched this year’s 2nd semi final in which the country was competing. The Estonian entry “Lost in Verona” didn’t make it to the Grand Final bringing a loss of viewers for the national broadcaster . It’s rather remarkable that the T.V Grand Final viewers were only  135.000, even less than half of those who had watched the  Eesti Laul  final in March. More than  292.000 were tuned on the national channel for the national final . Estonia this year was one of the countries with a important drop of T.V viewing figures for the Eurovision  Song Contest.

ICELAND

• 1st Semi Final – 162.000 viewers – 65.8% of the total t.v viewing
• 2nd Semi Final – 99.000 viewers – 40.2% of the total viewing
• Grand Final – 153.000 viewers – 61.8% of the total t.v viewing

Svala’s disqualification from Saturday’s Final  reduced the interest in the final outcome , bringing 39.000 less viewers in comparison with last year.

 

Lets move now to more Central parts of Europe where the figures show wide diversity in t.v viewing numbers comparing them to last year’s outcome.

 

POLAND

• 1st Semi Final – 1,7 million viewers
• 2nd Semi Final – 1,3 million viewers
• Grand Final – 2,7 million viewers

During Kasia Mos’ on stage performance T.V viewing reached at a moment a number of  3,1 million viewers. However the peak of the night in t.v figures came during Australia’s representative performance  Isaiah Firebrace with a number of 3,2 million  individuals tuned on the national channel.

GERMANY

The numbers for this year went downward as  7,76  million people watched Levina perform and trying to avoid a third in a row last placing on the final scoreboard. Last year there were 1,57 million viewers than this May’s figures.

 HUNGARY

• 1st Semi Final – 211.817 viewers
• 2nd Semi Final – 417.291 viewers
• Grand Final – 798.914 viewers

Hungary this year is one of the few countries with a really impressive increase in t.v viewing figures. The Grand Final achieved an average increase of  20%  with  798.914 viewers when last year the number of viewers was nearly 639.427.

BELGIUM

Rather stable can one call the t.v viewing  in Belgium as the Grand Final had a 1,74 million people watching It . This in sharing numbers means more than a 50% of  total number of viewers watched  Blanche achieving a 4th placing in the final.

 

FRANCE

• 1st Semi Final – 573.000  viewers
• 2nd Semi Final – 572.000 viewers
• Grand Final – 4,672 million viewers

In France for the first time the Grand Final show managed to surpass the popular talent  show of the Voice, with a margin of 410.ooo viewers. After last year’s Amir’s 6th placing it is the 2nd time in a row that the Eurovision Song Contest sees raising interest in the country.

THE NETHERLANDS

• 1st Semi Final – 1,446 million viewers
• 2nd Semi Final – 2,451 million viewers
• Grand Final – 4,067 million viewers

Dutch T.V viewing numbers seem stable and approached last year’s level.

 

UNITED KINGDOM

500.000 less people watched this year’s final comparing it with last year’s figures. A mid average  of 6,7 million watched the Grand Final , a number that reached its peak with  8,4 million of viewers tuned on BBC the moment of televoting results were revealed. Analytically the t.v viewing for all three events was:

• 1st Semi final – 480.000 viewers
• 2nd Semi final – 350.000 viewers
• Grand Final – 6.700.000 viewers

 

SWITZERLAND

• 1st Semi Final – 90.000  viewers(was broadcast recorded showing the highlights of the semi final).
• 2nd Semi Final – 223.000 viewers
• Grand Final – 272.000 viewers

Although the Grand Final had 49.000 viewers than last year this was not enough to give the lead to SRF channel against other t.v shows transmitted the same time.

 

CZECH REPUBLIC

• 1st Semi Final – 145.000 viewers
• 2nd Semi Final – 101.000 viewers
• Grand Final – Less than 200.000  viewers

This year’s Grand Final met the lowest interest than every year before since the country returned as a participant in 2015. Last year when the country has qualified to the final the t.v viewing figures reached the number of 336.000.

 

AUSTRIA

Lower t.v viewing figures for Austria too as the grand final was watched by an average of 896.000 viewers reaching during Portugal moment of crowning a total of   992.000 viewers, 368.000 less than last year’s final.

 

Lets move on to the Balkans and to some southern countries of Europe where the t.v viewing left mix feelings too.

ROMANIA

An average viewing of  561.000 viewers for the Grad Final reaching to a high point of  807.000  the moment the country’s representatives, Ilinca και Alex Florea, were performing on stage. It was the 2nd most popular t.v program especially in the big cities.

 

SLOVENIA

• 1st semi final– 154.800 viewers
• Δεύτερος Ημιτελικός – 67.900 viewers
• Grand Final – 166.600 viewers

The highest number was  202.000 viewers during the semi final when Omar Naber performed on stage his song On my way . His exclusion from the final though reduced people’s as expected.

 

CROATIA

666.000 viewers watched Jacques Houdek  perform his entry while the moment of Portugal’s crowning winner the t.v viewing reached the number of 666.498.

 

GREECE

• 1st semi final – (12,4%)  600,000 viewers
• 2nd semi final – (9,6%)  485,000 viewers
• Grand Final – (51,2% ) 1.814.000  viewers

The numbers for this year’s final were higher than last year’s when the country experienced its first ever disqualification. Although the 51,2% was the top percent in Saturday’s t.v viewing figures  it’s still far from the big numbers of 70-80% in the past.

 

CYPRUS

63.640 viewers watched Hovig qualify to the Grand Final while the Grand final viewers reached the number of 136.170 which equals a  57% share of the total t.v viewing.

 

SPAIN

Spain reached its lowest t.v viewing figures for the Grand Final that hasn’t shown for a decade. Only 4.056.000 viewers switched their T.V on TVE to watch the Grand Final show.  This year’s national selection drama apparently affected the general interest bringing  236.000 viewers less than last year.

 

ITALY

• 1st Semi Final – 514.000 viewers
• 2nd Semi Final – 589.000
• Grand Final – 3,742 million viewers

On the other hand Italy demonstrated a impressive increase in T.V viewing figures . People’s high expectations for this year’s favorite to win , Francesco Gabbani brought  400.000 more viewers than last year. Even more impressive the number of 14.964.000 viewers across the country that watched at least for minute this year’s edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.

 

PORTUGAL

2,5 million viewers watched the Grand Final and about  1,8 million  Salvador’s performance on stage. During the moment he received his prize , t.v viewing reached to a  57% share of the total number of viewers.

 

AUSTRALIA

• 1st Semi final – 403.000 viewers
• 2nd Semi-Final  – 350.000
• Grand Final – 308.000 viewers

Australia is a special case due to the time difference from the rest of the European continent. The figures above reflect the t.v viewing during the live shows at 5 am in the morning. Additionally  1,1 million watched the recorded transmission of the Grand Final Sunday afternoon.

OVERALL

The overall picture shows a slight decreasing trend in viewing figures, even in countries that participated in the Grand Final. Was is it cause of the organization , the Russia-Ukraine conflict that brought politics in , the songs or national disappointment in some cases? There can be lot of controversial arguments on the subject and  EBU officials will surely take into consideration bilateral factors. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Eurovision Song Contest remains the most popular music show around the globe attracting millions of viewers every year.

 

.