The 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, recorded declining television audiences across multiple major European markets compared to the 2025 contest, with several countries posting multi-year lows. The drop in viewership came amid a historic five-country boycott, the smallest participant field since 2003, and widespread protests over Israel’s continued inclusion in the competition.

Background

The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), following Austria’s victory at the 2025 contest with JJ‘s “Wasted Love“. The contest comprised two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May and a grand final on 16 May 2026, all held at the 16,152-seat Wiener Stadthalle.

Thirty-five countries participated in the contest, two fewer than in 2025 and the lowest figure since 2003, before the introduction of semi-finals. Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain each declined to participate in protest at Israel’s inclusion, citing the ongoing war in Gaza. This marked the largest boycott of the competition since 1970. Some of the boycotting broadcasters, including RTÉ (Ireland) and RTV Slovenia, also declined to air the contest. Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania returned to the competition after previous absences.

Grand Final: Country-by-Country Viewing Figures

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom recorded its lowest audience for a Eurovision Song Contest grand final in 15 years. An average of 5.2 million viewers watched the final live on BBC One, a drop of 1.49 million compared to the 2025 final, which had attracted approximately 6.7 million viewers. Based on data going back to 1999, this is the lowest linear television figure for the United Kingdom since 5.54 million viewers watched the 2010 contest from Oslo, Norway. The UK’s entry, Look Mum No Computer, performing “Eins, Zwei, Drei”, finished 26th in the final with 1 point.

During the semi-final stages, the UK also recorded reduced audiences. Semi-Final One drew 1.3 million viewers on BBC One, down 253,000 from 2025 and the lowest semi-final audience since broadcasts moved from BBC Three and BBC Four to BBC One. Semi-Final Two drew the smallest UK audience for a semi-final since 2022.

France

In France, an average of 3,986,000 viewers watched the grand final on France 2, with an audience share of 33.3%. This represents a fall of 1,298,000 viewers compared to 2025, and a drop in audience share of 6.7 percentage points. The figure makes the 2026 contest the least-watched in France since the 2023 final, when La Zarra competed in Liverpool.

Germany

Germany recorded just under 9 million viewers for the grand final. On ARD, an average of 8.18 million viewers watched with a 42.8% share, with a further 760,000 viewers on One, giving a combined audience of 8,940,000 and a total audience share of 64.5%. The grand final was the most-watched television broadcast in Germany on the night, with over 2 million more viewers than the second most-watched show. The figures represent a modest decrease of 198,000 viewers compared to 2025, but still constitute the second most-watched contest in Germany over the past decade.

Italy

Italy was one of the few major markets to record a slight increase in grand final viewers. Over 5 million viewers tuned into Rai 1, with an average audience of 5,033,000 and a 36% audience share, up 277,000 viewers and 2.1 percentage points compared to 2025. Italy’s entry, Sal Da Vinci performing “Per sempre si”, finished 5th in the final with 281 points. However, during Semi-Final One, Italian figures were considerably lower: 1,856,000 viewers on Rai 2, a 10.1% share, down from 2,489,000 viewers (12.3% share) in 2025, representing the lowest opening semi-final interest in Italy for three years.

Austria (Host Nation)

As the host nation, Austria saw significantly elevated viewing figures. An average of 1,573,000 viewers watched the grand final on ORF 1, with an audience share of 78%, the largest Eurovision audience in Austria since the country last hosted the contest in 2015. This represented an increase of 676,000 viewers over the 2025 final. During Semi-Final Two, 680,000 viewers watched on ORF 1, up by 58,000 from Semi-Final One.

Bulgaria

The grand final became one of the most-watched television events in Bulgaria’s history following Bulgaria’s first-ever victory in the contest. An average of 588,591 viewers watched the final on the live broadcast from Vienna, with a 45.7% audience share and a peak audience of approximately 895,000. This makes it the second most-watched Eurovision final ever recorded in Bulgaria, surpassed only by the 2017 contest when Kristian Kostov finished second in Kyiv. DARA represented Bulgaria with the song “Bangaranga”.

Portugal

Portugal’s grand final audience fell sharply, a direct consequence of the country failing to qualify from the semi-finals. An average of 465,000 viewers watched the final on RTP 1, with an audience share of 11.2%. This represents a drop of 401,000 viewers and 11.3 percentage points compared to 2025, and the smallest audience for a Eurovision grand final in Portugal since 2019, the last time Portugal failed to reach the final. During Semi-Final One, 747,000 viewers watched on RTP, achieving a 15.7% market share, a drop of only 5,000 viewers from 2025.

Semi-Final Viewing Trends

Viewer numbers for the semi-finals fell across most reporting markets compared to 2025.

In Belgium, the combined audience for Semi-Final One across VRT and RTBF was 750,707, down by over 400,000 from 2025. The decline was almost entirely in Flanders, where VRT lost 414,000 viewers, while interest in Wallonia fell only marginally (down approximately 15,000).

In Sweden, 1.149 million viewers watched Semi-Final One on SVT 1, a drop of 316,000 from the 2025 equivalent and the lowest semi-final audience featuring Sweden since 2023.

In Greece, Semi-Final One attracted an average audience of 475,000 viewers on ERT1, with a total reach of 994,000 for those watching at least one minute of the broadcast. The show had a 37.7% audience share, peaking at 44% during the announcement of qualifiers. ERT1 was the most-watched channel in Greece throughout the show.

Eurovision attracted 166 million viewers globally in 2025, and while comparable figures have not been published yet by the EBU, there is a clear trend in most reporting markets.

The 2026 contest was held against the backdrop of the largest boycott in the competition’s history since 1970, with five countries, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia, withdrawing over Israel’s participation. The absence of Spain was the first time the “Big Five” grouping of automatic finalists had been incomplete since Italy joined the group in 2011. Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Wiener Stadthalle during the grand final. The competition was won by Bulgaria’s DARA with “Bangaranga”, with Israel finishing second.