If you believe the EBU, Eurovision gets bigger each year. That was the impression given by the early figure of 204 million attached to 2017. However, the EBU’s later consolidated report put the three live shows from Kyiv at approximately 182 million people across 42 markets. That was down on 2016, in part because Russia withdrew and did not broadcast any of the shows.
So, a retrospective correction to the opening figure: Eurovision 2017 did not set a new audience record. The Grand Final nevertheless held an average viewing share of 36.2%, the same as in 2016 and more than twice the average prime-time share of the same channels. The EBU also reported 6 million live-streaming sessions across the three shows in 233 territories, plus 8.5 million on-demand requests. Those are sessions and requests, not additional confirmed individual viewers.
- Looking for 2018 figures? Click here.
- Read about the 2016 viewing figures
Semi finals
Things didn’t start well for Eurovision. There’s not much available in terms of ratings for the semi-finals, and the numbers we could find didn’t inspire. The Big Five nations tend to hide the qualifying rounds away on small channels, and despite the numbers being low, they were an improvement on 2016 in France, Italy and Germany.
In Spain, contemporary reports commonly put the second semi-final at approximately 461,000 viewers and a 2.7% share. The original figures of 2.8% for the first heat and 2.7% for Thursday should therefore be treated cautiously, rather than as firmly established record lows. In the UK, half a million watched on Tuesday, but on Thursday interest drained away with just 350,000 watching. As well as being down on Tuesday, the number was less than half of those who watched last year’s show. In the Czech Republic just 145,000 turned on their sets – down 90,000 on last year. Polish TVP reported respectable numbers with 1.7 million on Tuesday, and 1.3 on Thursday.
Even in Eurovision’s current spiritual home, things didn’t look great. Contemporary reports put the Swedish figures at 337,000 for the first semi-final and 887,000 for the second. The claim that these were the worst ratings since the EBU introduced two qualifying heats needs a primary Swedish ratings source, so it remains a reported contemporary claim rather than a fully verified conclusion.
In Switzerland, 90,000 watched edited highlights from the first semi-final, shown before the second qualifier, which attracted 223,000 viewers – a market share of 18%, making it the most watched broadcast on SRF Zwei.
Finland reported low numbers across both semi-finals. The original article uses 525,000 for more than one broadcast, but it is not clear whether that figure refers to an average, a peak or total reach. The detailed claims should therefore not be repeated as confirmed comparisons.
It wasn’t all gloomy news though. Approximately 1.4 million Dutch viewers watched the Tuesday show, and 2.451 million were reported for Thursday as O’G3NE qualified. Blanche pulled in close on 40% of the Flemish market share and 25% of French viewers.
The Big Show
Naturally enough, Saturday evening brought better numbers. Eurovision fever certainly took hold in Italy, with Francesco Gabbani helping it top ratings with 3.742 million hooked. 57% of Portuguese viewers watched Salvador win. The peak numbers towards the end of voting saw 2.5 million watching the points stack up. Overall the contest did well averaging 1.4 million earlier in the evening up against football.
Hungarian interest was significantly higher this year. 798,914 viewers watched the final, equal to 27.3% of the market. A 20% surge on last year.
A massive 57% of Cypriot TV viewers followed Hovig in Kyiv. In total 136,170 viewers tuned in to watch.
Despite not making the final, Slovenian interest continued, with 166,600 viewers tuning in – an 8.8% share. The Tuesday semi-final pulled in 8.2%.
A healthy 4.067 million (64.2%) of Dutch viewers watched and the Greeks were certainly behind Demy with 5.5 million glued to their screens. Approximately 807,000 tuned in to watch in Romania, making it the most watched show on Saturday night. These national figures are not directly comparable: they variously describe averages, peaks, reach and market share.
It was the final broadcast for Israeli IBA, and it averaged 15.3%, peaking at 19.3 when IMRI sang. Despite being down on last year, this still made it the most watched show on Saturday.
Brexit had no impact on UK interest. The average was 6.73 million (36.6%), with a peak of 8.37 million (58.7%) at 11.30; up slightly on last year. It did however struggle whilst up against ‘Britain’s Got Talent‘ with numbers closer on 5.5 million.
In France, 4.7 million watched, helping it beat The Voice for the first time.
Next door, in Belgium, Flemish VRT was happy with an average of 1.2 million, peaking at 1.6 million when Blanche performed her top five song. In Walloon, almost half a million watched – the highest number since 2000.
Croatian HRT enjoyed a slight boost with 666,498 viewers – a share of almost 50%.
A total of 3.1 million Polish viewers watched Kasia Mos in the Grand Final. It was the most watched programme.
Although at its peak Eurovision dominated ratings in Romania, the numbers overall disappointed. An average Saturday would see the top-rated show attract 1.5 million, but when Alex and Illinca performed, they peaked at approximately 807,000 (15% share). The average saw it finish second with approximately 561,000 watching (11% share).
Eurovision was the second placed show in Switzerland, with a 24.2% market share (272,000 watched).
Further afield, a record half a million Australians had an early start, watching the show at 5am. 1.1 million watched the peak time repeat. 64,000 watched in the USA – up 14,000 on last year.
Norwegian NRK reported 1.4 million – a 78% share – up from 890,000 last year. In Finland the semi-final theme continued. After Norma John failed to qualify, the original report put the final audience at 525,000, although the broadcast and measurement basis are not clear. In Denmark an average of 1.2 million watched the Grand Final, an increase of 441,000 viewers over 2016, making it the most watched television show last week.
Despite Svala not making the final, 153,000 Icelandic viewers were watching the contest – down 38,000 on last year, but still representing an incredible 97.5% share of viewers.
In Austria, the numbers averaged at 896,000 viewers, with a peak closer to 1 million at the end of voting. It’s not bad, but down by nearly 400,000 since last year.
It was also bad news in Germany where 7.76 million tuned in. The EBU later confirmed that Germany had the highest average viewing figure among participating markets for the eighth consecutive year, even though the 31.5% market share represented the country’s lowest ratings in eight years. Sweden too recorded low numbers with 2.9 million watching: the lowest since 2010.
In Estonia just 135,000 watched – the lowest number ever for a final and less than half the numbers seen earlier this year for Eesti Laul.
Unsurprisingly, things were dark in Spain too: the original report said just over 4 million (28.4%) watched – the worst numbers in over ten years. The official RTVE figure for the complete Grand Final broadcast was subsequently reported as an average of 4,474,000 viewers and a 28.6% share. The voting segment reached 5,219,000 viewers and 35.1%, while Manel Navarro’s performance reached 5,658,000; the day’s peak was 5,834,000. Next year, RTVE plans to revitalise Eurovision.
