Eurovision 2025 watched by 166 million

RTÉ News​

4 days ago

The Eurovision Song Contest confirmed its place as the world's biggest live televised music event with 166 million viewers in 37 countries watching the 2025 competition, organisers have said.
This year's 69th edition in Basel, Switzerland, attracted three million more viewers than last year's contest in Malmö, Sweden, said the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
The EBU said Eurovision had seen significant increases in youth engagement with a record 60% of viewers aged 15-24 tuning into the competition.
The 17 May final was won by 24-year-old Austrian JJ, whose real name is Johannes Pietsch, singing Wasted Love, which blended techno beats with operatic vocals.
"This year's Eurovision Song Contest has once again demonstrated its extraordinary power to unite millions across continents through the joy of music and shared celebration," said Eurovision director Martin Green.
After the drama as the votes from national juries and the public were revealed, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel - whose participation drew protests - on 357, and Estonia on 356.
Votes were cast from 146 states, with viewers in the United States and Canada voting the most outside Europe, ahead of Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa.
The final commanded viewing shares were above 50% in 19 of the 37 European markets, led by Iceland (98%), Finland (91%), Sweden (90%), Norway (85%), and Denmark (75%).
The viewing shares in Finland and in France (40%) were the highest ever for Eurovision in those countries.
The highest average audience was in Germany, with 9.1 million viewers - the best figures since 2016, said the EBU.
Meanwhile, there were 969 million views on Instagram and 748.5 million on TikTok.
Following JJ's win, next year's event will be hosted in Austria.
Last week, Eurovision director Martin Green released an open letter following voting concerns surrounding this year's competition.
The statement came amid ongoing debates regarding Israel's promotion of its entry, as well as discussions among several national broadcasters about the current voting system.
In his letter, Martin Green said Eurovision employs specially developed systems designed to prevent fraudulent voting.
"Every year the Reference Group for the Contest, which contains representatives from and acts on behalf of our Members, studies the data provided by our voting partner Once to make recommendations of any actions available to us to ensure our rules and systems remain fail safe and take into account contemporary external factors such as advances in technology and external influences," he wrote.
"This process will happen as it always does in June this year."