After Eurovision 2020 was cancelled, EBU in collaboration with NPO, NOS and AVROTOS, started preparing a special program to pay tribute to Eurovision 2020 contestants, but above all to shine Europe with music.
This special program started at 21:00 CEST with a duration of 2 hours. ‘Europe Shine A Light’ was broadcasted in 45 countries in Europe, Australia and Asia. We could see parts of this year’s songs, special guests and performances, and at the end, one of the most beautiful moments, all Eurovision 2020 contests singing from their homes to the world ‘Love Shine A Light’, Eurovision 1997’s winner song originally performed by Katrina & the Waves.
EUROPE SHINE A LIGHT VIEWING FIGURES
This special program was followed by 73 million viewers (data from the 38 countries that have audience measurement), it means 109 million viewers less than Eurovision 2019*.
The program was especially followed between young people (15-24 years), where, according to the European Broadcasting Union, the audience rises to 20% of the share, almost doubling the average audience of the channels that broadcast the show (11%).
*On these data provided by the European Broadcasting Union, must be taken into account that Eurovision has 3 shows (2 Semi-Finals and the Grand Final), and the number of the total viewers is made with the average audience from all live shows, while ‘Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light’ was only one show and shorter than a Eurovision Grand Final.
This are the ‘Europe Shine A Light’ viewing figures around Europe, Asia and Australia:
- Italy: 2,763,000 viewers / 11.05% (RAI1)
- United Kingdom: 2,400,000 viewers / 13.2% – 2,860,000 viewers / 17.86% (BBC One) ¹⁰
- Netherlands: 2,370.000 viewers / 14.8% ⁶ (NPO1)
- Russia: 2,094,100 viewers / 11.7% – 369,300 viewers / 10.4% ⁷ (1TV)
- Germany: 1,640,000 viewers / 7.6% ¹ (Das Erste)
- Spain: 1,262,000 viewers / 7.8% (La 1)
- France: 1,160,000 viewers / 7.5% (France 2)
- Ukraine: 962,130 viewers / 0.48% – 3.06% ⁹ (UA:PERSHIY / STB)
- Sweden: 868,000 viewers – 713.000 viewers ⁴ (SVT1)
- Poland: 723,000 viewers / 7.08% (TVP1)
- Denmark: 577,000 viewers (DR1)
- Belgium: 557,990 viewers / 25% ⁵ (VRT) – 234,725 viewers ⁵ (La Une)
- Portugal: 488,400 viewers / 9.7% (RTP1)
- Lithuania: 330,000 viewers / 6.1% – 350,000 viewers/ 5% ⁸ (LRT Televizija)
- Greece: ~ 250,000 viewers / 6.2% (ERT1)
- Austria: 235,000 viewers / 8% (ORF1)
- Finland: 163,000 viewers – 81,000 viewers ² (YLE2)
- Switzerland: 159,000 espectadores / 12.5% (SRF)
- Estonia: 135,000 viewers / 11.2% (ETV)
- Latvia: 96,800 viewers / 5.2% – 84,600 viewers / 4.6% (LTV1) ¹¹
- Australia: 98,000 viewers – 123,000 viewers ³ (SBS One)
- Iceland: 67,000 viewers / 26.5% (RUV1)
- Israel: 58,000 viewers / 2.9% (KAN11)
- Cyprus: 45,000 viewers / 7% (RIK1)
¹ IN GERMANY EUROPE SHINE A LIGHT WAS BROADCASTED WITH A DELAY, STARTING FROM 22:00 CEST ON DAS ERSTE
² SECOND DATA REFERS TO SUNDAY SHOW’S RE-RUN. ‘EUROPE SHINE A LIGHT’ WAS BROADCASTED BOTH TIMES IN YLE2, FINISH PUBLIC TELEVISION SECOND CHANNEL
³ SECOND DATA REFERS TO ‘EUROVISION: THE BIG NIGHT IN’ SPECIAL, WHICH WAS BROADCASTED THE NIGHT BEFORE ‘EUROPE SHINE A LIGHT’
⁴ SECOND DATA REFERS TO ‘EUROVISION SVERIGES 12A’ SPECIAL, BROADCASTED on THURSDAY MAY 14th
⁵ FIRST DATA REFERS TO VRT (Flemish Radio and Television Broadcasting Organisation) VIEWING FIGURES, SECOND DATA REFERS TO RTBF (Radio-Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française) VIEWING FIGURES.
⁶ SWITZERLAND DATA REFERS ONLY TO SFR (GERMAN VERSION TELEVISION) VIEWING FiGURES
⁷ FIRST DATA REFERS TO RUSSIAN CITIES WITH A POPULATION OF MORE THAN 100,000 PEOPLE AND SECOND DATA TO MOSCOW’S AUDIENCE
⁸ SECOND DATA REFERS TO LRT’S SPECIAL ‘EuROOPVISION’ broAdcasted in LITHUANIAN PUBLIC TELEVISION BEFORE ‘EUROPE SHINE A LIGHT’
⁹ IN UKRAINE, ‘EUROPE SHINE A LIGHT’ WAS broadcasted in TWO CHANNELS (UA:PERSHIY Y STB) FIRST SHARE NUMBER REFERS TO UA:PERSHIY (165.514 VIEWERS) AND SECOND ONE TO STB (818.684 VIEWERS).
¹⁰ UNITED KINGDOM’S SECOND DATA REFERS TO ‘EUROVISION: COME TOGETHER’ SPECIAL WHICH WAS EMITTED BEFORE ‘EUROVISION: EUROPE SHINE A LIGHT’.
¹¹ LATVIA’S SECOND DATA REFERS TO ‘Eirovīzija 2020. Studijā Samanta Tīna’ EMITTED BEFORE ‘EUROVISION: EUROPE SHINE A LIGHT’
THIS DATA ARE GOING TO BE UPDATE WHENEVER MORE VIEWING FIGURES DATA ARE KNOWN.
Between all countries, viewing figures data are remarkable, in Italy, with 2,763,000 viewers, the country with the highest number of viewers, followed by the United Kingdom with 2,400,000 viewers. In the Netherlands, ‘Europe Shine A Light’ organizer country, the show was seen by 2,370,000 viewers and 14.8% of the share.
If we are talking about share, Iceland was the country with the highest per cent of the share with 26.5%. Belgium’s Flemish public television, VRT, reached the second ‘Europe Shine A Light’ highest share with an audience of 25%.
Between Eurovision’s Big5 members, are especially remarkable ‘Europe Shine A Light’ viewing figures in Italy and the United Kingdom, above 10% share. On the other side was France, where ‘Europe Shine A Light’ was only followed by 7,5% of the french audience and 1.160.000 viewers in France 2.
‘FREE EUROPEAN SONG CONTEST’ FIRST EDITION WAS A SUCCESS IN GERMANY
In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, besides ‘Europe Shine A Light’ broadcast on public televisions which are part of EBU, Prosieben private channel host ‘Free European Song Contest’ first edition. The contest with Eurovision’s same format was won by Nico Santos, spanish contestant, with his song ‘Like I Love You’.
The contest was followed in Germany by 9,6% of the share with an average audience of 2.570.000 viewers, it was especially followed between 14 and 49 years audience with a 19’2% of the share. Free European Song Contest was followed at any moment by 10.300.000 viewers.
Sources: Kantar Media / Eurovision / Dos 30′ / Songfestival.be / Kijkonderzoek / SRF / Kantar Emor / RAI / Mediascope / Think Box / Zapping TV / ORF / DWDL.de / TouteLaTele / MMS / Kantar Gallup / FinPannel / YLE / TV Tonight / Eurovision Fun / Zappit / Gallup Iceland / LRT / Eurowizija / Ukrainian Television Industry Committee / CIM / Broadcast Now / Israel Audience Research Board