131 Million watched ESC Final in Vienna – ORF draws positive conclusion

Record Figures in Finland and Sweden

The contest was also a major event beyond traditional television. Between January 1 and May 30, leading social media platforms registered over 2.75 billion views related to the ESC. Instagram recorded growth of around 3.25 percent year-on-year. ORF itself garnered around 100 million views across its channels with approximately 450 posts.

In Austria, around 1.5 million people or more continuously watched the broadcast on ORF 1. The strongest segment of the approximately four-hour show from Vienna's Stadthalle was around 10:00 PM, with just under 1.6 million viewers, corresponding to a market share of around 55 percent. In the 12- to 29-year-old age group, the channel even achieved a 91 percent market share.

Voting from 148 Countries

In terms of voting, Eurovision fans were more international than ever. According to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), people from 148 countries participated in the voting, two more than the previous year. The most active voters outside the 35 participating states were reportedly from the USA, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

ORF had hosted the ESC in Basel the previous year, following JJ's victory, which attracted 166 million viewers. Enthusiasm also continued online: livestreams and video streams in Austria garnered 66 million viewing minutes since April 24. The special page songcontest.orf.at and the rest of the orf.at network together recorded approximately 13 million page views.

Survey Sees Austria as Winner

A representative survey commissioned by ORF and conducted by Integral among 1,000 individuals living in Austria also revealed broad approval. 98 percent of respondents knew that the ESC took place on May 16 in Vienna's Stadthalle. 70 percent were of the opinion that Austria would become more internationally known through the ESC. 68 percent explicitly praised ORF for its role as host.

"I am very pleased that we have achieved our goals despite numerous calls for boycotts in the run-up and the absence of some important markets. The TV reach of 131 million even exceeded our expectations," Krön said about the results. However, there remained a significant gap compared to the previous year's record from Basel.