The 67th Eurovision Song Contest, presented by the BBC on behalf of Ukraine, was a clear success to anyone in the host the city of Liverpool and on screen with records being smashed for viewing on public service media channels across Europe and beyond.
Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Eurovision 2023 reached 162 million people over the live shows across 38 public service media markets. The viewing share of the Grand Final - where Sweden’s Loreen snatched victory from Finnish rapper Käärijä - on Saturday 13 May was 40.9% and was more than double the broadcast channel's average (17.4%).
Host country the UK delivered its largest Eurovision audience on record, with an average of 9.9 million viewers watching the Grand Final on BBC One, up 12% on 2022, with a 63% share Sweden, who made history winning the Contest for a seventh time, delivered an average audience of 2.3 million viewers, accounting for 82.3% of all TV viewers in the country. Last year’s winning country, Ukraine, delivered a viewing share of 19.7%. In a third of markets (13 out of 39) Eurovision claimed over 50% of the viewing share, led by Iceland with 98.7% and followed closely by other Nordic markets (Norway 87.8%, Finland 85.6%, and Sweden 82.3%).
The contest once again proved hugely popular with younger audiences. Among 15–24-year-olds, the viewing share of the Grand Final was 53.5%, remaining four times higher than the broadcast channels average (13.8%).
Online, Eurovision’s digital platforms saw record engagement. 7.6 million people watched the Grand Final live on the Official Eurovision YouTube channel with over 3.2 million live views of the semi-finals. 45 million unique viewers across 232 countries and territories watched content on the official YouTube channel during the week of the Live Shows – up 2.7 millioni on 2022.
On TikTok, the Eurovision Song Contest’s official entertainment partner, the three live shows were viewed 4.8 million times. 105 million unique accounts were reached on TikTok during the two weeks of the event. TikTok also saw a total of 315 million video views on the official Eurovision account – up 40% year-on-year. There were further 53 million views of content in the days following the Grand Final. Videos on the platform using the hashtag #Eurovision2023 have been watched 4.8 billion times.
32 million unique accounts were reached on Instagram – three times as many as in 2022. Videos on the platform were seen 181 million times, while content on the ESC Facebook page was seen by 29 million people during the two event weeks – 5 million more than in 2022.
In total, videos on the four social channels were watched nearly 540 million times during the weeks of the event - nearly double the amount seen in 2022.
Speaking on behalf of the EBU regarding the viewing figures, EBU director general Noel Curransaid: “With hundreds of millions tuning in to the live shows on EBU Member channels and record-breaking numbers engaging with the songs and artists on our different digital platforms, the Eurovision Song Contest has never been more popular. Our thanks go to the BBC who worked closely with UA:PBC for organising this incredible showcase of Ukrainian culture and the diversity of European music and creativity.”
“We are all incredibly proud to deliver three amazing live shows for record-breaking audiences across globe,” added BBC Director-General Tim Davie. “The numbers speak for themselves and are a testament to the hard work of our teams at the BBC and our colleagues in Ukraine. This was a Eurovision Song Contest like no other and we couldn’t have been more proud to showcase Ukraine and Liverpool to the rest of the world.”
Host country the UK delivered its largest Eurovision audience on record, with an average of 9.9 million viewers watching the Grand Final on BBC One, up 12% on 2022, with a 63% share Sweden, who made history winning the Contest for a seventh time, delivered an average audience of 2.3 million viewers, accounting for 82.3% of all TV viewers in the country. Last year’s winning country, Ukraine, delivered a viewing share of 19.7%. In a third of markets (13 out of 39) Eurovision claimed over 50% of the viewing share, led by Iceland with 98.7% and followed closely by other Nordic markets (Norway 87.8%, Finland 85.6%, and Sweden 82.3%).
The contest once again proved hugely popular with younger audiences. Among 15–24-year-olds, the viewing share of the Grand Final was 53.5%, remaining four times higher than the broadcast channels average (13.8%).
Online, Eurovision’s digital platforms saw record engagement. 7.6 million people watched the Grand Final live on the Official Eurovision YouTube channel with over 3.2 million live views of the semi-finals. 45 million unique viewers across 232 countries and territories watched content on the official YouTube channel during the week of the Live Shows – up 2.7 millioni on 2022.
On TikTok, the Eurovision Song Contest’s official entertainment partner, the three live shows were viewed 4.8 million times. 105 million unique accounts were reached on TikTok during the two weeks of the event. TikTok also saw a total of 315 million video views on the official Eurovision account – up 40% year-on-year. There were further 53 million views of content in the days following the Grand Final. Videos on the platform using the hashtag #Eurovision2023 have been watched 4.8 billion times.
32 million unique accounts were reached on Instagram – three times as many as in 2022. Videos on the platform were seen 181 million times, while content on the ESC Facebook page was seen by 29 million people during the two event weeks – 5 million more than in 2022.
In total, videos on the four social channels were watched nearly 540 million times during the weeks of the event - nearly double the amount seen in 2022.
Speaking on behalf of the EBU regarding the viewing figures, EBU director general Noel Curransaid: “With hundreds of millions tuning in to the live shows on EBU Member channels and record-breaking numbers engaging with the songs and artists on our different digital platforms, the Eurovision Song Contest has never been more popular. Our thanks go to the BBC who worked closely with UA:PBC for organising this incredible showcase of Ukrainian culture and the diversity of European music and creativity.”
“We are all incredibly proud to deliver three amazing live shows for record-breaking audiences across globe,” added BBC Director-General Tim Davie. “The numbers speak for themselves and are a testament to the hard work of our teams at the BBC and our colleagues in Ukraine. This was a Eurovision Song Contest like no other and we couldn’t have been more proud to showcase Ukraine and Liverpool to the rest of the world.”
