Welcome to another Newsletter from the ESC Insight team as Eurovision season is hotting up. To read the full news and updates from all things in the world of Eurovision click on this beautiful link.
This week’s Newsletter listens to the first song of the Eurovision season and the first act in Melfest and runs through the numerous deadlines and dates approaching. Editor Ben Robertson uses the Robertson’s Reflection column this week to outline the rationale behind why Swedish TV would want to argue for an earlier start time to the Song Contest.
Martin is using Melodifestivalen as his basis for comparison. Moving Eurovision one hour earlier would make it match up to the start time of Sweden’s selection, albeit with a longer run than SVT’s two hour National Final. Nevertheless Martin has noticed a key difference in the two that the one hour difference helps create. Melodifestivalen regularly gets a bigger viewership than Eurovision in Sweden, and most of that appeal comes from families. Martin argues that the move to an earlier start time is essential to lock more viewers not just in Sweden but also in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Eurovision itself is a very different competition across the different nations. In Iceland, furthest west where the Contest starts at 19:00 local time, it is really notable how generally popular Eurovision is. Not only have they recorded 99% viewing shares of the Grand Final but also their branch of the OGAE fan club is dominated by families in a way no other club can boast. Eurovision in Iceland is very much a family affair and it was little surprise when pre-school teachers from Pollapönk represented the nation in 2014.
Do you agree with the views of Martin Österdahl and SVT? Should Eurovision work towards an earlier start time for the Contest? Feel free to discuss below. In the meantime if you haven’t already done so, sign up to get the Insight newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.