The first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 peaked at just 341,500 viewers on the YouTube channel. This is a sharp decline compared to previous years, marking a significant slump in viewership since the competition first moved to live streaming.
How many viewers tuned in for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest semifinal on a livestream?
Following the trend of previous years, the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 was broadcast on both regional television and various streaming platforms. The first semifinal drew approximately 341,500 viewers on the official YouTube channel.
Compared to the first semi-final in 2025, peak viewership on the official channel has dropped by 22.7%. Major streamers largely ignored the event this time around. That said, viewership numbers are expected to bounce back for the grand final.
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Before this year, the record for the lowest viewership was held by the first semifinal of Eurovision 2022, which peaked at just 342,300 concurrent viewers on the official channel.
Between 2022 and 2023, the contest's viewership figures in livestreaming gradually grew. The contest reached its height of popularity in 2024; that year, the semifinals drew 461,300 and 565,300 Peak Viewers respectively, while the grand final pulled in a record-breaking 1.55 million PV. This remains the most-popular broadcast in the history of the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.
After 2024, the number of viewers began to gradually decrease and has now dropped to the level of four years ago.
What were the results of the first 2026 Eurovision Song Contest semifinal?
The first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 featured representatives from 15 countries.
Countries that passed into the final:
- Moldova,
- Sweden,
- Croatia,
- Greece,
- Finland,
- Israel,
- Belgium,
- Lithuania,
- Poland
- Serbia.
Meanwhile, five countries were eliminated from the competition: Portugal, Georgia, Montenegro, Estonia, and San Marino.
The second semi-final is scheduled for May 14 and will feature another 15 countries.
A total of 25 nations will compete in the grand final: 10 qualifiers from each of the two semi-finals, the "Big Four" (the UK, Germany, Italy, and France), and the host nation, Austria. The final stage of the competition will be held on May 16.
Where is the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 taking place?
The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest marks the 70th edition of the historic competition. Austria is playing host this year, having previously held the event in 1967 and 2015. The country earned the right to host the 2026 contest following JJ’s victory with the song "Wasted Love" in 2025.
The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest grand final will be held at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, an arena with a capacity of up to 16,000 which also hosted the Eurovision final back in 2015.
