Euro Vision Song Contest
Eight million see ESC defeat on TV
Lord of the Lost with their song “Blood & Glitter” at the ESC final in Liverpool.
© imago images/TT
On average, almost eight million viewers in Germany watched the TV broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest via ARD.
On Saturday evening, a musical mega-event took place in Liverpool with the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). This was also reflected in the TV ratings on May 13th. The ESC was clearly the winner of the day, while the German entry Lord of the Lost unfortunately only managed to secure last place in the competition.
According to AGF Videoforschung in cooperation with GfK, around 7.45 million viewers watched the more than four-hour live broadcast of the ESC on the first broadcast alone – a market share of 35.8 percent of the total audience. Among the 14 to 49 year olds it was around 3.23 million, even 53.4 percent. According to the NDR, it was a very strong 66.9 percent, around 0.97 million, among the 14 to 29 year olds.
The niche channel ONE was joined by around 0.51 million viewers. On linear television, there were an average of almost eight million people on ARD who tuned in to the event. According to a press release, around 958,000 people also watched the live stream in the ARD media center or on “eurovision.de”.
Why was it only enough for 26th place?
Lord of the Lost also have their say. “The result is of course a pity, but the joy of the incredibly beautiful event outweighs it,” the band is quoted in the message as saying. Meanwhile, those responsible are wondering how to proceed. With the exception of Michael Schulte (33), who took fourth place in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018, Germany has been bobbing at the lower end of the points rankings for years.
“We started with an extraordinary act that didn’t achieve the result we wanted at all,” said Andreas Gerling, head of the ARD team for the ESC at NDR, in a statement. It was “very, very disappointing and sobering. In the selection process, we had opted for the expansion of musical genres. We must and will now face the discussion and consideration as to why this title did not catch on at the ESC either.”