Britons are most likely to say they will be watching for ironic reasons
With the start of Eurovision 2024 right around the corner, YouGov’s latest Eurotrack results reveal which countries will be watching, why they watch, and how they think the public votes.
Those in 2024 hosting nation Sweden are the most likely to be tuning in to Eurovision this year, with half (50%) saying they’ll definitely or probably be watching.
This is notably higher than the other countries surveyed, with Italy (40%), Spain (40%) coming joint second behind for expected viewership.
By contrast, only a quarter (28%) of Brits intend to watch this year, with Germans the least likely to say they will tune in, at 23%.
In fact, enthusiasm for Eurovision is down significantly in Germany – 36% had been geared up to watch 2019’s contest, representing a 13pt fall in interest for 2024. Denmark has seen a more modest five point fall (to 29%), while in Britain there has actually been a five point increase in likelihood to watch this year’s contest.
Most people across the eight countries surveyed say they have watched Eurovision before, with the exception of Italy, at 47%. The most avid Eurovision nations are Spain (88%), Sweden (85%) and Denmark (82%) – here in Britain 72% of people say they have ever watched it.
Where is Eurovision most seen as a big event?
In terms of how popular people perceive the contest to be in their country, Sweden leads the pack with 64% saying it is a big event, up eight points from 2019. This may be in part due to 2024’s contest being held in the country for the seventh time.
The British public view Eurovision as a much bigger event now than in 2019. Just 23% called it a big or fairly big event five years ago, a figure which has since doubled to 46%.
French people are least likely to share this sentiment, with just 19% saying Eurovision is a big deal in France.
Why do Europeans watch Eurovision?
The most popular reasons for watching Eurovision in Britain surround irony.
Half (52%) who intend to watch the contest this year say they tune in because they find the commentary amusing, a nod to Graham Norton’s hosting of UK coverage each year, and Brits are most likely out of all European countries surveyed to say they watch to make fun of it (28%). This is compared to just 4-12% of viewers in other countries.
Viewers in the rest of Europe seem to take the contest more seriously – watching because they like the music is a popular reason across the board and is most popular in Italy (65%). Similarly, seeing how people from other countries perform is another popular reason for watching across all countries.
Are Europeans voting based on performance, or politics?
The motivation behind how the public votes in the contest has long been discussed, and Spain stands out from all other countries in believing that their fellow countrymen vote solely for political reasons (41%). Those in Switzerland (8%), Sweden (8%) and Germany (11%) are much less likely to agree. The most common belief is that the general public in each country vote on a mixture of political reasons and on merit of each performance, with those in Britain (46%), Denmark (47%) and Switzerland (45%) being most likely to believe this.
The Italians are the most optimistic about how their public votes, with 36% saying that they vote solely on the merit of each performance.
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Photo: Eurovision
