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Eurovision 2013: Denmark's win-win

29 May 2013
Eurovision 2013: Denmark's win-win
Denmark wins the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest (EBU/Sander Hesterman)

 

Analysis of voting results from the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden (14,16 and 18 May), reveals that this year's winning entry by Denmark won on two fronts: it ranked highest in the combined 50/50 televote and jury vote as well as the votes cast by televoters and official juries individually.

The result means that the 20-year-old Dane, Emmelie de Forest, won the hearts of televoters and Eurovision jurists with the song "Only Teardrops." 

This year, instead of just combining the top ten entries chosen by a country’s jury and televote to arrive at a single national result, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) asked the juries to rank all entries.

Under the previous system, a song ranked 11th or 24th by the jury would receive the same score: zero. Under the new system, entries outside the top ten are allocated a value in line with jury rankings.

The EBU implemented this change to make the voting system more fair.

Record viewing

More than 170 million viewers in 36 countries* tuned into the 58th Eurovision Song Contest. 

In 24 of the 36 countries, more than a third of the population viewed the two semi-finals and the final. In eight of those countries, more than half the population tuned in, with interest peaking on the Saturday nigh finale as roughly 54.6 million watched the final.

In the Nordic countries, the final was watched by two-thirds of the available audience. The market share for Denmark, whose public service broadcaster DR will host next year's Song Contest, leapt by more than 50 per cent to almost 80 per cent—1.7 million viewers in total. The market share for host broadcaster SVT was 84.9 per cent, its best result since 2003.

The biggest increase was registered in the Netherlands, which reached the final for the first time since 2004. More than 4.8 million viewers in the Netherlands saw singer-songwriter Anouk, who finished ninth—3.7 million more than in 2012.

Overall, the Eurovision Song Contest final achieved an average market share of 38.3 per cent, 160 per cent more than the average peak time market share of around 15 per cent. The average market share among ESC finalist countries was 47.4 per cent—a massive 187 per cent more than the average peak time market share in those countries.
 

*About Reach Analysis

Reach is based on the total number of people in 36 countries (excluding Armenia and Norway, whose figures are pending) who watched the Song Contest across the two semi-finals and final for at least one minute.

Countries that are excluded from the analysis because they either have no audience measurement system or the data has not yet been made available, include Albania, Croatia, Kosovo, Malta, Montenegro, San Marino, Slovakia, Switzerland (French-speaking part), Switzerland (German-speaking part), and Switzerland (Italian-speaking part). Figures will be updated as data becomes available.

Audience data source:
Eurodata TV Worldwide and relevant partners

Relevant links and documents