The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest has confirmed a huge ratings drop in just one year. This year's singing competition was watched by 131 million viewers, down by 35 million since the 2025 edition.
It comes after five countries boycotted the 70th Eurovision Song Contest over Israel's participation – namely The Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia, with the latter three countries not broadcasting the competition at all.
Speaking about the drop in views, Eurovision director Martin Green said: "While some of our figures are naturally lower without those of our five members who chose not to participate this year, we remain committed to doing everything possible to find pathways back for them in 2027."
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In Britain alone, viewing figures for Eurovision were down 3.7 million from 2025.
Israel finished in second place this year with Noam Bettan representing the country with his single 'Michelle'.
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Bulgaria won the 2026 edition with Dara's 'Bangaranga', with the 2027 contest set to be held there as per tradition with the previous year's winner.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBI), which organises the contest, has allowed Israel to compete despite several calls for a ban, saying that Eurovision is an apolitical contest.
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However, in 2022, the EBU banned Russia from taking part following its invasion of Ukraine, with fans questioning why Israel has not faced the same ban amid the country's conflict with Palestine.
Before the outbreak of the war in Gaza in 2023, the 2019 contest also saw several groups call for a boycott of the event due to Israel's involvement.
The Eurovision Song Contest airs on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer.
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