Eurovision Takes Catchy, Silly Europop Online

This year, Sweden’s Loreen took home the top prize with her song “Euphoria.” In doing so, she bested a bevy of colorful contestants including a group of Russian grannies who baked bread on stage while singing “Party for Everybody,” and Irish duo Jedward, who looked like they were beamed down from a galaxy far, far away for their performance of “Waterline.”

 

Eurovision fans can’t get enough of this stuff. The broadcast consistently garners strong ratings in Europe, with hundreds of millions of viewers tuning in to watch the pop stars/ countries battle it out. This year the event also streamed live on the official Eurovision website, which meant that fans from all around the world could watch the proceedings unfold, regardless of their physical location. 

 

As we’ve written about before, the rise of broadband Internet, premium video content and connected devices means that audiences are logging in, tuning in, and connecting with the content and people they are passionate about. Now European ex-pats (and other curious viewers outside of Europe) can track the Eurovision competition as it happens.

 

Whether it’s a singing contest or the Australian Open, more choices and wider access to broadcast-quality content benefits viewers, content publishers and advertisers. As traditional TV continues to evolve into a mobile, multi-screen experience, viewers will have more chances to watch the shows they care about most, and publishers and advertisers will be able to monetize these connected viewers to generate new revenues with online video. 

 

That’s a scenario where everybody wins (except, in this case, the singing Babushkas).