Did the boycott work? Was Eurovision 2026 a flop? The success of a boycott is measured through various parameters including the impact on the reputation of the person affected, and in this case the controversies that preceded and accompanied the European Song Contest certainly hit the mark. As for the data released by the EBU and Rai, they are of a contrasting nature. On the one hand, the Saturday final, which is traditionally the one that attracts most of the public's attention, recorded an average share of 42.6%, with a drop of around 5% compared to 2025. In short, it's not a debacle. But it is true that in absolute terms 35 million viewers are missing: this year they were 131 million in 35 television markets, in 2025 166 million were declared in 37 different markets.
In disseminating the data the European Broadcast Union, which organizes the event which was hosted in Vienna and won by Dara with Bangaranga (our interview at this link), highlighted the positive sides: the average share of 42.6% of the final, although decreasing, is still double the average of the channels that broadcast it, a sign of public interest and in particular of those between 15 and 24 years old, where the average share for the final also reached 54.8%. All accompanied by 2.75 billion views of official content across social media and video platforms in the months between January and May.
Another reason to see the glass half full: the 2026 audience, although decreasing, is still higher than that of the editions between 2009 and 2023. In any case, the drop in viewers compared to 2025 was not seen in Italy: for Rai there were 5.1 million viewers, +267,000 compared to last year.
A curiosity. As is known, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland boycotted the 2026 edition due to the presence of Israel, whose representative Noam Bettan ultimately came second with Michelle. However, the first three mentioned, namely the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland, are among the ten non-participating countries that voted the most. In short, the public still wanted to express itself.
