It was a good year for Eurovision, as the European music competition saw a rise in viewership of more than 2 million during its 2015 edition, rising to 197 million viewers in total.
It's possible, however, that the healthy boost in viewers can be explained by one simple change in policy: the inclusion of Australia. This year marked the first time that the land down under was included as a competitor in the competition, and that decision paid off big time for viewership. The nation was included due to the contest's relative popularity among viewers in Australia...and this year amplified that truth. More than 5.7 million Australians tuned in, an increase of 2.73 million from the year before.
That would suggest that the boost in total viewership can be entirely credited toward Australian participation. That would be somewhat inaccurate, but there's no doubt that it was the leading factor.
It's important to consider that, depending on who hosts the competition and who has the "favorite" performer, viewership in some nations will increase and decrease dramatically from year-to-year. Viewing numbers for each individual nation haven't been made available yet, however it looks like host Austria kept up its relatively high (1.7 million) viewership from last year, and Sweden (which provided this year's winner, Mans Zelmerlow) was as excited for Eurovision as ever.
Iceland may not be a very populous nation, but its viewing share for Eurovision is out of control. More than 95 percent of televisions being watched on the island were tuned into the competition (compare that to the Super Bowl's 72 percent share in the United States). Aforementioned Sweden also had 80 percent of its televisions tuned in.
As you know, advertisers are all about the demographics, and Eurovision provided them with a gold mine. Of the 40 nations tracked for viewership, 45 percent of those watching TV in the 15-24 y.o. age range were watching Eurovision.
