Moldova, Serbia Eurovision viewership surges

Eurovision audiences in Moldova and Serbia rose after both countries returned to the Grand Final in Vienna, according to ratings reports published on May 23. Eurovoix and Eurovision Fun said new audience data showed stronger domestic interest once each country was back in the last show of the contest. In Moldova, public broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova reported that the final audience more than doubled from 2024. In Serbia, Eurovoix said viewing shares were released for all three live shows, pointing to stronger national attention during a year in which Serbia qualified for the Grand Final again. ### How big was the increase in Moldova? Teleradio-Moldova said 67,054 viewers watched the Eurovision 2026 Grand Final on Moldova 1, according to figures reported by Eurovoix and Logos Press. The broadcaster’s audience share was 20.94%, and the share reached 37.41% during the voting segment, the reports said. Eurovoix described that as more than double the 2024 final audience, while Logos Press put the increase at 251%. (eurovoix.com) Radiomoldova, citing the same broadcaster data, said Moldova 1 also aired the semi-finals on May 12 and May 14 and the final on May 16. The report said the final delivered the strongest audience share of the three broadcasts. ### Who was behind Moldova’s return to the final? Satoshi represented Moldova with “Viva Moldova!” at Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, according to Logos Press and Eurovision Fun. (eurovoix.com) Eurovision Fun said Moldova’s return to the Grand Final came alongside what it called a historic eighth-place finish for Satoshi. Logos Press separately reported that Moldova was back in the final after returning to the contest this year. (radiomoldova.md) Eurovision Fun said qualification had a direct effect on attention in both countries, writing that the return of Moldova and Serbia to the Grand Final sent television ratings higher. That framing matched the Moldovan broadcaster’s release of official audience figures after the contest week. ### What do the Serbia numbers show? (eurovisionfun.com) Eurovoix reported on May 23 that viewing shares for all three Eurovision 2026 live shows in Serbia had been released. The outlet said the figures were reported by OGAE Serbia, confirming domestic interest across the semi-finals and the Grand Final after Serbia returned to the last show of the contest. Eurovision Fun grouped Serbia with Moldova in a single report and said both countries saw television ratings rise after returning to the Grand Final. (eurovisionfun.com) The report did not present Serbia as an isolated case, but as part of a broader pattern in which qualification increased attention in the home market. ### Why did qualification matter so much? (eurovoix.com) Eurovision Fun said the common factor in both countries was a return to the Grand Final following either an absence or a non-qualification. Eurovoix’s Moldova report and the Logos Press account both tied the audience jump to Moldova’s return to the contest and to the visibility that came with a place in the final broadcast. The Moldova figures also show where the peak came. (eurovisionfun.com) Teleradio-Moldova’s data, as reported by Eurovoix and Radiomoldova, said audience share rose highest during the voting, when the broadcaster reached 37.41%. ### Where do the numbers come from next? OGAE Serbia was cited by Eurovoix as the source for Serbia’s viewing-share release, while Teleradio-Moldova published the Moldovan audience data carried by Radiomoldova and Logos Press. (eurovoix.com) Eurovoix, Eurovision Fun and Logos Press all published their reports on May 23, one week after the Grand Final in Vienna. (eurovoix.com)