Both semi finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 will be broadcast live in Germany. The three shows of the competition will be broadcast on three different channels once again. A webcast with German commentary will also be made available.
The first semi final, where Germany is allowed to vote, will be broadcast on NDR, like it used to be between 2004 and 2008. Last year, Phoenix, one of the smallest public channels with an average market share of less than 1%, broadcast the first semi final. Although more viewers can be expected with the show being broadcast on NDR, it is in fact a disadvantage to those living in Southern Germany as NDR (unlike Phoenix) cannot be received by cable or DVB-T there.
The second semi final will be broadcast live on the speciality channel Eins Festival. Again, it is a rather small channel but it can be received by about 40% of the German households via cable, satellite or DVB-T. Eins Festival has previously also re-broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest finals after the live show. The second semi final will also be re-broadcast on NDR on Friday at 00:55 CET.
The final will be brodcast live on Das Erste as usually. It will be re-broadcast on Sunday at 04:20 CET. Meanwhile, it has also been announced that the German votes will be announced by Hape Kerkeling, who hosted the German national finals in 1989, 1990 and 1991. Peter Urban will be back as German commentator after he had to take a break last year as he had to undergo surgery.