The participation fees for the Eurovision Song Contest will be shooting up, according to the Irish Head of Delegation.

Michael Kealy, the Irish Head of Delegation, was interviewed on the Eirevision Podcast where he spoke all things Eurovision and about Ireland at the competition. During the interview he shed some light on the Eurovision participation fees and a potential increase due to the event not being financially sustainable at the moment.

Michael Kealy (RTE/ Irish Head of Delegation) says:

I was at the Heads of Delegation meeting recently in Berlin, one of the issues was about the financing, the financial sustainability of the competition, and the license fee the individual countries pay towards it, which is a substantial, a third of my budget, the fee that goes to..

A third of the budget goes to the EBU, just for the hosting. The EBU are saying we are coming back and we are going to come for more because it isn’t financially sustainable at the moment.

 

We will have to wait and see if the EBU’s decision to increase the Eurovision Song Contest participation fees will have any impact on the competing countries in the contest as a number of broadcasters are facing financial constraints due to the global high inflation, budget cuts and the rise in cost of living.

The EBU is expected to publish the official list of the 2024 Eurovision participating countries in due course. So far 35 countries have confirmed their participation at Eurovision 2024, with a several of countries yet to confirm their decision: Australia, Armenia, North Macedonia and Romania.

Photo credit: EBU/BBC
Source: Eirevision