According to the report of the largest marketing research company in Estonia, TNS Emor, 338.600 people watched the semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2004 aired on last Wednesday. The final was seen by an average of 314.800 residents.

The amount of viewers who had their eyes on the final concert of the ESC was 71% of the total television audience of that night.

In comparsion, the last years when the contest was held in the capitals of the neighbouring Baltic states – Estonia and Latvia – respectively in Tallinn and Riga, the number of people following the show on TV peaked in 2002 with 545.000 viewers and remained at almost the same level in 2003 with 505.000 people. So, the viewing figures have suffered a considerable fall with one year, probably having a lot to do with the fact of the Estonian entrant for the 2004 ESC, Neiokõsõ not participating in the final held on last Saturday. On the bright side, the total number of viewers of the semifinal and the final was as high as 653.400, though it is very likely the TV viewers of the final concert consisted mainly of the semifinal viewers. The interest in Eurovision was not that low in February when the preselection show for this year, Eurolaul 2004 had the highest ratings ever with the amount of 460.500 people watching.

As Estonia has to participate in the semifinal again next year it is questionable if the ratings will improve by that time.