Danish broadcaster DR is to get 30million krone for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, which represents half of the excess license fees paid by the television-viewing public of Denmark in 2012.
A statement released by the Danish Ministry of Culture revealed that of the 59.6 million krone of excess license fees, 29.8 million will be put towards the production of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, with the remainder divided between Denmark’s second television station, TV2, and the public service fund.
The money will be used to cover the cost of hosting the competition, and will be added to the 40million DKK already donated by the city of Copenhagen.
It is both a great honor and a huge undertaking to host an international event of this size, said DR Director-General, Maria Rørbye Ronn. I’m really pleased there’s willingness to support the event.
The decision (of the Ministry of Culture) will help us make better use of the opportunity afforded us by Eurovision to show Denmark internationally. We’ll put on a show all Danish people can look forward to and be proud of, she added.
The excess license fees do not represent money yet to be charged but rather, the money already paid in the year previous, and is distributed yearly by the Ministry of Culture. While nearly half has been allocated to co-finance the production of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest and a further 12.8 million to fund TV2’s local projects, the remaining 17 million ear-marked for the public service will support the West Danish Film Fund, FilmFyn and Copenhagen Film Fund.
Stay tuned to esctoday.com for more news on Denmark and the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.
