Eurovision a surprise of the generation change of Rai1

«Eurovision», a surprise of the generation change of Rai1

by Aldo Grasso

The “rejuvenation effect” of the network has been repeated by Sanremo, but the digital dimension of the event has almost disappeared and is therefore only partially exploited

The “rediscovery” of the Eurovision Song Contest, evidenced by the excellent attendances of the two evenings of semi-finals (Tuesday and Thursday, pending the final dates), is certainly a legacy for Rai, but one that the event was only able to exploit in part. This is quite understandable: after the disastrous edition organized at the Cinecittà in 1991 (remembered as “the worst edition in history”), the task of creating a show for a potential audience of millions of spectators across Europe (and beyond) putting together a show in English inevitably “doubled” by the voiceover in Italian could be a burden rather than an honor.

However, the excellent packaging of the product proved the event’s enthusiasts right: although the counter-programming was mild (apart from the presence of talks against the first semi-final such as DiMartedì di Floris, which had a share of 6.2% compared to the 5.7 % of Cartabianca), the result of 5,523,000 average viewers (27.4% share) was almost a surprise. The biggest surprise, however, came from the generation change of Rai1: the best proportion between 15 and 24 years (even 41.3%), with the peak also among university graduates (34% proportion). In short, the “rejuvenation effect” of the network has repeated Sanremo. All right then? However, with an audience so unusual for Rai, the digital dimension of the event has almost disappeared. Putting the ugliness of the RaiPlay specials aside, the event almost didn’t seem to have arrived on the platform: just over 50,000 live viewers on the platform and limited results for the clips (the best on Raiplay, the one with Diodato, 85,000 streams ). On social media, engagement included a lot of Twitter (34% of the total), with activity being heavily bottom-up. (ag)

In collaboration with Massimo Scaglioni, elaboration of Geca, iPort Nielsen, Comscore on Auditel and Talkwalker data

May 14, 2022 (Change May 14, 2022 | 21:16)