The 2019 Eurovision Song Contest ended on Saturday (or in most countries on Sunday as it was well passed midnight), and Duncan Laurence from The Netherlands won with the song “Arcade”. Now the viewing figures have started being released, various countries recorded a slight increase in viewership whislt others reached a record low.

The home country Israel, as expected, marked an increase in viewership, as the show was watched by 300,000 people more than the show last year. Two of the ‘Big Five’ countries also marked an increase – The United Kingdom (7 million, compared to 6.9 million last year), and Italy (3.54 million compared to 3.43 million last year).

The other ‘Big Five’ countries marked a drop in viewership: Germany from 8.21 million last year to 8.08 million; France from 5.12 million to 4.78 million, whlist Spain marked a massive drop from 6.4 million last year to 5.4 million this year.

When it comes to the other participating countries, the home country of next year’s edition of the Contest – The Netherlands, marked a massive increase – from 2.38 million last year to 4.41 million viewers this year. As one of the favorites ahead of the Contest, Australia‘s viewership also increased from 266,000 last year, to 412,000 this year.

On the other hand, some countries marked a record low – after not making it to the Final after seven years of qualifying, the viewing figures in Hungary dropped from 404,000 last year to 145,000 this year. Ireland is another country where the numbers have massively dropped – from 689,900 viewers last year to only 284,700 this year.

Last year’s Contest was seen by 186 million viewers in total. The official viewing figures of this year’s Contest will be released shortly by the EBU.