Eurovision 2022: there is a boom in ratings for the semifinal (and no one would have expected it)

The bubble of insiders, those who, that is, for sport or for work have fun predicting the audience of the major television events, were quite certain that the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest, promoted for the first time on Rai1, would have collected an average audience, close to 3 million spectators. Someone, in fact, thought that the hype of the event, returning to Italy after 31 years, would explode at the final on Saturday 14 May, both due to the presence of the Italian delegation in the race – namely Mahmood and Blanco with theirs Chills – both for the heart-pounding and the counting of votes arouses in each edition. Instead, in defiance of expectations, the first tranche of Eurovision not only manages to win the evening, but also to bring from its listening well above expectations.

In fact, 5,507,000 viewers (27% share) were tuned in to watch the first semifinal. A result that, especially if compared to the first semifinal of Eurovision in 2021, broadcast on Rai4, and capable of gathering around it a listen of just 533,000 spectators (2.2%), cannot fail to arouse jubilation both for Rai and for the large investment of resources and energy spent to create a show up to Italian standards. The reasoning on the numbers is very interesting, given that, in the age target over 55 years old, the evening was seen by almost 3 million viewers with a 25% share. On the younger audience, the first Eurovision semifinal gets, instead, 38% in the target 15-34 years (867 thousand spectators) exceeding 43% among the 15-24 years.

The peak of the evening, however, came at 21:21, with 6,265,000 spectators tuned in to admire the performances of the top 17 countries and the sparkling conduct of Laura Pausini, Alessandro Cattelan and Mika, excellent hosts of an event that Raffaella Carrà had been so committed to bringing back to our country as early as 2008. In fact, it was she who had rekindled attention to the competition so that Italy would return to the competition. The fruit of that effort turned into reality in 2011, when Rai decided to send the application form and to compete with Raphael Gualazzi, winner of the new proposals of the Sanremo Festival that year. Not surprisingly, La Carrà commented live both the semifinal and the final with overwhelming enthusiasm.

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