MOSCOW, RUSSIA – When the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 ended and the TV rates reported as dropped mostly because the broadcast moved to another TV station of the public broadcaster, there were questions if Russia will continue to participate in the contest. The EBU has a clear answer now.
Through Twitter EBU’s Junior Eurovision team states that: instead of withdrawing the Russian national broadcaster is considering to bring the contest back to Russia 1 Channel. The TV rates in Russia for Junior Eurovision Song Contest was only 0.8%.
In the meantime EBU admits that the overall TV rates dropped for Junior Eurovision 2013 in comparison with the 2012 edition but they issued an explanation for it today through the official website:
Executive Supervisor Vladislav Yakovlev explains: “This was always going to be a transitional year for Junior Eurovision with audiences, as we moved the timeslot to an earlier hour to make it more accessible – and especially with the loss of the Belgian and Israeli audiences. We’ve looked at improving the format with new features this year, and have already had good feedback on these changes. The important thing from this year’s figures is that more people tuned in to watch Junior Eurovision in 9 of the 12 countries than usually tune in to their respective channel at that time – so Junior Eurovision continues to pull in viewers”. (source: junioreurovision.tv)
Besides moaning or cheering for numbers and facts, the 2014 preparations are underway. Finally, there has also been interest from other countries in taking part next year: “Work on Junior Eurovision 2014 began the moment the credits rolled up in Kyiv” said Vladislav. “Yesterday we held a workshop in Geneva with some countries interested in next year’s event, and we continue to have constructive conversations and interest from Finland, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece and Cyprus, amongst others, for future editions, and how they would like to see the format developed.” (source: junioreurovision.tv)
