Australia: 2012 coverage a big success

Since 2009, Australian broadcaster SBS has been sending a team to cover the Eurovision Song Contest, the commentators being the popular charismatic duo of Sam Pang, a presenter, writer, broadcaster and producer, and Julia Zemiro who has a background in TV, theatre and film. The coverage is directed by Paul Clarke. You can revisit our entertaining interview with Sam & Julia in Baku below.

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A summary of 2012 SBS statistics

• The TV broadcast of the Semi-Final shows was the higest since 2004
• The Final saw the second highest audience, only slightly less than the 2003 Final in Riga
• 2.77 million people in total tuned in to the coverage nationally on SBS One 
• 134,000 unique browsers visited the SBS site during the final week, more than double the amount of 2011
• SBS Online had voting integrated with all three TV broadcasts whereby viewers could give a thumbs up or a thumbs down during the performances, the percentage results were revealed after each performance
• There was also an unofficial televote during the broadcast of the Final to see who Australia's winner would be, with Sweden's Loreen amassing 72,186 votes
• Social network coverage was ramped up significantly with hundreds of tweets on screen the three broadcasts

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Road to Eurovision

It was not just the coverage of the three live shows that SBS aired during their coverage of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, co commentator Julia Zemiro embarked upon a "Road To Eurovision" journey where she and a crew drove from 2011 host city of Düsseldorf, through to the 2012 host city of Baku, meeting Eurovision legends past and present along the way. The show has received many plaudits for it's innovation and really outlines SBS's commitment to providing quality and in depth coverage for it's viewers.

What if Australia were allowed to participate????

One frustration often for the Australian fans, is that their country does not fit the participation criteria to have their own entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. So Eurovision.tv put the hypothetical question to Sam Pang and Julia Zemiro that if there was a rule change overnight, and Australia were allowed to enter, who should they send as their participant. You can see the amusing outcome of the question in the video below.

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What lies in store for 2013?

Eurovision.tv approached SBS to ask about the coverage plans for 2013, and although some ideas are still to be confirmed, they announced "2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the SBS broadcast of the biggest entertainment show on the planet, the Eurovision Song Contest. With an ever increasing Australian fan base SBS will bring the party with its biggest offering ever across TV, radio and online. Hosts Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang will again head up SBS’s exclusive coverage, and will bring the fun, glamour and madness direct from 2013’s host city Malmö Sweden."

Eurovision.tv will report more news about Australia's plans for 2013 coverage as soon as it becomes available.