The Eurovision Song Contest, the world’s longest-running annual TV music competition organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), connected with music fans across the world on social media by partnering with Grabyo for its 2021 return. 

Building on a  long-term partnership, Grabyo increased its support for the EBU at the 2021 event by extending its services to all EBU Members, Europe’s leading public service broadcasters, from across the 39 participating nations.

Grabyo’s technology was integral for the digital output for the show, expanding the reach of content shared to Eurovision Song Contest’s official digital channels. The production team, based on-site in Rotterdam, collaborated in real-time to produce live broadcasts and highlights for distribution to social accounts and broadcast partners. 

Digital engagement tools for EBU members

During the week of the Eurovision Song Contest the EBU streamed the competition to its official YouTube channel, gaining 50.6 million unique viewers across 234 countries and territories, up 28% on 2019, whilst also sharing key moments from the event through a mixture of live clips and post-show edits on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

The EBU used Grabyo’s cloud infrastructure to set up a centralised platform for EBU Members and partners, including broadcasters and major music labels, to gain remote access to all content produced for the event. Over 150 crew members from across the EBU partner network were given access to Grabyo to develop localised content for their own specific audience.

The EBU team and partners, with the support of digital agency Scrn, used Grabyo to manage content across the rehearsals, press conferences, Turquoise Carpet event and live shows. 

MEGABOP INCOMING! #Eurovision #OpenUp #SanMarino pic.twitter.com/h0O2foqHaL

— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 22, 2021

Fans across the world followed the show’s updates across the Eurovision Song Contest’s social media channels, with the Contest’s official social media accounts generated 14 million engagement actions on posts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. The new TikTok channel, launched 100 days before the Grand Final, also generated 4.3 million engagement actions.

“Working with Grabyo has enabled us to ensure that exciting content from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest could be shared across all our digital platforms and just as importantly with EBU Members and partners. Grabyo’s technology very much helped us expand our reach, delivering the content from the event that fans want to see, across the channels they want to use. Social and digital engagement is important to the success and appeal of the Eurovision Song Contest and we’re delighted with the results.”

Dave Goodman, Communications Lead for the Eurovision Song Contest

For more information on how Grabyo can help to bolster your digital engagement strategy for live events, click here.