Eurovision 2020: Ad revenues to fill €12.5 million deficit

Arie Slob — Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science — has confirmed that the public broadcasting organisation NPO will get additional funding for Eurovision 2020 after all. The Minister agreed with the proposal that NPO should take the money from advertising revenues.

Eurovision 2020: NPO to get funding from ad revenues

It was already known that Eurovision 2020 would cost a total of €26.25 million. However, when calculating the budget for Eurovision 2020, NPO estimated a funding gap of €12.4 million.

The Dutch public broadcaster first asked the government to make up the deficit, but the coalition parties were quick to say no.

The situation changed when the government’s annual media budget was calculated. The government and the broadcaster found out that the actual revenues from advertising had exceeded expectations by about €23 million.

Usually, the revenues would be added to the public broadcaster’s media reserves, but it was suggested by the government that AVROTROS and NOS could put this money towards Eurovision costs.

The only hurdle would be for the other NPO member broadcasters to agree.

Thankfully, it all added up! The other networks within the NPO umbrella were quick to back the idea. The chairperson of the Committee of Broadcasters, Arjan Lock, told BuzzE:

“We think Eurovision is important, money has to be found for that. (…) But it is also true that the event is a quite a hard pill to swallow financially. We have to be creative while financing it. Might it happen again that the event takes place in the Netherlands again next year, we will do the same.”

How is the Eurovision 2020 budget calculated?

The costs of hosting Eurovision in Rotterdam were estimated to be €26.5 million. The EBU has announced that it expects to contribute €9.6 million from participation fees, sponsorship and ticket sales.

The organising broadcasters will account for €4.5 million. Umbrella public broadcaster NPO will fork out €2.5 million, while AVROTROS will spend €2 million on the upcoming event. The additional €12.4 million that was needed will be taken from ad money.

Outside of the Eurovision budget, host city Rotterdam is set to spend €15.5 million on fringe activities, such as city promotion and local events.

What kind of show are you expecting from Eurovision 2020? Let us know in the comments below!