A petition has been launched to stop ORF cutting the culture budget to finance the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest; which is set to be held in Austria next year.
Budget woes
Austrian media outlet Kurier is reporting that 620 individuals and 90 organisations are among the petitioners voicing their opposition to plans to dramatically cut ORF cultural budgets as a mechanism to finance next year’s contest. The total cost of the contest typically exceeded several 10s of million Euro.
Petitioners worry that the huge expenditure required to finance the Eurovision 2026 budget would require ORF to make cost saving measures in other aspects of the cultural programme of the broadcaster. Such aspects of the broadcaster’s programme are vital to many local cultural scenes according to the petition’s organisers. Current opposition comes at the wider look of the Austrian broadcaster’s attempts to balance its budget – an issue facing many European public service broadcasters.
The Journey To Eurovision 2026
The journey to the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest kicked off immediately following JJ’s win in Basel, when Austria’s ORF accepted the rights to host the 70th edition of the contest. Cities across Austria have already begun discussing their thoughts on hosting or not. With ORF announcing that it’s now a two horse race between Innsbruck, and Vienna.
The cities that have ruled out hosting:
What are your thoughts on the budget woes? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2026!
News Source: Kurier
Photo credit: Thomas Ledl / Wikimedia
Giwrgos Oiko 