As part of the Big Five, Germany pays hundreds of thousands of euros every year for the ESC – and still ends up behind. How much it really costs.
Germany is once again doing poorly at the ESC – almost as if cursed, the German artists always end up in the bottom places. And every year those who pay the license fee are upset: Why do we spend so much money on an event that we are losing anyway? Why the expensive fun?
As part of the so-called “Big Five”, Germany makes one of the largest contributions to the Eurovision Song Contest. These also include Italy, France, Great Britain and usually Spain – although the latter is boycotting the contest this year. The reason for this is Spain’s criticism of Israel’s war policy, which is also taking part in Eurovision.
Mainly participation fee
A large part of the national expenditure for the ESC consists of the participation fee. This is not uniform for all countries, but depends on the reach and level of usage of the channels on which the show is broadcast. Due to its size alone, Germany’s contribution is already significantly higher than that of some other countries. But how high exactly?
This year the responsibility for broadcasting lay with SWR. He did not comment in more detail on the costs, which according to “Saarbrücken newspaper“But it is probably calculated at around 620,000 euros. It doesn’t get any more specific than that.
The NDR, on the other hand, published figures for last year’s broadcast: In 2025, a total of around 472,000 euros were spent on participation alone – not including all other costs. Experts assume that the total expenditure is well under one million.
Is the ESC a bargain?
At first glance, this may seem like a considerable sum – especially since it comes from radio contributions. However, compared to other program items on public broadcasters, this amount is almost cheap: a 90-minute “crime scene” alone costs more, namely around 1.9 million euros. In addition to this weekly investment for German crime fans, the big ESC spectacle once a year can perhaps be included in the broadcasting budget.
And if the German curse of recent years continues to prove to be reliable, at least the costs for the final will be saved: the task – and honor – of hosting always goes to the winning country from the previous year. The host nation invests around 10-20 million euros out of its own pocket. But you don’t have to worry about that in this country.
