About

Seventy years after the first Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano in 1956, the Eurovisions International Conference invites you to join us online or in person in Vienna during Eurovision week to reflect on one of Europe’s most enduring cultural phenomena and the concept that lies at its core: public value.

From pioneering broadcasting technologies and staging innovation to fostering belonging, participation, and representation, the Eurovision Song Contest has long served as a laboratory for technological transformation and been a mirror of societal challenges.

Public service broadcasting across Europe faces growing political, economic, and structural pressures. What does public value mean in times of fragmentation, digital disruption, and increasing scepticism toward public media? How does the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) respond to these challenges? And how is Eurovision perceived by different stakeholders amid boycotts, contestation and debates on representation, inclusion, creativity, and democracy?

The 2026 conference will address these questions through:

• Keynotes and scholarly panels on public value, democracy, and media transformation;

• Discussions on technical innovation: from analogue television to streaming platforms and immersive stage technologies;

• Reflections on belonging, representation and participation;

• Debates on the political and societal challenges facing public broadcasters today;

• Insights into current developments within the EBU and Eurovision’s evolving role in Europe.

As always, the conference will feature the popular Eurovisions Science Slam, where early career researchers present cutting-edge ESC-related research from diverse disciplinary perspectives: from musicology and media studies to political science, cultural anthropology, data science, and beyond.

We are particularly delighted to host this edition at the Institut für Kulturmanagement und Gender Studies at mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and we warmly welcome our cooperation with initiatives from other research institutions across Vienna. Their contributions will be highlighted on our website and social media channels in the coming months.

Join us in Vienna as we celebrate 70 years of the Eurovision Song Contest!

More details on the programme and call for participation will follow soon.

Stay tuned — and stay tuned in, and follow us for updates.