German broadcaster NDR may hand the responsibility of organising the country’s Eurovision entry to another channel in 2025.
NDR, which is part of the ARD network of regional broadcasters in Germany, have held the rights to organise Germany’s Eurovision act since 1996. Before this, the rights had rotated between other stations in the ARD network.
However, after over 25 years and recent poor performances, it is reported that some within Hamburg-based NDR don’t want to “take the public beating every year for the performance of the German acts” anymore.
As a result, NDR are considering handing Eurovision back to ARD, who will offer the rights to another broadcaster in its network. MDR, a broadcaster based in the former East Germany, is reportedly in the running to take over in 2025 and beyond.
ARD may be considering a change for other reasons, as well. The broadcaster, which is a network of regional stations across Germany, is known to be looking to cut costs. A change to how Eurovision is organised, which can become expensive for a broadcaster, could go hand-in-hand with ARD trying to save money.
So far, though, any changes haven’t been made official. An NDR spokesperson has confirmed that the channel will be organising Germany’s Eurovision act for 2024:
The NDR is currently preparing the ESC selection process for 2024 and will publish the first details about it in the next few days. This means that the NDR will also be responsible for the German contribution to the ESC final in 2024.
While MDR has also denied that they are in talks to take over, at least for the upcoming year:
There are no discussions about this and it is currently not an issue for the MDR
Germany has had a series of poor performances at the Eurovision Song Contest since their last win in 2010. In 2023, Lord of the Lost finished last in the Grand Final, with their song “Blood and Glitter” scoring only 18 points.
Image Source: EBU / Chloe Hashemi | Source: DWDL
Germany was one of seven countries to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. The country has taken part in every contest since then, apart from in 1996 when they failed to make it through the qualifying round. To date Germany has won the contest twice. The first time was in 1982 when Nicole sang “Ein Bisschen Frieden” in Harrogate, which later became a global hit. Germany didn’t win again until 2010 when Lena sang “Satellite” in Oslo. She received 9 sets of 12 points, scoring 246 points overall.
