This Saturday, Blanca Paloma became the winner of the Benidorm Fest. The Alicante woman, who will represent Spain in Liverpool on 13 May, celebrated by singing a lullaby dedicated to her grandmother Carmen. uh. In second place was Agoney with i want to burnmuch more offer funky.

The competition ended with unflattering audience data, especially compared to its first edition held in 2022: the first semi-final, led by Agoni, ended with an average audience 1,040,000 viewers on traditional or linear television, corresponding to 10% screen share, according to Kantar Media data provided by Barlovento Comunicación.

The second semi-final, broadcast on Thursday, not only did not improve the figure, but worsened it. It was the third most watched program of the night it premiered. Penultimate and I’m leaving on Antena 3 with a share of 18.6%; and a total of 2,221,000 spectators.

Last year, which culminated in the victory of Chanel Terrero and the monumental debate about the percentage of the professional jury, because of its possible interests and because both Tanxueiras as Rigoberta Bandini they were left behind despite being the favorites of the public; managed to reach 11.8% (1,534,000 viewers) in the first semi-final, and this figure rose to 14.2% (1,728,000 viewers) in the second part and twenty one% (2,966,000 spectators) in the final, a percentage that dropped to 14.7% Compartir in 2023.

How much does Benidorm Fest cost?

According to data collected neutralfestival organized jointly by Generalitat Valenciana, Benidorm City Council and RTVE, the public television budget for the event was
3,283,506.49 euros in the first edition and 4,280,982.5 euros in 2023 are money from the general state budget.

This figure was notably higher than what was invested in the 2021 preselection when Blas Canto was selected. But going back to 2022, most of the more than three million euros, 58% (1.9 million euros) went to manufacturing companies, mainly for Boomerang TV (Protected, Beijing Express). In 2023, this figure rose to 2,472,001.95 euros.

The 2022 edition added new services such as props (3000 euros), wardrobe (6000 euros), characterization, legal services (4,500 euros) and the production of scenery (65,000 euros). It should be noted that the programming has also been expanded, with numerous previews on prime time access and then three main galas.

Investment by the Generalitat Valenciana and the Benidorm City Council

It was in December 2022 when the Generalitat of Valenciana approved the contribution 1.5 million euros for the festival (last year it was 968,000 euros), which focused mainly on the staging elements, scenery and technical equipment of the festival, according to the published Europe Press.

Following this trend and collecting Alicante square, the Benidorm City Council has increased the investment from 200,000 euros in 2022 to 250,000 euros in 2023, the increase is due to the increase in staff. In addition, the city council was responsible for meeting the needs for funds and production elements outside of RTVE received from galas such as the Palau d’Esports l’Illa de Benidorm.

In addition, several events were held in Benidorm to take advantage of the attraction of the event, as part of the leisure offer, which included tapas and several concerts. The expansion of resources was also visible on the screen: more participants and a larger professional jury.

All this means that the second edition of Benidorm Fest was worth 997 476 euros more almost the same number of viewers was lost than the first, which also reflected in the decline in participation in calls and SMS, another form of collection on RTVE, which, unlike private channels, does not use advertising.