Eurovision 2016

I think that this has been discussed before. I don't think a single broadcaster (the BBC) can enter multiple times - and the status of the countries of the UK is somewhat tricky. If you enter, you have to be able to host, so the 4 hypthotherical UK national broadcasters would need to be able to commit to hosting, financially quite a large commitment...

England, Scotland and Wales aren't sovereign countries and are in this particular context not different from Bavaria, Normandy or Cornwall. The separate teams in some sports are exceptions to the rule, mostly due to historical reasons and possibly because many of the games were invented in Britain.

In this particular context, does it not have much more to do with membership of the EBU? It's assumed that ESC is always hosted by state broadcasters, but I think it's actually EBU member broadcasters. I know ITV as a network used to be part of the EBU and I think in theory at least it could have taken on the contest were the BBC to decide to drop it. It's also the case - for those who didn;t know - that there are three official State Broadcasters in these islands - The BBC, RTE and Manx Radio.

This isn't true. There is no EBU rule that a country must be a 'sovereign nation'. This would cause no end of political issues. Remember that a number of nations are in long-term dispute over sovereignty. For example, the Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Israel question would also cause a major headache as other EBU members (even though they don't take part in Eurovision) such as Lebanon and Morocco could - in effect - veto Israel from entering the contest.

The BBC actually has individual memberships for BBC Scotland, BBC Wales, etc and the ITV Network also has individual memberships for the traditional regions such as Tyne Tees and Yorkshire. Therefore, if the BBC decided to go down the route of entering separate songs it would actually be perfectly entitled to. However, it would have to create a robust telephone voting system that made votes in each constituent country 'seperate'. In addition, it would inevitably have to accept that it no longer qualified for automatic entry into the finals. (1 entry going straight in annoys countries. 4 entries from the UK would cause uproar).

Re. the sporting reference - this has nothing to do with sports being invented here! The reason we enter as separate nations is normally because sports governing bodies tend not to refer to governments and instead deal with national associations. In the UK, there is a rich history of each constituent country having its own sporting bodies, as there also is with separate legal and educational systems, etc.

I think FIFA and UEFA now do have rules requiring associations to represent sovereign states, but the UK nations are "grandfathered" as an exception to the rule - this has caused trouble with Gibralter as they have been refused FIFA entry but managed to get into UEFA after a trip to CAS, on the grounds that they had applied before the rule was changed.

To take this back on topic, I believe Channel 4, S4C, and TG4 are all EBU members as well as the BBC and ITV. There at least used to be a consortium called UKIB through which ITV, Channel 4, and S4C's memberships were held.

TG4 is certainly an EBU member who'll see Ireland's debut in the Junior contest later this year.

Another thing I've noticed today (from Wikipedia) that the Faroe Islands have in the past tried to apply for EBU membership.

The crucial aspect here is UN membership. To be an active member of the EBU, you must be based in a country that is a member of the International Telecommunication Union, which in turn is only open to members of the United Nations.

You can be a member of the UN even if another member objects or you are involved in a border dispute. The only UN members with veto power are the permanent members of the security council, so Jordan and Morocco either have to accept Israel being in the competition or abstain from participating (they've chosen the latter).

I know the ITV regions are listed as members of the EBU (just like the regional broadcasters in Germany). But they are not admitted as members from East Anglia or Northern Scotland, they are admitted because they come from the UK and fulfil various PSB requirements. I very much doubt that there is a "statutory" entitlement for the BBC to enter four different songs (let alone ITV submitting fifteen if they were to take over).

There's nothing stopping ITV (or Channel 4) from taking over, should the BBC give it up. Likewise, the BBC is quite entitled to do the Junior contest now ITV have given up on it (but as has been said before, a combination of the Minipops legacy and the post-Savile fallout means it just won't get touched with a 20ft pole here.)

Mini pops is a VERY along time ago now and I'm not sure it's remembered. I didn't recall it when I saw it on whatever clip show it was featured in a few years ago. Likewise I'm not sure the Savile thing would really make much of a difference? It doesn't stop the BBC making shows like Friday Download...

I think it's more the case that it might not rate well in the UK. That's why itv dropped it. Eurovision produced non-ESC shows haven't done very well in the UK for donkeys years and even the BBC produced Greatest Hits concert rated quite poorly in the UK. Apart from the New Years Day Concert from Vienna, I'm struggling to think of any non Song Contest Eurovision programmes carried in the UK? (This doesn't include the countless news feeds of course that do come via the EBU). Last time Jeux Sans Frontières was shown in the UK it was carried by S4C with a Welsh commentary team, back in the early 90s.

Believe me - MiniPops is VERY well remembered in TV circles...

For some reason JESC has definitely inherited that aura. It was commented on a lot when ITV were involved. Post-Savile things are even worse. It's a very different situation to kids TV.

There is also the ongoing discussion about whether the pressure to perform to a pan-European TV audience is healthy for young children in duty of care terms.

That contributes to the low ratings - plus the fact the whole thing is a bit... Err...



There was the Eurovision Dance Contest that the BBC hosted one year - a kind of ESC-Strictly - and there are Eurovision Young Dancers (which the UK has hosted and won) and Young Musician contests that UK broadcasters don't carry (though others do)

Malmo are out of the running to host: http://oikotimes.com/2015/06/11/eurovision-2016-malmo-withdraws/

Stockholm and Goteborg still in the race amongst others!

I think the BBC hosted the first two Eurovision Dance Contests, London (TC1) and Glasgow (SECC). There was talk of a third somewhere else but I don't think it happened. The format of the show changed considerably between each contest istr.

And I know what you mean about JESC being a bit ... Er... There's something a bit nauseating about it, that IMO doesn't go down well with a UK audience. And I felt that before Savile et al. came into knowledge.