YouTube joins Peacock with official live coverage of Eurovision in the U.S.

The United States doesn’t participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, but it now boasts two official distributors for the annual continental festivities. Peacock has streamed both the semifinals and finals of Eurovision since 2021, and this year, it will share that duty with YouTube.

At the StreamTV Europe conference in Lisbon, European Broadcasting Union Commercial Director Jurian Van Der Meer revealed distribution details for the upcoming contest, which will kick off on May 12. The EBU, which organizes Eurovision, has tapped YouTube to offer a free stream that will cover all three nights of competition. Peacock’s subscriber-only stream will continue to serve as a paywalled alternative.

Van Der Meer said that YouTube already streamed Eurovision last year, but the deal was not widely publicized. This time out, as the EBC looks to “have a strategy for distributing our content” long-term, YouTube’s stream will be available across the globe. In some regions, like the U.K. and Australia, the YouTube stream will go dark due to the demands of local broadcasters.

Deals like this one are key for YouTube as the Google-affiliated hub looks to increase its already commanding viewership share on TV screens

. One way YouTube attracts viewers is by providing live coverage of events that are typically limited to paying customers. That’s what it did with the NFL, it’s what it will likely do with the Oscars, and it’s applying the same strategy to Eurovision.

The 70-year-old European tradition is a smart addition to YouTube’s expanding broadcast lineup. Eurovision clips tend to go viral on YouTube after the contest’s conclusion. That phenomenon dates back before Peacock began streaming the event, and Eurovision’s YouTube numbers have continued to rise in recent years. 2025’s biggest Eurovision hits helped the contest’s official channel add 360,000 new subscribers in the week following the finals.

YouTube’s Eurovision broadcast won’t come without complications. Several longtime participants, including Spain, Ireland, and the Netherlands, have chosen to boycott the 2026 event due to Israel’s continued inclusion in the Eurovision lineup.

That controversy will blunt the excitement surrounding Eurovision, but even so, YouTube’s distribution of the contest just makes sense. If creators can compete for the Eurovision title, then it only makes sense that the home of creators plays a role, too.