ORF, the Austrian national broadcaster and the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union, have met in Vienna to share and discuss information surrounding the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest.

From ORF, Roland Weißmann (Director-General of ORF), Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz (Head of Programming at ORF), Eva Schindlauer (Commercial Director at ORF), Harald Kräuter (Technical Director of ORF) and Ingrid Thurnher (Head of Radio at ORF) were in attendance, while Martin Green (ESC Director), Martin Österdahl (Executive Supervisor of Eurovision) and Jurian Van Der Meer (Eurovision Commercial Director) attended from the EBU.

During the meeting, information about the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest was exchanged and an overview of the overall project was given by EBU officials. Roland Weißmann, Director-General of ORF, had the following to say:

“After winning in Basel, we at ORF have taken on the obligation to host an Eurovision Song Contest in 2026 that meets the demands of the world’s largest TV entertainment show in every form. Work on it began the day after the win and together with the EBU in May 2026, we will stage an event that will involve our entire country and inspire TV audiences around the globe. We can only achieve this through good coordination and close cooperation with the EBU, which is why I would like to thank Martin Green, Martin Österdahl and Jurian Van Der Meer for this personal exchange of knowledge and look forward to further cooperation.”

Martin Green, the Eurovision Song Contest Director, had the following to say:

“At the EBU, it is our task to accompany the host broadcaster through the entire process in the best possible way. There are numerous basic requirements that must be met, but also a lot of creative freedom, which makes each individual contest unique. Implementing a project like Eurovision in just one year is a big task and that’s why I’m particularly pleased that we were able to get to know our partners at ORF personally in this early phase.”

Let us know what you think about Austria and the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK, BLUESKY, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM and TIKTOK pages.

The Eurovision Community, which Eurovision Ireland are a part of, celebrates diversity through music. Please keep your comments respectful. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, body-shaming or any other derogatory or hostile language.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovoix