Iceland’s national broadcaster has confirmed it will air Eurovision 2026 domestically by releasing its May schedule. The broadcast proceeds despite the country’s withdrawal from the contest.
Iceland will not participatein Eurovision 2026, set to take place this year in Vienna, yet it has announced the broadcast of the contest and the channels involved. Both semi-finals and the grand final will air live on the secondary channel RÚV 2, while the two semi-finals will also be shown on the main national channel RÚV in a delayed format to provide viewers with an additional viewing option. The first semi-final will air delayed by one hour and 15 minutes, and the second semi-final by 40 minutes. The grand final will not air on RÚV due to local municipal elections in Iceland occurring on the same day, along with a special election-night programming slate.
As recalled, Iceland boasts some of Europe’s highest viewing figures for the contest, with 97.8% of households tuning into the Eurovision 2025 grand final. The Icelandic national broadcaster’s decision to air the event underscores sustained strong public interest despite the cancellation of the Icelandic national selection and potentially signals intent to return in future years.
Iceland Among Withdrawing Broadcasters
Iceland is the second among the boycotting countries to announce broadcast plans, following the Netherlands, which also revealed a new commentary team. Unlike the Dutch approach, it remains unclear whether the Icelandic broadcast will include local commentary or proceed without it.
The secondary channel airing the contest live, RÚV 2, operates primarily as an event-based service that does not typically run regular programming. It focuses mainly on major sports and cultural events to avoid disrupting the main channel’s schedule. In previous years, various Eurovision contests have aired on it with Icelandic sign language interpretation.
Iceland’s Withdrawal from Eurovision
Iceland is considered one of the countries with the highest Eurovision viewing figures, regularly recording over 95% audience share, making its withdrawal especially dramatic.
The broadcaster’s decision to pull out of Eurovision received significant public backing after protests in Iceland intensified ahead of a vote held by the EBU earlier last month, when dozens of demonstrators gathered outside RÚV’s offices calling on the broadcaster to boycott the contest.
In the retirement announcement, it was clarified that cultural figures in Iceland, including artists’ organizations and the general public, oppose participating in the contest and refuse to take part in it alongside Israel. The statement read:
“In light of the ongoing public debate in Iceland and the reactions to the EBU’s decision last week, it is clear that neither joy nor peace would prevail around RÚV’s participation in Eurovision. Therefore, RÚV concludes that it must inform the EBU today that it will not take part in next year’s Eurovision”.
The statement also said:
“The song contest and Iceland’s participation in Eurovision have always been intended to unite the Icelandic public—but it is now clear that this goal cannot be achieved, and therefore the decision has been made on substantive grounds”.
Eurovision 2026: Iceland will not participation in Eurovision 2026. Iceland joined the competition in 1986 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 1999 and Eurovision 2009 after finishing second twice.
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