More than 132,000 viewers tuned in to watch the Malta Eurovision Song Contest finale on their television screens on Saturday evening, according to figures published by the Public Broadcasting Service. 

Another 156,000 followed the competition’s finale on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel, which has 5.6 million subscribers from across the globe. 

PBS said figures show that an average of 120,000 viewers watched the Thursday and Friday shows.

Last year, PBS said a combined 265,000 viewers across TV, its website and social media channels watched The Busker cruise to victory.

Gozitan singer Sarah Bonnici took home the 2024 crown on Saturday with her high-energy dance anthem Loop.

This year’s competition did not include a live show, but instead, the contest’s 12 finalists performed in a “live-on-tape” recording and had a €5,000 budget each to produce a music video.

While viewers welcomed Bonnici’s win, many slammed the festival as “amateurish” and disorganised. 

The Nationalist Party also joined in the criticism, saying the level of organisation was not up to the expected standards. 

The statement, signed by PN shadow ministers Claudette Buttigieg and Julie Zahra said PBS had fallen short of people’s expectations for such an important event on the local cultural calendar. 

In a TVM article, PBS said contrary to the PN’s statement, it did not deceive anyone and it was clear in its regulations that the competition would be based on a live-on-tape mechanism.

“This is not a mechanism that was invented by PBS, but it is established in the television industry and also used by the European Broadcasting Union and other members.”