The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna was a significant success for the Austrian public broadcaster ORF. In Austria, more than 1.5 million viewers tuned in to watch the final on television, with an additional 160,000 streams online. The smooth operation of the event’s digital side is largely attributable to Big Blue Marble, an international broadcasting and streaming expert and ORF’s technical subsidiary. Thanks to their cloud-based live transmission of the semi-finals and the final, about 80 different recipients, including over 50 registered public viewing events throughout Austria, were able to experience the Eurovision Song Contest in full broadcast quality.
“The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 showcases the exceptional technological expertise of ORF and its subsidiary, Big Blue Marble, which is both top-tier and internationally competitive. The ability to provide high-quality viewing of the contest at over 50 public locations across Austria demonstrates our commitment to public service. We can take pride in this level of competence,” says Harald Kräuter, Director of Technology and Digitalization at ORF.
A purpose-built solution for a once-in-a-decade event
Behind that stream was a cloud workflow built around Big Blue Marble’s Cloud Video Kit – the orchestration layer that managed live signal processing, monitoring, and delivery throughout the event.
The underlying infrastructure was engineered from scratch by Big Blue Marble’s Professional Services team specifically for this event. Using AWS MediaConnect, ORF’s live signal traveled from its encoders into the AWS’s cloud via SRT-based signal contribution, where it was distributed securely to around 80 selected recipients nationwide for public viewing events. Running across two separate AWS regions, the architecture ensured full redundancy, while strict access controls meant the feed reached only the venues it was meant to reach.
While audiences watched the show, Big Blue Marble’s support team had eyes on every part of the content delivery chain in direct contact with recipients across Austria and AWS support in the background. Cloud Video Kit’s integrated monitoring and AI-assisted anomaly detection did the early warning work, so that when something needed attention, the team was already on it before the picture ever flickered on the screen.
“The European Song Contest 2026 was a demanding live environment, both in terms of scale and operational pressure. Our job was to make sure the stream worked reliably from signal processing through to delivery, without turning the technology into the story. The event showed that Big Blue Marble can deliver ‘broadcast-grade’ throughout different means of delivery, just as our customers expect from traditional television services,” says Krzysztof Bartkowski, CEO Streaming & Cloud Media at Big Blue Marble.
