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The Eurovision Song Contest has a brand-new country – and it’s unlike any we’ve had before. James Stephenson breaks down why Canada is joining Eurovision, why now, and what it could mean for the future of the Contest as we know it.

escinsight.comCanada Comes to Eurovision - But Will Eurovision Leave its History Behind?Mark Carney Reveals Canada's Eurovision Participation at Canada Day Speech (CBC)

2/7/26, 9:18 am3 reposts7 likes

Kris Boswell

@krisboswell.bsky.social

2 July

Interesting, but I think far too much weight is put on joining the contest, rather than the other things that CBC gets out of EBU membership. News content, deeper collaboration with other public service broadcasters at a time when their legitimacy is being questioned by many, and defunded in the US.

Kris Boswell

@krisboswell.bsky.social

2 July

Yes, the ESC participation is probably one of the highest profile by-products of EBU membership, but things like the News Exchange and other EBU projects will probably actually have more of an impact on the Canadian public broadcaster and its audience.

Ben Robertson

@bensvision.bsky.social

2 July

Will be good to review that in a year to see if this is utilised to its full potential

Kris Boswell

@krisboswell.bsky.social

2 July

Yeah, one of the first things they announced was that they are taking part in News Exchange. I think there is a lot of concern among PS-broadcasters about funding cuts, weakening political support etc, so this is also about consolidating and trying to widen cooperation and ‘strength in numbers’.

Ewan Spence

@ewanspence.co.uk

2 July

I wonder how much of News Exchange, etc. is available to associate members? I think it's less. At which point, I'll note that EBU could have changed the associate deal to create (optional?) access to News Exchange. The move to 'full membership' for Canada is (IMO) a notable political move from EBU.

Kris Boswell

@krisboswell.bsky.social

2 July

Definitely not as much, rights issues disappear with full membership, and you also don’t have as much access to the whole organisation, workshops, lawyers, other projects. You become much more part of the “gang” than just with associate. Definitely political, but not necessarily ‘ESC-political’.