Microsoft opens a new technological era at the Eurovision Song Contest

Coinciding with NAB, Microsoft announces that it will be the new technological partner of the popular music event. The Microsoft Azure cloud platform will allow sharing audiovisual content with more than 45 television channels, offering videos on demand and will host the Eurovision app.

Microsoft will be the technological partner of the Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in Vienna (Austria). The popular international event, whose motto is Building bridges (Building Bridges), using technology to go beyond geographic and cultural borders has been identified as an essential task. Quite a challenge for the world's largest entertainment event, which has 200 million viewers and collects millions of votes, transmits data in real time and coordinates more than 1,700 journalists, 800 volunteers, 45 television networks and various partners.

"This motto fits very well with Microsoft's philosophy. After all, our cloud services and technology break down barriers every day, connecting people from all over the world and helping them achieve their goals," said Georg Obermeier, CEO of Microsoft Austria.

Microsoft builds bridges in the new era of the Eurovision Song Contest
The CEO of Microsoft Austria has been enthusiastic about this collaboration: “It is an honor for us to collaborate in an event as important as Eurovision and we are going to make it the best that has ever been held.”

Microsoft Azure, Microsoft's cloud platform, will help fans enjoy a video-on-demand platform and will also allow organizers to distribute content for more than 40 television networks around the world. Azure will also host the Festival's official app, which will allow almost 200 million people from 45 countries to follow and vote for their favorite performances.

In addition, the event organization will use Lumia smartphones and the Yammer social network to coordinate all members of its large team, made up of 1,000 workers in 40 countries, 1,300 international delegates and 800 volunteers.

Yammer, Microsoft's corporate social network that encourages collaborative work and productivity, will support the production team to coordinate its large staff both before and during the show. Yammer is an essential platform where everyone involved in the organization, wherever they are, can share the necessary information about the Festival and each of its performances.

The Microsoft Azure cloud platform is a set of integrated services for computing, storage, data, networks and apps and forms the centerpiece of the Eurovision Song Contest's IT infrastructure. Azure solutions for websites and data storage provide the production team with the means they need to exchange information with 45 television channels around the world, in addition to ensuring the uninterrupted operation of a video-on-demand solution.

The Apps also play a prominent role in ensuring communication to 200 million viewers from more than 45 countries, 1,300 delegates from 40 participating countries and 800 volunteers. The official application of the Eurovision Song Contest keeps fans constantly informed about the latest news related to Europe's most popular television show, as it turns the user's device into a screen that offers live updates during the event. In addition, it will allow users to vote easier and faster. It will be available in the second half of April, first for the Windows platform and later for Android and iOS.

In addition to the application for viewers, a special app has also been developed for internal use, which aims to further facilitate communication and tasks for the people who work in your organization. These applications, which are supported on Microsoft Azure, are expected to be used by 500,000 users simultaneously.

A technological challenge

The Eurovision Song Contest tests the enormous organizational and communication challenges associated with an event of this magnitude in a connected world. “Microsoft's greatest advantage is its ability to adapt its innovations and technologies to the needs and demands of the Eurovision Song Contest,” explained Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor of the European Broadcasting Union for the Eurovision Song Contest. "Microsoft is a trusted partner in which we completely trust due to its ability to satisfy all our needs, thanks to the provision of innovative solutions of the highest level. Therefore, we are sure that the Eurovision Song Contest and its motto 'Building Bridges' will represent a new era in technology."

"At Microsoft, a company focused on mobile and cloud environments, we are dedicated to helping people achieve their goals and the alliance with Eurovision allows us to beautifully demonstrate what this means. Our mobile technology, including the use of powerful and affordable Lumia terminals equipped with apps such as Yammer, makes it easier for international teams to do the work they need to do to meet deadlines, and they can do it from anywhere, at any time. And, with our cloud services, any organization can expand its capacity to meet their demands, even during one of the biggest international entertainment events of the year,” adds Obermeier, CEO of Microsoft Austria.