The Slovak public broadcaster has unsurprisingly confirmed to the country’s OGAE fan club today that Slovakia will not be present at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015, despite the fact the Austrian capital will bring the contest merely 100km away. When prompted for a statement the RTVS’s management didn’t hold back;
Our attitude towards Eurovision Song Contest remains unchanged. We have emphasised many times that this format is unbearable for us in terms of program but more importantly in terms of finance, similarly as for Czech Television which has five times higher budget than RTVS. The fact that this time the contest takes place in Vienna does not significantly change the high price of this project. RTVS strategically invest its limited resources into clear and defined program priorities (news, original played production, childrens´ production) and Eurovision Song Contest does not fit there.
It seems unlikely from this that Slovakia will return to Eurovision in the near future unless the budget is favourable and major public support is shown. Slovakia last participated in 2012 with Max Jason Mai and has failed to qualify for the final in each attempt since their return in 2009.
Source: OGAE Slovakia
