the French national broadcaster France Télévisions has announced that it will not host "Junior Eurovision 2026", writes Eurovoix.
As the winner of Junior Eurovision 2025, France has been given priority rights to host the 2026 contest. However, France Televisions announced that it will not be able to host "Junior Eurovision 2026". This is due to financial reasons. To balance the 2026 budget, France Televisions must save 140 million euros. The announcement noted its plans to save money across the organization, including "...further reductions in the cost of national programming, particularly through the full-year impact of a 5% reduction in the cost of streaming programs beginning in September 2025, increased rebroadcasts of creative programming, reductions in certain programming and the potential resale of broadcast rights to one or more sporting events." France Télévisions also refuses to host Junior Eurovision 2026."
This is not the first time France has refused to host Junior Eurovision 2026 after winning. In 2024, France declined to host the competition, choosing to focus on broadcasting plans for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Spain then became the host country and hosted the 2024 competition in Madrid.
