TV Audience

The grand finale of the 76th Festival di Sanremo, hosted by Carlo Conti on Rai1, attracted 10.75 million viewers with a 68.6% share (9:45 pm–1:59 am), confirming the Festival’s exceptional dominance in Italian prime time.

The evening opened with Sanremo Start (11.76 million viewers; 53.2%). The first part of the final reached 13.30 million viewers (64.4%), while the late-night segment retained 8.76 million viewers, with the share rising to 74.4%, highlighting strong audience loyalty through the announcement of the results.

The winner of Sanremo 2026 was Sal Da Vinci, who had already emerged among the frontrunners during the week.

Alongside the main victory, several key special awards were announced. Fulminacci won the prestigious Critics’ Award (Premio della Critica Mia Martini). The Press Room Award (Sala Stampa Lucio Dalla) and the TIM Award were both assigned to Serena Brancale. The Sergio Bardotti Award for Best Lyrics went to Fedez and Marco Masini, while the Giancarlo Bigazzi Award for Best Musical Composition, voted by the orchestra, was awarded to Ditonellapiaga. These recognitions highlighted the Festival’s dual dimension, balancing popular success with artistic and professional appreciation.

Despite the excellent performance, the final recorded slightly lower figures than Sanremo 2025, which averaged 13.02 million viewers with a 72.7% share (9:22 pm–1:59 am), confirming last year’s edition as an exceptional peak.

Competition remained marginal: the most-watched alternative program was Quasi amici on Canale 5, with 1.30 million viewers and a 5.9% share.