From February 24 to 28, 2026, the 76th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival took place in Italy. This year, the festival was exceptionally postponed by two weeks due to the Winter Olympics, yet it once again confirmed its central role in Italian cultural life.
Hosted again by Carlo Conti and won by Naples-born artist Sal Da Vinci, the grand finale attracted 11,022,000 viewers, with a 68.9% audience share, according to Auditel’s Total Audience data.
As part of our yearly tradition, our statisticians analyzed the traffic fluctuations on Pornhub during the final night, focusing not only on national data, but also on Campania and the city of Naples — home region of this year’s winner.
Italian Traffic During the Final
On Saturday, February 28, traffic in Italy began to decline around 21h.
The most significant drop occurred around 1h, while the last competing artists were performing. Traffic reached its lowest point at –20% compared to an average day.
Interestingly, by 2h, when the final rankings were officially announced, traffic was already beginning to return to average levels. With the show over, it appeared viewers came rushing back to Pornhub for a quick visit before tuning back into the show for the final results.
As soon as the winner was revealed, the trend reversed. Traffic peaked at +14% around 3h, before gradually stabilizing in the early morning hours.
Campania and Naples: A Stronger Reaction
Given that this year’s winner, Sal Da Vinci, is a Neapolitan artist, we took a closer look at local data.
In Campania, traffic followed a similar pattern but with more pronounced fluctuations. The sharpest drop occurred around 1h, reaching –28%, significantly deeper than the national average of –20%.
The rebound was equally dramatic, with traffic surging to +23% at 3h, perhaps suggesting a particularly emotional response in the winner’s home region.
The city of Naples showed comparable dynamics. Traffic dropped to –24% at 1h before skyrocketing to +26% shortly after the final announcement at 3h — the strongest spike recorded among the areas analyzed.
It appears that Sanremo victories hit differently when the winner comes from your own city.
Music Category Sees Significant Growth
Beyond overall traffic fluctuations, Italian users also showed increased interest in music-related content throughout the festival week.
Views of the Music category rose steadily in the days leading up to the event, peaking at +20% on opening night (February 24) and reaching an even higher spike of +29% on the evening of the finale compared to the previous month.
Even the day after the final saw sustained growth at +22%, suggesting that Sanremo fever extended beyond the Ariston stage.
A Stronger Traffic Drop Despite Lower TV Ratings
Interestingly, although this year’s final recorded slightly lower viewership numbers according to Auditel’s Total Audience data for 2025, the impact on Pornhub traffic was more pronounced.
In 2026, traffic dropped by –20% nationally during the peak moment of the evening, whereas last year’s lowest point during the finale was around –14%.
This suggests that even with marginally lower television ratings, the cultural grip of Sanremo on live viewing behavior remains remarkably strong.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Sanremo Insights 2026!