Gay channel first to broadcast Eurovision in US

US television channel Logo, geared toward the LGBT community, will broadcast the May 14 Eurovision Song Contest final live in the United States, organisers announced on Monday.

The European Broadcasting Union said it had signed a deal with the channel, part of the Viacom group, making it the first US broadcaster of the event, to be held this year in Stockholm.

"The Eurovision Song Contest is now a truly global phenomenon and we are extremely happy that US viewers now get to join those all over Europe, Australia and Asia," the contest's executive supervisor Jon Ola Sand said in a statement.

Last year, 197 million people watched Sweden's Mans Zelmerlow take home the grand final.

Logo, aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, is available in "nearly 50 million homes", according to the EBU.

Eurovision has for decades been a hugely popular event in gay culture circles, to the extent that the only flags authorised in the venue during the broadcast are those of the UN member states, the European Union and the rainbow flag.