This year’s Toy Show had the highest television audience for any Toy Show on record

OVER 1.5 MILLION people watched the Late Late Toy Show last week, the highest television viewership for any Toy Show on record.

Some 1.5 million viewers watched the entire program on RTÉ One on Friday night, representing 79% viewership. The TV audience for the show is now 1.7 million, once viewing on Saturday and Sunday is taken into account.

This makes it one of the highest rated television shows, on a single channel, on record.

Some 2.4 million people tuned in for at least one minute of the program (if RTÉ One + 1 and Saturday’s replay are taken into account).

Online, the show topped 500,000 streams (live and on-demand on RTÉ Player) over the weekend, with 359,000 live streams.

An additional 176,000 viewers watched the show replay on Saturday on RTÉ One. The Late Late Toy Show Singalong had 450,000 viewers and a 34% audience share on RTÉ One.

‘Exceeding all expectations’

Viewers from 138 countries watched the show, during which € 6.5 million was raised for charity work. This year’s theme was The Wonderful World of Roald Dahl.

The stars of the show included Galway girl Saoirse Ruane, whose story inspired the establishment of The Late Late Toy Show Appeal, and Adam King of Cork, who shared his aspirations to work in ground control at NASA.

The show also featured a surprise duet by Dermot Kennedy with Ballina’s Michael Moloney, and Noah Rafferty received a guitar from U2’s Edge.

Speaking today, host Ryan Tubridy said: “The Irish people continue to be in awe of your ability to deepen and support the appeal of The Late Late Toy Show, raising much needed funds and truly exceeding all expectations with your generosity. I think it’s safe to say that we are really touched by the reaction to the show. “