Escapism, courage, unity, love and friendship were central to this year’s Late Late Toy Show, as it remains the most-watched programme on Irish television. More than 1.6 million viewers tuned in across the weekend to watch host Ryan Tubridy’s portrayal of The Wizard of Oz’s Scarecrow, as well as Saoibh Lonergan, Lucy Hoban, Caillín Joe McDonald, Cuckoo’s Nest, Emmie O’Neill and Billy Brady and more make their Toy Show debut.

The Late Late Toy Show had 303,000 streams on RTÉ Player across the weekend, with viewers watching from over 139 countries including Bolivia, Jamaica, Qatar and Ukraine. Áron Gibbons, Cealan Green and Emmie’s stand-up comedy routine were among the most-streamed clips on RTÉ Player. The global Irish joined Ryan to stream the uniquely Irish Toy Show, with 22% of live streams coming from outside Ireland.

An average Live+VOSDAL audience of 1,328,000 viewers tuned in on Friday evening with an additional 172,000 catching up on TV over Saturday and Sunday, and 108,000 watching the repeat. In tandem with these linear TV figures, there were 167,000 live streams on Friday night and another 136,000 streams across Saturday and Sunday.

Yet again audiences responded with huge generosity to the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal this year, with €3.8 million donated to help children’s charities across Ireland in the year ahead. This brings the total amount of much-needed funds to a staggering €17 million since its inception in 2020.

Host of The Late Late Show, Ryan Tubridy, said: “Friday night was a joy to be part of and that is exactly what I was, I was part of a big Toy Show family gathering. That is to say, people working behind the scenes and the children who participated. The reaction has been very gratifying and very heartening. I just got the sense that people wanted a night off from reality, they wanted a night to smile, laugh and cry together. People of all ages got something from this bizarre, beautiful show so I really want to say thank you to everyone for putting it together, for being part of it and for watching it. Happy Christmas to one and all.” 

Across the last 7 days, the #LateLateToyShow garnered an incredible 39.2 million views on TikTok as the nation geared up for and enjoyed the show on Friday night. RTÉ’s own social accounts generated 8.3 million video views across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag trending on Friday night and over the weekend on TikTok and Twitter.