Number One Programme of the Year to Date
-Over 1.7 million people watched across the weekend
-Over 3.6 million Raised for Toy Show Appeal
-Record-breaking 550,000 RT Player Streams from 147 countries
-26.2 million video views across Social Media for #LateLateToyShow
To Whom It Concerns
RT 's Elf-themed Late Late Toy Show slayed its mission of spreading Christmas cheer for all to hear, raising an incredible 3.6 million for the RT Toy Show Appeal, sleighing straight in as the most-watched programme of the year and breaking records on RT Player with those watching in Ireland and around the world. Our toy demo kids also helped spread the cheer beyond RT platforms, with #LateLateToyShow generating an enormous 26.2 million video views and 2.2 million interactions on social media.
Average TV viewing for Friday night's show is now over 1.7 million, including catch-up viewing on Saturday and Sunday. As host Patrick Kielty channelled Buddy the Elf in his debut Toy Show, audiences from an unprecedented 147 countries worldwide streamed the annual extravaganza which this year featured over 170 performers from around the country including unforgettable toy demo kids such as County Clare's Sheamie, sport loving Stevie from Kilkenny, and Tipperary's Sophie who raced to the studio in time for Patrick to surprise her with a magical trip to Disneyland.
Host Patrick Kielty said: I'm still coming back down to earth from an amazing night last Friday. I want to express huge thanks to everyone who helped make this year's Late Late Toy Show so special. To all of you who watched, to the brilliant kids who brought their magic and put a giant smile on all of our faces. And, to every last one of you who gave so generously to our Toy Show Appeal - you have made a massive difference to so many children's lives - thank you! Being part of it is something I will never forget - a forever night!
The Irish diaspora worldwide stayed connected with home through RT Player from a record-breaking 147 countries including first-time streams from Cameroon, British Virgin Islands, Rwanda, Sierra Leon, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Almost a quarter of live streams on Friday night were from outside Ireland making the show the most-watched programme on RT Player for 2023 with figures continuing to grow. There was a 97% increase on UK RT Player streams up from 33k in 2022 to 65k in 2023, with streams in more than doubling in Northern Ireland.
The Late Late Toy Show 2023 highlights on The Late Late Show YouTube channel garnered over half a million views and counting, with Toy Show icon Sheamie and the Irish Rugby Surprise featuring in the top trending YouTube videos across Ireland over the weekend.
The Christmas cheer was felt far and wide with the #LateLateToyShow generating an enormous 26.2 million video views and 2.2 million interactions on RT 's social accounts with the hashtag trending on Friday night and over the weekend on TikTok and Twitter.
There was enormous love across social for the younger stars of the night with Stevie's performance of Ireland's Call generating 4.8 million views across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X, while Sheamie's words of wisdom to Patrick, and Sophia's backstage performance of her rap won fans on all platforms.
Once again, audiences responded with huge generosity towards the RT Toy Show Appeal, which saw over 3.6 million donated by viewers to help children's charities across Ireland in the year ahead. This brings the total amount of funds raised by the Appeal to over 21 million since the inaugural RT Toy Show Appeal in 2020.
On the over 3.6 million raised from the RT Toy Show Appeal since Friday night, Denise Charlton, Chief Executive, Community Foundation Ireland said: The extraordinary generosity of Toy Show viewers will ensure the magic continues long after the Christmas decorations come down. Hundreds of thousands of children will have their lives transformed. There will be more essential supports including food, clothing, therapy as well as health and wellbeing services. In addition, play and creativity will become more accessible to all. The Foundation will work with leading child advocates and our partners in RT to begin the process of distributing the Toy Show fund to every county. For now, our message to viewers is Thank You!
The Late Late Toy Show with Irish Sign Language (ISL) was also available live on Friday night on RT Player and RT News, with over 13,000 streams to date and growing. Patrick Kielty's opening performance inspired by Elf was on RT One and with ISL was the most-watched moment from the show with viewers bowled over by the show's many young performers. Matilda star Alisha Weir, Sheamie and Bundee Aki and Peter O'Mahony's surprise visit were the Top Moments of the night. Patrick's meeting with our ISL elf Amelia was the most watched Irish Sign Language moment of the night.
Alan Tyler, Head of Entertainment, Comedy and Music said: We are delighted that Patrick's first Late Late Toy show has connected so well with the audience. It is a testament to the hard work of the whole team who put together a truly unique and special show which brought the nation together, and, we hope, delivered a little Christmas magic to homes right across Ireland and across the world. All of us on the show owe a huge thank you to the audience whose generosity in donating to the Toy Show Appeal is both remarkable and humbling. It will make a real difference to children's lives throughout the year.
More from RTE
09/10/2026
Witness world firsts, new arrivals and the work that goes on behind the scenes a...
07/10/2026
RT has been informed that, as stated in Budget 2027, the Government has made the decision to cut the agreed public funding of RT by 20 million for 2027.
In ...
07/10/2026
Undercover filming shows add-on treatments with potential safety concerns on sal...
07/10/2026
Join Emma Doran, Justine Stafford, Killian Sundermann, Se n Burke and Michael Fry on RT 2 and RT Player tomorrow at 10.30pm
A host of guest stars include Siob...
06/10/2026
Andrew Trimble delves into the author's Belfast upbringing
Thursday, 8 Octo...
05/10/2026
RT will provide comprehensive coverage and analysis of Budget 2027 across online, radio and television on Tuesday 6 October, with extensive reporting and analy...
02/10/2026
Featuring performances recorded in Cork, Kilkenny, Wesmeath and Dublin culminati...
02/10/2026
How the fertility sector in Ireland remains unregulated
Undercover filming reveals how without proper regulation the promotion of controversial fertility treat...
02/10/2026
Transforming Homes, Transforming Lives
Presenter Baz Ashmawy and his team take on four life-changing builds across Kildare, Limerick, Wicklow and Offaly in the...
01/10/2026
Season 4 of the multi-award-winning hit entertainment series The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In is back, serving up another round of unpredictable laughs, unforg...
01/10/2026
New season begins Sunday, 4 October at 6pm on RT lyric fm and RT Listen
RT lyric fm's arts and culture documentary series The Lyric Feature returns on S...
01/10/2026
RT is proud to continue its commitment to supporting and celebrating the arts across Ireland this October, highlighting a vibrant programme of theatre, music, ...
30/09/2026
How to Shop Well Now starts Monday at 9.35pm
on RT One and RT Player
On the...
29/09/2026
RT lyric fm is proud to announce the annual Choirs for Christmas competition callout. Warm up those vocal chords and join us on RT lyric fm for a celebration ...
28/09/2026
Crimecall, presented by Carla O'Brien, returns tonight for a brand new series at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player.
In tonight's episode, alongside appe...
28/09/2026
CELEBRATING 40 YEARS AT THE HEART OF NEW IRISH WRITING
LIVE FROM POETRY IRELAND, DUBLIN AND ON RT RADIO 1 FROM 7PM
DETAILS: www.rte.ie/writing | FOLLOW: #r...
25/09/2026
Want to be part of this year's Late Late Toy Show?
Final call for applications in search for this year's stars
The most wonderful night of the year is...
24/09/2026
The home interiors retailer signs up for third year as sponsor
RT Commercial today announced that Harry Corry has signed up to a third year as sponsor of Live...
24/09/2026
RT Radio 1 Folk Awards Tickets on Sale
Dolores Keane to be inducted into the...
23/09/2026
RT One and RT Player, Friday 25 September
Ceol le Ch ile, a new series that follows Irish artists as they collaborate with musicians from diverse background...
23/09/2026
Available now on RT Listen
New information has come to light in the case of mi...
22/09/2026
RT , Creative Ireland and Shared Island Initiative ask young artists
to respon...
21/09/2026
Ireland's most successful and longest-running afternoon show, the TODAY Show...
21/09/2026
RT celebrates Irish Sign Language Awareness Week 2026
Special programmes across RT television, radio and online, plus special initiatives
#ISL #IDSL #IWDP26...
17/09/2026
Donncha's Away Games starts this Sunday on RT One and RT Player
Irish rugby legend Donncha O'Callaghan pairs up with a host of celebrities to take on...
17/09/2026
New series of Aistear an Amhr in shares extraordinary stories behind Ireland'...
17/09/2026
The Late Late Show is back!
Liam Neeson, Siobh n McSweeney, Caitr ona Balfe a...
17/09/2026
RT Statement:
RT is today confirming that its position regarding participation in the Eurovision Song Contest remains unchanged. RT will not participate in...
16/09/2026
Garda whistleblowers come forward to
RT Investigates from inside the
Garda Pr...
14/09/2026
RT in association with the BBC today released first look image from the second series of The Walsh Sisters, inspired by the novels of international best-sellin...
11/09/2026
RT has today announced Benetti Menswear as the sponsor of its 2026 Amgen Irish Open coverage for a sixth consecutive year, further strengthening the heritage c...
10/09/2026
RT to Broadcast Amgen Irish Open free-to-air
New multi-year agreement will see RT continue to bring the Amgen Irish Open to Irish audiences
Ryder Cup hig...
10/09/2026
More than 30 women report allegations of sexual harassment, misogyny and bullying within National Ambulance Service
Tonight on RT Prime Time, 9:35pm, RT One ...
10/09/2026
Series 3 of Nero's Class begins Friday 11 September on RT Listen
The third...
09/09/2026
RT brings three packed days of live radio, entertainment, news, weather and fun
Join RT Radio 1: Morning Ireland, Oliver Callan, Today with David McCullagh,...
07/09/2026
552,000 streams on RT Player
The historic fight, which saw Katie Taylor become...
04/09/2026
RT ANNOUNCE NEW DRAMA THE MURDER OF MR. MOONLIGHT
BASED ON THE DISAPPEARANCE...
03/09/2026
First Class Takes is a new six-part series for RT KIDS that captures funny, hon...
02/09/2026
RT has today announced a major media partnership with Lidl around Katie Taylor's historic Croke Park clash with Flora Pili on Saturday, September 5th.
The...
01/09/2026
Join Donal Skehan in discovering the best of everyday Italian cooking in brand new series, airing Wednesday 2 September
In this brand-new series, Donal's I...
01/09/2026
RT Supporting the Arts is delighted to spotlight a diverse range of arts, cultu...
27/08/2026
Commissioned for RT KIDS as part of the EBU Kids' Drama Exchange The Note will premiere Sunday August 30, 5:10pm
RT One and RT Player
The Note tells a...
26/08/2026
As RT marks 100 years of public service broadcasting in Ireland, today we announce a season of fresh, original content, while preparing to move into a second c...
25/08/2026
The new series begins Tuesday 1 September at 7pm on RT One and RT Player
The search for Ireland's hidden housing gems is back as Cheap Irish Homes return...
24/08/2026
We Only Want the Earth: The Life & Ideas of James Connolly airs
Wednesday 26 August on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
RT is to air the compelling documenta...
21/08/2026
Beat The Lotto dives into the plot behind the 1980s National Lottery scandal
24 August 2026 at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player
Beat The Lotto is the story o...
21/08/2026
The countdown to the most wonderful night of the year has officially begun!
Host Patrick Kielty is gearing up for another unforgettable Late Late Toy Show nig...
21/08/2026
Meet puppet duo Bellie and Whizz, who are about to explore all the big feelings ...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
Number One Programme of the Year to Date 
