OVER 1.5 MILLION people watched the Late Late Toy Show last week – the highest TV audience for any Toy Show on record.

Some 1.5 million viewers watched the entire show on RTÉ One on Friday night, representing a 79% audience share. TV viewing of the show is now at 1.7 million, once viewing on Saturday and Sunday is taken into account.

This makes it one of the highest rating TV programmes, on a single channel, on record.

Some 2.4 million people tuned in for at least one minute of the programme (when RTÉ One+1 and the Saturday repeat are taken into account).

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

A further audience of 176,000 watched the show’s repeat on Saturday on RTÉ One. The Late Late Toy Show Singalong had 450,000 viewers watching, and a 34% audience share on RTÉ One.

‘Exceeding all expectations’

Viewers in 138 countries watched the programme, during which €6.5 million was raised for charity. 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 from Cork, who shared his aspirations to work in ground control at Nasa.

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

Speaking today, host Ryan Tubridy said: “The Irish people continue to astound with their ability to dig deep and support The Late Late Toy Show appeal, raising much-needed funds and truly exceeding all expectations with their generosity. I think it’s safe to say we are truly humbled by the reaction to the show.”