The Late Late Toy Show was the most watched show of the year

Woah.

Last week's Late Late Toy Show has been named as the most watched TV show on Irish television over the past year. With 1.6 million viewers tuning into the once in a year even, the show saw an additional 303,000 streams on the RTÉ Player over the weekend. Viewers from more than 139 counties tuned in to watch coming from Bolivia, Jamaica, Qatar and Ukraine. The Toy Show Appeal has now raised €3.8 million for Irish charities, seeing the total amount raised hitting €17 million since it started back in 2020. With dozens of talented children making their debuts on the show, Áron Gibbons, Cealan Green and Emmie's stand up comedy have been the most streamed clips of the show, with 22% of the live streams coming from abroad. 1.33 million people tuned in live to RTÉ One on Friday with the number rising to 1.6 million to include catch up viewing on Saturday and Sunday as 296,000 watched the programme on catch-up TV, RTÉ One +1 and the repeat on Sunday. Host 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."

Related links:

• Rejoice - Christmas FM is back on the airwaves today
• Late Late Toy Show will have live Irish Sign Language this year
• 11 iconic Toy Show moments to tide us over until this year's show