1.4 million tune in to RTÉ Does Comic Relief with over €5.5 million raised

1.4 million people tuned in to RTÉ Does Comic Relief last Friday night for what was a jam-packed night of comedy, heart-warming moments and entertainment, raising over €5 million euro on the night.  It was a particular hit with younger audiences attracting a 48% share of 15 to 34-year olds.

Viewership reached its peak at 9:40pm with 638,000 people tuning in, while donations peaked between 10pm and 11pm, with almost €11,000 coming in per minute (€10,916).

The marathon four hour show which was a celebration of Irish creative talent was a massive hit with international audiences. It was watched on RTÉ Player in over 100 countries including Egypt, Thailand and Venezuela. RTÉ Does Comic Relief clips on RTÉ Player attracted almost 500,000 streams*.

Over on RTÉ’s social platforms, #RTEComicRelief videos generated 2.5million views across all RTÉ channels on Facebook, with Hozier, The Derry Girls and Jam Media’s animation of Christy Moore’s The Voyage being popular amongst users.

On Twitter, #RTEComicRelief videos on RTÉ channels generated 2.025 million views, with Normal People attracting 937k views. The Instagram audience put Westlife, Derry Girls and Normal people in their top 3 most watched videos with a total of 450k views.

Executive Producer of RTÉ Does Comic Relief, Michael Hughes said: “I’d like to thank all of the artists and everyone who contributed to Friday night both in front of and behind the scenes. We had an incredibly short run in to pull the show together in challenging circumstances, but everyone pulled out all the stops to make it happen, from across RTÉ and the independent production sector.

RTÉ Player views between Friday night and Sunday show that RTÉ Does Comic Relief was streamed 93,700 times over the weekend.

“We knew before the show that we had an incredible group of artists lining up for RTE Does Comic Relief but the sheer breadth of Irish creative talent on show on the night was mind blowing. I’m so incredibly thankful to all the amazing artists and creative contributors who gave us such beautiful, funny and moving works, and who did so with such generosity and good will. We are indebted. I also want to thank the brilliant team at RTÉ for their tireless efforts in realising such an ambitious show. This will result in real and tangible support for our charities and community and voluntary groups supporting those most in need as a result of Covid 19” – Deirdre O’Kane, on behalf of the Comic Relief Ireland Steering Group.

Viewers who logged on to RTÉ Player and viewed rte.ie/entertainment streamed ‘Normal People Confess to Fleabag’s Hot Priest’ 85,200 times between the two sites.

Donations are still open at rte.ie/comicrelief and the fund now stands at a total of €5,570,657.20**.

Tina Roche, CEO of The Community Foundation for Ireland  said, “Thank you so much to the thousands of families and businesses who donated on Friday night. We are so grateful for all your support and know that it will make a huge difference to so many charities who have been struggling to raise funds and provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities. The good news is you can still donate online at www.rte.ie/comicrelief. Every donation makes a difference and means we can help more people.”

Note: 

All figures quoted, unless otherwise stated, are live +Vosdal.

* 489,000 streams

**Funds total is now at €5,570,657.20 with Government funding included. Before Government contribution the Irish public have helped to raise €2,785,328.60.

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About The Community Foundation for Ireland

The Community Foundation for Ireland believes in a fair, caring and vibrant Ireland for now and the future. We work with individuals, families, corporates and other trusts and foundations to enable strategic and impactful giving.

We have been in existence since 2000 and last year we gave out €8.15 million to communities in Ireland and abroad. We have extensive experience of grant-making from working with over 4,000 non-profit organisations at a national, regional and local level throughout Ireland and overseas. With over 1,800 community foundations globally, the community foundation model is proven and effective model for social change.

All funds raised from the RTÉ Does Comic Relief campaign will be ring-fenced and distributed by the Community Foundation for Ireland as grants following an open call which will be held in July/August 2020. The fund will be used to support communities around Ireland in the recovery and rebuilding stage after the Covid-19 lock down, helping society to adjust to the new realities. The open call will invite charities and community and voluntary groups to apply for grants to help them support those most in need due to Covid-19.

For more information, please visit www.communityfoundation.ie

About Comic Relief’s activities in Ireland

Comic Relief’s activities in Ireland have been spearheaded by comedian Deirdre O’Kane, TV producer Darren Smith, Talent Agent Jane Russell, Advertising Exec Patrick Hickey, Accountant Ciaran Medlar and Lawyer David Phelan. This group is working in conjunction with RTÉ, Comic Relief International and the Community Foundation for Ireland (CFI) across all aspects of the campaign.  The group founders have previously staged three gala nights of stand-up comedy at the 3Arena; the shows raised more than €600k, which has been distributed by CFI to a variety of Irish charities such as Focus Ireland, The Simon Community and Trocaire.

‘RTÉ Does Comic Relief’ is a licensee of Comic Relief Limited. Since its inception in 1985, Comic Relief has raised over £1 billion to support people living incredibly tough lives both in the UK and internationally. Through humour and stories of hope, we’ve shown that people can make a massive difference. We fund amazing organisations who are working on the ground to support the most vulnerable people and communities in society including many of those hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis. This includes vulnerable children and young people, people who are homeless or living in extreme poverty, women and families at risk of domestic abuse and those struggling with existing or new mental health problems.
For more info visit www.comicrelief.com

Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland)