First broadcast in 1975 as a half-hour children’s toy segment on The Late Late Show, RTÉ’s Late Late Toy Show has evolved into an Irish cultural phenomenon. It is now one of the biggest television events of the year, attracting enormous viewership (around 1.5-1.8 million live viewers, or 80% of the audience on the night). The Toy Show marks the unofficial start of the Christmas season in Ireland, a night when families gather in pyjamas to revel in kids demonstrating the year’s hottest toys, heart-warming performances, and surprise moments. But behind the wide-eyed children and festive frivolity lies a massive behind-the-scenes operation. This article explores not only the Toy Show’s history and cultural significance, but also how RTÉ sources and selects the toys, costumes, sets, props, technology and more, an in-depth look at the procurement and logistics that make the magic happen.
From Small Toy Desk to Live National Event
The Late Late Toy Show started simply with Gay Byrne showcasing Christmas toys on a small set to guide parents’ shopping. It evolved into a flagship live broadcast by RTÉ and is now Ireland’s biggest annual TV moment, built around cinematic themes like The Lion King and The Wizard of Oz. Its scale is striking for a one-night, 2 to 2.5-hour live show featuring large sets, special effects, giveaways, charity segments, and dozens of children presenting and reviewing toys. The polished on-screen spectacle masks a complex, year-long production and procurement operation that makes the night possible.
Sourcing the Toys: How RTÉ Chooses and Gathers the Goods
Sourcing the toys for the Late Late Toy Show is a year-round sample-gathering operation led by RTÉ. Instead of buying at retail, the production team invites Irish toy retailers and distributors to send product samples for potential review. There is no paid product placement tied to selection. The shortlist is editorially curated by in-house researchers, based on durability, novelty, and live-demonstration appeal, rather than sponsorship. Once deliveries begin, dedicated researchers test the toys for broadcast suitability, often working from temporary on-site review spaces on the broadcaster’s campus, with overflow storage used during peak intake months in past high-volume years. The children’s toy reviews are unscripted, a key part of the show’s reputation for candid and entertaining reactions.
After the live programme, toys are donated across the country in time for Christmas via charity partners including St Vincent de Paul, ensuring that most items reach hospitals, community services, and family support groups rather than remaining within commercial channels. This dual outcome entertainment and social giving makes the sourcing stream both a logistical challenge and a national supply effort coordinated with structured cataloguing, tagging, and charity distribution planning.
Costumes, Set Materials and Props: Making a Magical World
Costumes, set materials and props for the Toy Show are sourced and built primarily by in-house departments at RTÉ. It relies on tight procurement planning and external specialist suppliers are used only when a technical or niche element is required. The Costume Department leads wardrobe creation and fittings for both the host and children featuring in performances. Large child ensembles have been delivered for opening numbers in past editions, showing the operational scale of internal costume runs. Design begins weeks ahead, with custom pieces made in RTÉ workshops or adapted from existing stock. When specific items such as wigs or themed accessories are needed, the team has partnered with Irish costume suppliers to complete the look, without commercial placement influencing creative choice.
Set design and props transform Studio 4 into a thematic world for one live broadcast, from jungles to storybook libraries to cityscapes. Ideas are developed through internal creative teams, then technically scoped for durability and live-use safety. Scenic builds and stage effects are largely fabricated by the RTÉ art and carpentry departments, while specialist contractors support elements requiring advanced technical rigging or LED infrastructure. Core materials such as timber, paint, fabrics, lighting, and stage dressing are ordered through structured internal sourcing channels weeks or months ahead, then installed and stress-tested in the final production week. Alongside the creativity, safety controls, rehearsals, and on-site first-aid oversight ensure props and stage effects remain secure for children interacting with them live.
The outcome is a single-night immersive world, assembled from internal capability and targeted supplier support, then rapidly disassembled post show under planned logistics operations.
The Team Behind the Magic: Roles and Responsibilities
Team orchestration for the Late Late Toy Show is driven by a dedicated annual project crew at RTÉ. Unlike the weekly Late Late Show format, this is not business as usual production, it is a special operations programme requiring long-range planning, controlled supplier intake and tightly guarded creative logistics. The producer coordinates seasonal budgets, runs weekly cross-department meetings, and controls all inbound sourcing, testing and talent coordination under strict confidentiality protocols, often supported by NDAs for participants to protect programme surprises.
Researchers underpin two core procurement streams: product curation (toys, materials and props as samples from Irish retailers and distributors) and children casting, reviewing thousands of submissions to select engaging toy demonstrators and nationally representative performers. Regional inclusion is operationally planned, with live auditions historically staged across multiple Irish cities to support balanced geographic representation. The director, vision mixer, sound engineers, graphics teams and effects crew plan and test builds for durability, electrics safety and show cue synchronisation. Pre-recorded inserts and surprise guest appearances, from musicians to cultural figures, require confidential scheduling and tightly timed access to studio.
The show relies on internal sourcing, targeted specialist suppliers for technical elements, structured logistics for fittings and rehearsals, and a formal charity handover plan post broadcast. Despite stringent planning, unscripted children reviews remain protected from commercial influence, preserving candid reactions and ensuring editorial credibility. In essence, Toy Show procurement is a controlled seasonal supply chain, run by in-house creative makers and technical crews, amplified by discreet supplier support and surprise guest logistics, de-rigged at pace once the live broadcast ends.
Timeline of Toy Show Procurement and Production
The Late Late Toy Show runs for one night, but its supply chain and creative sourcing start months, and sometimes years, ahead at RTÉ. By late spring or early summer, producers and designers select a confidential theme inspired by cultural anchors such as films or literary worlds. That theme becomes the baseline for every sourcing decision: costumes, set material, props, music segments, and logistical planning.
From September, the Toy Show project team moves into a secure workspace to preserve surprise elements. Product samples begin arriving directly from Irish retailers and distributors, and researchers evaluate each item for durability and live-TV appeal. Every toy is logged and categorised, shaping a first draft of show segments and demonstrator pairings. In October, regional auditions for children are held, allowing the production to identify standout performers for musical numbers and toy demonstrations. By late October, costume and prop quantities are confirmed, internal workshops begin manufacturing and adaptation, and specialist scenic suppliers are briefed for any technically complex stage infrastructure. One week before broadcast, selected children typically receive their assigned toys to test at home and build familiarity.
In the final fortnight, on-site rehearsals synchronise the camera script, music cues, set transitions and stage effects. Technical runs ensure electrics, rigging, and special effects are safe under live use. Contributors such as carers, tutors, and on-site medical support follow live production protocols for child welfare and safety. Celebrity guest appearances are inserted into the director’s timed cue plan under NDAs. Show week sees Studio 4 fully de-rigged and rebuilt to fit the theme, followed by a full in-studio technical rehearsal before final set dressing. On Friday night, the live audience and cast arrive for the broadcast delivery.
Post show, costumes and sets are dismantled, catalogued assets are packed, and toy donations are handed to national charity partners including St Vincent de Paul, ensuring items reach children’s services across the country in time for Christmas. A formal internal debrief closes the cycle before inspiration work begins again for the following year.
Since 2023, the Late Late Toy Show has extended its focus on social procurement to ensure that decisions made across its value chain align with the environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards adopted by the broadcaster. That year, concerns arose regarding a proposed commercial partnership involving a pyjama promotion with Primark, the clothing subsidiary of Associated British Foods. The issue centred on whether the values expected of a national public service broadcaster such as RTÉ were compatible with human rights concerns linked to parts of Primark’s international supply chain. Following these questions, the arrangement was discontinued. Importantly, the controversy related solely to this merchandising initiative.
To date, there has been no significant scrutiny of the supply chains associated with the toys, technology or other materials used within the show itself. This is notable given that credible authorities like the U.S. Department of Labor identify toys, electronics and clothing among the categories of goods commonly produced using child labour or forced labour.
Source: US Department of Labour
Source: US Department of Labour
Budgeting, Sponsorship and Transparency
The Late Late Toy Show is not a typical retail-buying operation, it is a concentrated annual production funded by RTÉ through internal resourcing and commercial revenue streams, not paid product placement within the toy lineup itself. Production costs are not published, but the broadcaster commits substantial staff hours, scenic materials, costumes, rigging, audio and lighting resources to one live broadcast night, typically lasting 2 to 2.5 hours. To balance this, the show relies on direct product sample intake from Irish retailers and distributors, overflow storage on campus during peak intakes in past editions, and a formal national charity handover pipeline to ensure goods reach children’s services nationwide in time for Christmas.
The show is commercially significant, with high annual demand for advertising and broadcast sponsorship. In 2025, RTÉ publicly stated it was targeting a minimum of €500,000 in advertising and sponsorship revenue for the broadcast. A 30-second slot in premium commercial breaks has historically reached fees in the low to mid five-figure range, reflecting the audience scale and scarcity value of the inventory. Sponsorship is typically delivered through broadcast partnership segments, including audience giveaways and experiential packages, rather than toy product placement within the show.
The charity extension of the production, the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal, launched in 2020, integrates public fundraising into operations without altering the editorial toy curation model. It raised €6.6 million in its first 2020 edition and more than €5 million in 2023, demonstrating its recurring societal impact at broadcast scale. While the fundraising is not toy-procured content, it does drive added sourcing training for phone, digital donation and VT partner videos built into production week scheduling and budget allocation. RTÉ has shown willingness to prioritise ethics over commercial tie-ins. In 2023, the Primark x Toy Show pyjama partnership was paused after internal investigative findings on cotton supply chain labour risks, signalling governance-first decision-making even when this meant revenue reduction. This reflected the show’s editorial and social values taking precedence over merchandise collaborations.
The result is a show that effectively funds its own spectacle through high advertising demand, structured partner disclosure, targeted ancillary sponsorships, donated product logistics, and an audited national distribution of goods to Irish children’s charities. It is a model of dual-purpose value delivery: large-scale internal procurement operations, offset by donated supply and advertising revenue, closing with a tangible societal return that extends well beyond the live broadcast.
Sources:
Late Late Toy Show: Everything you need to know
Every toy from The Late Late Toy Show 2022
https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/living/2022/1125/1338295-every-toy-from-the-late-late-toy-show-2022
RTÉ Targets Over €600,000 from Late Late Toy Show Ad Packages
RTÉ ‘pauses’ Late Late Toy Show pyjamas deal with Penneys amid China worker concerns
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/09/26/rte-drops-penneys-as-sponsor-of-late-late-toy-show
