RTL Group | Cologne, 11/28/2016

€7.8 Million for the 21st RTL-Spendenmarathon

The 21st RTL-Spendenmarathon telethon, which ended on Friday after 24 hours on air, raised €7,828,397. This brings the total raised since 1996 by German TV's longest charity show to over€151 million. "I'm delighted to be able to announce that we've raised a total of €151 million with the 21st RTL-Spendenmarathon," says Anke Schäferkordt, Co-CEO of RTL Group and Chair of Stiftung RTL – Wir helfen Kindern e. V. "I'd like to thank every viewer, donor, project sponsor and partner for their commitment and the implied trust in our work. I'd also like to thank our colleagues at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, who support our charity work with great dedication and perseverance in all areas and carry it out into the world."

"This RTL-Spendenmarathon is very special not only because of its great result," says Wolfram Kons who hosted the Spendenmarathonthroughout the night. "The Spendenmarathonfamily has grown thanks to the work of social media colleagues. They successfully spread our donations program on the social networks 24/7. But our partners also were a great help in raising funds across all channels. Once again, I'm overwhelmed and proud. Once we've had a sleep, we'll begin sending all the donations collected to the children's aid projects. Heartfelt thanks to the RTL viewers, to all the donors, to my team, Joey Kelly and all the partners who believe in us and support us." Kons had welcomed many energetic stars live in the studio during the 24-hour show, including Thomas Gottschalk, Auma Obama, Fabian Hambüchen, Susan Sideropoulos, Victoria Swarovski, Paul Janke, Birgit Schrowange, Tom Beck, Mario Barth, Jutta Speidel, Ilka Eßmüller, Jürgen Milski, Lars Riedel, Inka Bause, Barbara Wussow and Henry Maske, who as project sponsors were all involved, manning the donation lines or in the charity auction.

World record for Joey Kelly

During the Spendenmarathon, Joey Kelly and his 26 company teams broke the world record with the "24 h bike challenge." Within 24 hours, they averaged 90 kilowatt-hours on their spinning bikes and "generated the most electricity from bicycle generators in 24 hours using only muscle power." "Physically I'm fine again now," said Kelly when he climbed down from his bike for the first time after 24 hours. "In the night I hit a low patch, but everyone here kept me motivated. I'm so grateful to be a part of the Spendenmarathon."

Successful charity auctions

Charity auctioneer Joachim Llambi was able to auction unique valuable items from Placido Domingo, Status Quo, Nico Rosberg, Sylvie Meis, Priscilla Presley, Jean Paul Gaultier, the Kelly Family, Marco Huck, DJ Bobo, Victoria Swarovski, "Alarm für Cobra 11," the German national soccer team and Daniela Katzenberger, among others. A visit to the set of "GZSZ" including a role as an extra was auctioned for a whopping €22,500.