Christmas Telethon

A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other cause. Most telethons feature heavy solicitations for pledges (promises to donate funds at a later time) by masters of ceremonies or hosts, who are often local celebrities or media personalities combined with variety show style entertainment such as singers, bands and instrumentalists. In some cases, telethons feature content related to the cause being supported, such as interviews with charitable beneficiaries, tours of charity-supported projects, or pre-taped sequences. The equivalent term for a radio broadcast is a radiothon; most radiothons do not include live entertainment. In the United States, the first telethon used for political outreach occurred in 1960. The highest donating telethon per capita in the world is the Channel Seven Perth Telethon in Perth, Western Australia. It has raised over AU$750 million since 1968, and raised AU$90.1 million in 2025. The most watched and well-regarded Telethon in the world is Teletón Chile in the nation of Chile to raise funds to help children with developmental disabilities. Since its beginning in 1978, it has raised almost CL$300 billion (US$286 million) from the citizens of the nation and international viewers in all parts of the world, and raised US$50.4 million in 2024.