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Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

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File:UK-wwtbam.jpg
Logo from the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers very large cash prizes for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The maximum cash prize (in the original UK version) is one million pounds.

The programme originated in the United Kingdom, where it is hosted by Chris Tarrant. It is based on a format devised by David Briggs, who, along with Steve Knight and Mike Whitehill, devised a number of the promotional games for Chris Tarrant's breakfast show on Capital FM radio. The original working title for the show was Cash Mountain.

When it first aired in the UK on September 4, 1998, it was a surprising twist on the gameshow genre. Only one contestant plays at a time (similar to some radio quizzes), and the emphasis is on suspense rather than speed. There is no time limit to answer questions, and contestants are given the question before they must decide whether to attempt an answer.

Ironically, given the large prizes that it offers, the show is named after a 1956 Cole Porter song which emphasized the desirability of love over material possessions: Who wants to be a millionaire? I don't. (...) And I don't 'cause all I want is you.

The section Original version describes the British version of the show. The section United States version describes the US version. The section Other national variants describes differences in other countries.

Original version

At the beginning of each show, the host introduces a set of ten potential contestants, giving their names and where they are from. The potential contestants have to undergo a preliminary round, called "Fastest Finger First", where they are all asked to put four answers in a particular order. (In the very first series of the British version, and until the end of the 2003 season in the Australian version, "Fastest Finger First" required the contestants to answer one multiple choice question correctly as quickly as possible) The contestant who does this correctly and in the fastest time goes on to sit in the chair and play for a possible £1,000,000.

The contestant is asked increasingly difficult general knowledge questions by the host. To each question, they can choose from four multiple choice answers. Answering the first question correctly wins the contestant a small monetary prize, and the subsequent questions are played for increasingly large sums. If the contestant answers incorrectly they lose all the money they have won. However, the £1,000 and £32,000 prizes are guaranteed: if a player gets a question wrong above these levels then they drop down only to the previous guaranteed prize.

The sequence of prizes is as follows: £100, £200, £300, £500, £1,000, £2,000, £4,000, £8,000, £16,000, £32,000, £64,000, £125,000, £250,000, £500,000, £1,000,000.

The game ends after the contestant answers a question incorrectly or decides not to answer the question, or when they have answered all fifteen questions correctly, at which point they win the top prize of £1,000,000.

If at any point the contestant is unsure of the answer to a question, they can use one of their three "lifelines": they can "phone a friend" (being given 30 seconds to talk to their chosen friend, who must be taken from a list nominated by the contestant beforehand), "ask the audience" (getting a bar chart of the audience's answers), or go for a "50:50" (when the computer will randomly remove two incorrect answers and leave the right answer and one wrong answer.). Each of these lifelines can be used only once.

Variants on the format have been tried, such as celebrities playing for charity and couples games (where both partners must agree on the answer). Tarrant's catchphrases on the show include "Is that your final answer?" and "but we don't want to give you that".

In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? was placed 23rd.

The Major Charles Ingram affair

In an episode of the British show recorded on September 10 2001, Major Charles Ingram won the £1,000,000 prize. During the recording it was noticed that a suspicious pattern of coughing could be heard. The Major's unusual behaviour in the "hot seat" also drew attention. When subsequently analysed it became apparent that another contestant, Tecwen Whittock, seated in "contestants row" was offering Major Ingram prompts in the form of coughs, indicating the correct answers. On many of the questions Major Ingram read aloud all of the four answers, until a cough was heard, before choosing his answer. In some cases he even dismissed an answer, read aloud the answers again, and picked an answer he had earlier dismissed.

Further investigation revealed that the Major's wife Diana (who had won £32,000 on a previous show, as had his brother-in-law) had organized the scam. A number of pagers had been purchased and telephone records revealed what appeared to be a practice session for another plan to cheat the system that was not subsequently carried out. The plan was for the Major to hide four pagers on his body that would vibrate when an accomplice called the pager indicating the correct answer. Following a trial at Southwark Crown Court lasting a month, Major Ingram, his wife Diana and Tecwen Whittock were convicted of "procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception" on 7 April 2003. Ingram and his wife were each given suspended 18-month prison sentences and fined £15,000, while Whittock received a 12-month suspended sentence and was fined £10,000. Together with legal costs, it is estimated that the Ingrams will have to pay £50,000 in total.

Despite the conviction, the Ingrams and Tecwen Whittock continue to deny that they colluded or acted dishonestly. They plan to appeal the court ruling. An ITV1 documentary entitled "Millionaire: a Major Fraud" and presented by Martin Bashir was broadcast in Britain on 21 April. Coincidentally, or perhaps intentionally, the first advert in the first commercial break in the documentary, was one for cough medicine. Excerpts from the 2003 recording were broadcast with enhanced audio highlighting the coughs emanating from Tecwen Whittock. Immediately afterwards the full programme in its original format was broadcast on ITV2. The documentary included additional video recorded during the programme of Mrs Ingram sitting in the audience and apparently prompting the Major with her own coughing and making glances in the direction of Mr Whittock. The documentary also contained interviews with production staff and other contestants present at the recording of the original programme describing how they felt that something unusual had been happening. Major Ingram described the documentary as "one of the greatest TV editing con tricks in history". Celador Films, the sister company of the quiz show's producers Celador Productions, announced in September 2003 that they were planning to turn the affair into a film, and commissioned a screenplay from award-winning television dramatist Russell T. Davies. The status of this project as of April 2005 is, however, currently unclear.

On July 24, 2003 the British Army ordered Charles Ingram to resign his commission as a Major.

For an argument by James Plaskett in favour of the innocence of Ingram, his wife and Whittock, see this item. Plaskett´s essay led to journalist Bob Woffinden, who had a long time interest in miscarriages of justice, publishing a two page article in the 9 October 2004 edition of the British newspaper the Daily Mail entitled Is The Coughing Major Innocent? Plaskett is also a regular contributor on the 'Millionaire' discussion boards on Quizzing.co.uk being a site frequented by many past winners and aspirant contestants of the UK version of the show. Plaskett is often himself the subject of discussion on that site, so regular are his postings to the effect that the trio are innocent. He is likely to continue to be the subject of discussion given his own appearance in the 'Millionaire hot-seat' for the recordings of 22nd & 23rd November 2005 (not likely to be broadcast until January 2006).

United States version

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire first aired in the United States in 1999 and was hosted by Regis Philbin. The first contestant was David Korotkin, who won $1,000. In 2002, the show was sent into daily syndication and changed hosts to Meredith Vieira. The syndicated version does not include the Fastest Finger competition; contestants are just brought out individually during each half-hour show. Also, instead of the telephone competitions of ABC's versions, there are simple contestant auditions for the syndicated version, as in other game shows. Both versions omit the question mark from their official titles due to a superstition about question marks in film and TV productions.

The network version became explosively popular in 1999, and at its peak was airing in prime time four nights a week on ABC. The show was popular enough to find rival networks creating or reincarnating game shows of their own, and created a brief renaissance of sorts for United States based game shows as well as a flurry of American versions of UK originals such as The Weakest Link. ABC used Who Wants to be a Millionaire in so many prime time slots that when the show's popularity faded by 2001, it was left with a dearth of original programmes. ABC's overall Nielsen ratings suffered as a result of the show's decline in popularity.

One of the reasons that Who Wants to be a Millionaire lost popularity in the United States was linked to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. After a hiatus that lasted several weeks following the attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon, ABC began airing more Celebrity Editions of the show, most likely in a bid to give America something "light" after the "horror" of 9/11. The Celebrity Editions featured various celebrities playing the show for charity. The problem was that in this version the audience was allowed to yell out the answers to each question up to and including the $32,000 level. The suspense of the show was eliminated with all celebrity contestants virtually guaranteed to walk away with at least $32,000 to give to their selected charity, and it disappeared from ABC by December 2001 and the show itself on ABC ended in June 2002.

In February 2004, Regis Philbin returned for five episodes of Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire?, which offered a $10,000,000 top prize; the series returned for seven additional episodes in May. The series may return again in either Fall 2005 or Spring 2006. The $10,000,000 prize offered by Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire? is the largest prize offered by any game show worldwide, although unlike in the original programme the top prize is not paid in one lump sum but paid over 20 years.

Two new lifelines were added in Super Millionaire: Three Wise Men and Double Dip. However, those could only be used after a contestant reached the $100,000 mark. Three Wise Men consisted of the contestant asking a panel of experts a question. The panel would then have 30 seconds to come up with the answer. The panel was kept in darkness until the player made it up to $100,000 (If no player had made it up to that level within the hour show, the Three Wise Men would be revealed to the audience to see who they were). The Double Dip lifeline was a chance to guess at a question twice. Once a player chose to Double Dip, they could not back out of answering the question.

In the syndicated version as of September 2004, questions 10, 11, and 12 have decreased to $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000, in order for the show to add an additional lifeline, Switch the Question, once a player reaches the $25,000 level.

A version of this game named "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Play It!" is an attraction at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and was formerly an attraction at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, California. The game is very similar to the television version. On each question, the audience, using a keypad attached to the back of the seat in front, chooses A, B, C, or D. When a contestant chooses to stop playing, the next contestant is picked from the audience member who answered the most questions correctly and most quickly. This version is not played for cash. For every question answered correctly, the contestant receives a pin, and after reaching the "safe havens", a baseball cap and T-shirt. The top prize is a vacation, which is frequently changed.

Episodes of the ABC version (Including Super Millionaire) have been rerun on GSN since September 2003.

Other Information

Before the millionaire dollar question, past millionaires sit in the audience and get interviewed by the presenter to give advice on the best way to face the final question. If the person wins the million dollars, confetti, (in the color of gold squares) comes down from the studio ceiling. At the bottom of the screen; the person's name comes up on the screen labeled "millionare." The show then continues to let another 10 contestants be in the "hot seat" (as it's often called) to also have the chance to win the money.

The show can have variant "special editions" such as: celebrities, charities, mother's day, father's day and a "family edition" where, for example, a father may be with his son who helps in getting the correct answer.

The running time of this program is usually an hour. In special events it maybe extended from half an hour to an hour longer to raise money for a national causes like "homeless people," as well as giving addition time and suspense if someone faces the million dollar question.

Other national variants

Although it originated in the United Kingdom, the format of show has subsequently been exported to many countries around the world. As of early 2003 the producers' website lists the following territories as having licensed the show: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the Caribbean, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, the Middle East, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland. Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the Philippines, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, United States, Vatican City, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

Here are some details of the differences in some of those countries:

  • Argentina 2001: Here, the show was called "¿Quién quiere ser Millonario?" ("Who wants to be a Millionaire") and was hosted by Julián Weich, a locally famous game show host. It was aired on Canal 13 between May and December 2001 and the highest prize was 1 000 000 pesos, which at that time equalled US$ 1 million.
  • Australia 1999-: Hosted by Eddie McGuire, Australia's Millionaire airs once weekly on Nine Network. It is virtually identical in format to the British original. McGuire hosted a daily edition of the show in 2004, but the expanded format was cancelled after just a week. Rob "Coach" Fulton was the show's first millionaire; he did so on Monday, October 17, 2005. Less than a month after the big win, another man Martin Flood won the Million on Monday November 14, 2005. Several big wins by "professional" game show contestants who spent thousands of dollars ringing the competition line to get on the show has led to a changing of the rules regarding appearances — only one phone call per person per week is now permitted.
  • Austria 2000-: Here, the show is called "Die Millionenshow" ("The millions show"). The Austrian state TVORF uses the Cologne set, which may causes problems for contestants who would like to"ask the audience" if the question happens to be about austrian trivia. The host Armin Assinger, has been criticized by some for his broad Carinthian accent. The highest prize is 1,000,000 EUR (earllier, it was 10 000 000 Austrian Schillings, and the show was called "Die Zehn Millionen Show" ("The ten millions show")).
  • Belgium 1999-: There are two version of the show, aired in Belgium One is the French version, called "Qui sera millionaire" ("who will be a millionaire"), hosted by Alain Simons and aired on RTL1. The second is the Flemish version, called " Wie Wordt euromiljonair" ("who will be a euro-millionaire") hosted by Walter Grootaers, and aired on VTM network. Previously is called "Wie wordt multimiljonair" ("who willbe a multi-millionaire"). The prizes were in Belgian Francs, now is in euros.

Brazil: Here, the show aired on SBT and was hosted by TV legend Silvio Santos.

  • Bulgaria : Here, the show is called "Кой иска да стане богат?" ("Koi iska da stane bogat") ("Who wants to be rich?") is hosted by Niki Kanchev and aired by the commercial TV station Nova TV. As there are no suitable television studios in Bulgaria, the show is filmed across the border in Romania. The Bulgarians often refer to the show as "Стани богат" ("stane bogat") or "Become rich" The prizes levels in Bulgaria are in levs (BGN), and set at: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500, 3,000, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000, 100,000.
  • Canada 2000: Canada's CTV network aired the United States (primetime) version for most of its run, but in September 2000 it aired two specials entitled "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire: Canadian Edition". Hosted by Pamela Wallin, the shows were taped on the ABC set in New York. A Canadian audience was flown to the city for the shows, so the contestants could "ask the audience" for help on the Canadian-themed questions. Following the airing of the two specials, CTV did announce that additional episodes of the Canadian Edition would be produced, but they never came to fruition. The syndicated American version can be seen in Canada on the A-Channel system, as well as through American channel feeds.
  • Chile : Here, the show is called "Quién quiere ser millonario?",("who wants to be a millionaire").It was originally hosted by Mario Kreutzberger (also known as Don Francisco) on Canal 13. For season two, Sergio Lagos took over as host. Prizes are in Chilean pesos: 50,000, 100,000, 150,000, 200,000, 250,000, 500,000, 750,000, 1,000,000, 2,000,000, 4,000,000, ...,50,000,000, 75,000,000, 100,000,000. Nobody reached the 100 million peso grand prize during the series duration.
  • Croatia 2002-: Directly translated into Croatian, "Tko želi biti milijunaš?" is hosted by Tarik Filipović, and aired by the state television station HRT 1. The show's primary difference from nearby Slovenia's edition is run-time. While the Slovenian version runs 1 hour and 45 minutes, with commercials, Croatia's version runs for a single hour. The hour length is due to the fact that Croatia's Public television law states that the state TV can only air one commercial during under one-hour shows. Prizes on Milijunaš are in Croatian kunas; the top prize of one million kunas is equivilent to 135,500 euros.
  • Cyprus : Here, the show is called "Ποιος θέλει να γίνει εκατομμυριούχος;" ("Poios thelei na ginei ekatommyriouchos") ("who wants to be a millionaire"). The prize was 50 000 000 drachmas (about 147 000 euros) and now its 150 000 euros. For five years its aired by RIK2, the second channel of Radio Institution of Cyprus.The prodution is made in greece. There has been one winner taken the prize.
  • Czech Republic : Here the show is called "Chcete Být Milionářem?" ("Do you want to be a millionaire?"). Prizes are in Czech korunas (CZK): 1,000 Kč., 2,000 Kč., 3,000 Kč., 5,000 Kč., 10,000 Kč., 20,000 Kč., 40,000 Kč., 80,000 Kč., 160,000 Kč., 320,000 Kč., 640,000 Kč., 1,250,000 Kč., 2,500,000 Kč., 5,000,000 Kč., 10,000,000 Kč.. Aired on the Czech private television "Nova".
  • Denmark 1999-: The show is aired on TV2, and the host is TV-star Peter Kær. The show is called "Hvem vil være millionær?" ("Who wants to be a millionaire"), and the top prize is 1,000,000 Kroner (approximately 130,000 euros), which has been won twice.
  • Estonia 2002-: The show is called "Kes tahab saada miljonäriks?" ("Who wants to be a millionaire?"). The highest prize is 1,000,000 kroons, which is about 64,000 euros. The host of the show is Hannes Võrno. The show is aired by the commercial TV station TV3.
  • Ecuador : The show is called "Quién quier ser millonario?" ("Who wants to be a millionaire?"). It's hosted by Alfonso Espinosa de los Montelos, and aired by the commercial TV station Ecuavisa. The highest prize is US$25,000.
  • Finland 1999-: The show is called "Haluatko miljonääriksi?" (in English "Do you want to become a millionaire?"). The show started in 1999 on Nelonen, with Lasse Lehtinen as the host. The biggest win was 1,000,000 Finnish marks. In 2005, the show is aired MTV3. The biggest win was raised to 1,000,000 euros. The new host is Ville Klinga, a former sports reporter.
  • France 2002-: Here the show is called "Qui veut gagner des millions?" ("Who wants to win millions?"). It is hosted by Jean-Pierre Foucault, and aired by the commercial TV station TF1. The programme was started when France was still using French Franc as its currency, and then the highest prize was 5,000,000 FF. Today it is 1,000,000 euros which is about 6,500,000 FF.
  • Georgia : In Georgia, the show is called "ვის უნდა 20000?" ("Vis Unda Octi Atasi?" or "Who wants 20000"). It is aired on Rustavi 2. The prizes are in the Georgian money unit, in the usual denominations. As a nation, Georgia suffers frequent power cuts - sometimes as frequently as every five minutes, so it can take a day to record a whole episode. Another setback is the studio, which is very basic - the lift carries only five people at a time, so getting the host, contestants, crew and audience is a laborious task.
  • Germany 1999-: The show, called "Wer wird Millionär?" ("Who will become a millionaire?"), is aired by RTL and presented by Günther Jauch; the 500th show was aired on September 10 2005 and the highest prize is 1 000 000 euros. It is produced in Cologne. After introduction of the euro, the prize sequence was changed to start at €50 while the 250,000 step was dropped, thus there is a quadrupling from the 13th (€125,000) to 14th, second-last step(€500,000). ' There have only been 4 millionaires in the german version.
  • Greece : In Greece, the show is called "Ποιος θέλει να γίνει εκατομμυριούχος;" (Poios thelei na ginei ekatommyriouchos") ("Who wants to be a millionaire?"), and is hosted by Spiros Papadopoulos. The prize was originally 50,000,000 drachmas (about 147,000 euros), and currently is 150,000 euros. For the first three years it was aired on the commercial TV station Mega Channel, and it is now seen on New Hellenic Television, NET, (Nea Elliniki Tileorasi), one of Greek Public Television (ERT) Channels. There has been one contestant who won 150,000 euros.
  • Hong Kong 2001: The programme was called "百萬富翁" in Hong Kong, which means "The Millionaire". It was hosted by Kenneth Chan, and was aired on ATV, which also set a milestone the history of the TV company--one of many rare moments to beat its majority-favoured rival,TVB. The first series debuted on April 29, 2001, and was popular enough for a second series to begin airing on July 22, 2002. The highest prize is a million HK dollars. The first millionaire was the team with famous composer Wong Jim and actress Fung Po Po. The Hong Kong-produced version is the version shown in China, and therefore had to be sent for Chinese government censorship. Three days before the first episode aired, the government decided to slash the grand prize by half.
  • Hungary 2000-: Here, the show is called "Legyen Ön is milliomos!" and presented by István Vágó. It is aired on RTL Klub, a Hungarian commercial TV station. The prizes are in Hungarian Forints, the top prize is 40,000,000 Ft. (Earlier, it was 25,000,000 Ft.)
  • Iceland 2000-: In Iceland, the show is called "Viltu vinna milljón?" and hosted by Porsteinn J. The prizes are in Icelandic Crowns, with a top prize of 10,000,000 ISK. It is aired on MBL television. In Iceland, since the population is only 250,000, the producers have had to reduce the number of contestants playing Fastest Finger First from ten to six.
  • India 2000-2002 and 2005-: In India, the show is called "Kaun Banega Crorepati" , which literally means ("Who will become a multi-millionaire?") (1 Crore = 10 million in Indian numerals; 1 Crore rupees = about $227,000 USD as of October 2005). It is produced by Star TV and is hosted by Indian movie superstar Amitabh Bachchan. It is considered to be one of the most successful shows on Indian TV and is watched around the world by Indian diaspora as well as by people from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Mauritius, Fiji, East Africa, the UK etc. After the first episode had been broadcast, Star TV received 20 million phone calls from fans across the world. Star TV brought back the quiz as a thrice-weekly program in 2005 with a doubled top prize.
  • Indonesia : The show is called "Who wants to be a millionaire?", and it is aired once a week on RCTI. The show is hosted by Tantowi Yahya. The highest possible prize is one billion Rupiah. Note: the term "million" is juta in Indonesian, whereas "billion" is milyar. There has been one winner who won 500 million rupiah.
  • Ireland, Republic of : Originally, the top prize was one million Irish Pounds (1.27 million euros). However, with the change of currency at the start of 2002, it was reduced to 1 million euros. It was presented by Gay Byrne on Radio Telefís Éireann, and ran until mid-2002, when the sponsoring mobile phone company withdrew. Without a sponsor, the show was deemed unviable - and the expensive set put into storage. The highest winner was Roger Dowds, who in 2001 won £250,000 (before Ireland adopted the euro as its currency).
  • Israel : In Israel, the show is called "?מי רוצה להיות מיליונר" ("Mi rotseh lehyot mylyoner?"), but it is often referred to as "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" or just "Millionaire". It is aired on Channel 2 Israel. The prizes are in New Shekels, in the usual denominations. There have been five contestants who won 1,000,000 Shekels. When the show got its first 1,000,000 Shekel winner, the host danced around the middle of the studio stripping, as a mark of respect.
  • Italy : In Italy, the show is called "Chi vuol essere milionario?" (an exact translation of the English one). It is hosted by Gerry Scotti. Rules are virtually identical to the original format. The show is aired on Canale 5, a commercial TV station of Mediaset network. The highest prize is 1.000.000 EUR.
  • Japan 2000-: Produced by Fuji TV, the Japanese title is "クイズ $ ミリオネア" (Kuizu $ Mirionea) . It is hosted by Minomonta (Norio Minorikawa). The rules are the same as the original. Prize levels are in Yen as follows: ¥10,000, ¥20,000, ¥30,000, ¥50,000, ¥100,000, ¥150,000, ¥250,000, ¥500,000, ¥750,000, ¥1,000,000, ¥1,500,000, ¥2,500,000, ¥5,000,000, ¥7,500,000, ¥10,000,000. Presenter Minomonta uses the English phrases from the original show, such as final answer, in the quiz.
  • Kazakhstan 2002-: the show is called "Кто возмет миллион?" ("Who will take the million?"). In this country there are two versions of the game in different languages. Two contestants have won the top prize of 5 million Tenge. It is said that most of questions have been taken from Russian version of the show.
  • Latvia 2002-: the show is filmed in the same studio as the Lithuanian one (in Lithuania), and winnings in it, as in Latvian lotteries in general, are very low. The largest prize is only 20,000 Latvian Lats (one Lat is worth about the same as a British pound is). It is still called "Gribi būt miljonārs?" ("Do you want to be a millionaire?") because 20,000 Lats is 2 millions of Santims, a Latvian equivalent of cent. The Prizes are: 10 Ls, 20 Ls, 30 Ls, 40 Ls, 50 Ls, 60 Ls, 80 Ls, 125 Ls, 250 Ls, 500 Ls, 1,250 Ls, 2,500 Ls, 5,000 Ls, 10,000 Ls, 20,000 Ls. The show is hosted by Mārtiņš Ķibilds, a Latvian journalist and is aired by the commercial TV station TV3.
  • Lithuania 2002-2005: the show is called "Kas laimės milijoną?" ("Who will win the million?"), hosted by famous Lithuanian singer and host of other shows (such as "Robinsons" and "Survivor") Vytautas Kernagis, formerly hosted by journalist Henrikas Vaitiekūnas. Winnings are the same as in original game, however, Litas is worth 0.29 euros, 0.2 British Pounds and 0.4 US Dollars thus the actual winnings are lower. Show is filmed in Lithuania and aired by the commercial TV station TV3.
  • Malaysia : Hosted by Jalalludin Hassan on the television network NTV7. Jalalludin Hassan is famous for playing the roles of millionaires in TV dramas in Malaysia - this was the reason he was chosen to host the show. The top prize is one million Malaysian ringgit which is about US$260,000.
  • Middle East : The show is called "من سيربح المليون" ("Man sa yarbah al-malyoon") ( "Who will win the million?" ), though it is frequently referred to in English traditional name, "Millionaire". The show is hosted by George Kurdahi. It was originally filmed and produced in London, in between the UK filming - a local Arab audience was flown in each time. The highest prize is 1.000.000 Saudi Arabian riyals. It's aired on MBC channel, the first channel in middle east, and transmited in Egypt by the channel 1, in Lebanon by Future Television and the pay per view channel ART. In 2005 the show is called "man sa yarbah al 2 malyoon" ("Who will win the 2 million") and the new prize is 2.000.000 saudi riyals.
  • Netherlands : Here the game was called "Weekend Miljonairs" ("Weekend millionaires"), but also "Lotto Weekend Miljonairs" ("Lotto of the weekend millionaires"; this is an unofficial name, better a nickname), and is hosted by Robert ten Brink. The show is aired by the private television, SBS 6. The highest prize was 1 000 000 euros.
  • New Zealand 1999-: the show is the same as that broadcast in Australia, but New Zealand residents are allowed to enter, as Prime TV is owned by Australia's Nine Network.
  • Nigeria 2004-: Here the show is called "Who wants to be a millionaire?". It's hosted by Frank Edoho. The top prize 5,000,000 Naira. It airs once weekly.
  • Norway 2000-: The show is aired on TV2, and the host is Frithjof Wilborn. Arve Juritzen is the previous host. The show is called "Vil du bli millionær" ("Do you want to be a millionaire?"), and the top prize is 2,000,000 Kroner.
  • Peru 2002-: Here the show was called "¿Quien quiere ser Millonario?"and it was hosted by Guido Lombardi, a well-known news anchor. It aired on Red Global for only 1 season, a second season was promised but due to internal problems in the network it never happened. The top prize was S/.1,000,000 (nuevos soles) which at the time was about US$400.000. After the shows cancellation, many of the constestans accused the show of being a fraud, because none of them received their money prices.
  • Philippines 2002: Hosted by Christopher De Leon on the IBC 13, the top prize was at first one million pesos before it was raised to two million. The show lost its popularity soon after its original studio was razed by a fire and is now off-the-air.
  • Poland : here the show is called "Milionerzy" ("Millionaires") and was aired on the TVN TV station from 1999 by 2003. The host of the show was Hubert Urbański. The top prize was 1.000.000 zlotys.
  • Portugal : Here, the show was called "Quem quer ser milionário?" ("Who wants to be a millionaire?"), and is aired in RTP1 network. It is currently hosted by Jorge Gabriel. Carlos Cruz, Maria Elisa and Diogo Infante were all previous hosts. The prizes were, in the early seasons, in escudos, with the ultimate prize being 50 million escudos. Now it is in euros, the biggest prize being 250 thousand euros. There have been four top prize winners so far.
  • Romania : the show is called "Vrei să fii miliardar?" ("Do you want to be a billionaire?"), produced by Prima TV and hosted by Virgil Ianţu. The highest prize is 1.000.000.000 Lei .
  • Russia 1999-: In Russia, the show is called "Кто хочет стать миллионером?" ("Who wants to become a Millionaire?"), it's hosted by Maksim Galkin and aired on private Channel ORT. Earlier it was called "О, счастливчик!" ("Oh, lucky man!"), hosted by Dmitry Dibrov and aired on the NTV channel. The biggest prize here is 1,000,000 Russian roubles .
  • Serbia and Montenegro : Here the show is called Zelite li da postanete milioner?" ("Do you want to become a millionaire?"). It's aired by a private satellite TV station BKTV SAT. The highest prize here is 3.000.000 din. Prizes are in dinars (din): 300 din, 600 din, 900 din, 1,500 din, 3,000 din, 6,000 din, 12,000 din, 24,000 din, 48,000 din, 96,000 din, 192,000 din, 375,000 din, 750,000 din, 1,500,000 din, 3,000,000 din (about US$50,000.) The show here is hosted by Ivan Zeljković.
  • Singapore : Two different versions are produced in Singapore, an English language version and a Chinese language version. The Chinese version is called "百万大赢家" ("Million-dollar winner"/"Bai wan da ying jia"), and hosted by Chi-Tai Chao. It is produced and aired by local media network MediaCorp.
  • Slovakia : Here the show is called "Milionár" ("Millionaire"). Prizes are in Slovak korunas (SKK): 1,000 Sk, 2,000 Sk, 3,000 Sk, 5,000 Sk, 10,000 Sk, 20,000 Sk, 40,000 Sk, 80,000 Sk., 160,000 Sk, 320,000 Sk, 640,000 Sk, 1,250,000 Sk, 2,500,000 Sk, 5,000,000 Sk, 10,000,000 Sk. Aired on a private TV station, TV Markíza.
  • Slovenia : Here the show is called "Lepo je biti milijonar" ("It is good to be a Millionaire"). Now the highest prize has changed from the old 10,000,000 SIT to the new 15,000,000 SIT (as have all the prizes after the 1,000,000 SIT). It is broadcast by the commercial TV station POP TV and hosted by Boštjan Romih. However, the show was formerly hosted by Jonas &#37D;nidaršič, and also called Kviz z Jonasom (A Quiz with Jonas, as Jonas was usually referred to by his first name only). Prizes are in tolars (SIT): 10,000 SIT, 20,000 SIT, 30,000 SIT, 40,000 SIT, 50,000 SIT, 100,000 SIT, 175,000 SIT, 250,000 SIT, 500,000 SIT, 1,000,000 SIT, 1,500,000 SIT, 2,500,000 SIT, 5,000,000 SIT, 7,500,000 SIT, 15,000,000 SIT.
  • South Africa : The show was broadcast on the M-Net channel, hosted by Jeremy Maggs. Interestingly, the 'M' of the word 'Millionaire' in the logo was the 'M' logo of M-Net. This version was also the first version outside of the US to have a jackpot winner. (At the time, only South Africa, the US and the UK broadcast the show.)
  • Spain 1999-2001 and 2005-: Here the show is called "¿Quién quiere ser millonario?" ("Who wants to be a millionaire?") and also "50 por 15" (pronounced "Cincuenta por quince") because you could win 50 million pesetas (about £200,000) if you got 15 questions right. It was hosted by Carlos Sobera and broadcast by Telecinco. These were the prizes in pesetas (ESP): 25,000 ESP, 50,000 ESP, 75,000 ESP, 150,000 ESP, 300,000 ESP, 350,000 ESP, 450,000 ESP, 600,000 ESP, 750,000 ESP, 1,500,000 ESP, 3,000,000 ESP, 6,000,000 ESP, 12,000,000 ESP, 24,000,000 ESP, 50,000,000 ESP. In 2005 the programme is broadcast by Antena 3 and now the top prize in 1,000,000 EUR.
  • Sweden 1999-2003 and 2005-: Here the show is called "Vem vill bli miljonär?" ("Who wants to be a millionaire?") It was hosted by Bengt Magnusson and broadcast by TV4. The highest prize was 10,000,000 SEK. TV4 stopped broadcasting the show because they couldn't afford the prizes. In 2005 the show is called "Postkod miljonären". In a twice-weekly format, combined the show with the Swedish Postcode Lottery.
  • Switzerland 2001: The show was called "Wer wird Millionär" ("Who will become a millionaire?") and was broadcast by the private Swiss 'TV3' station. The host was René Rindlisbacher. When Swiss TV3 stopped broadcasting in 2001, the show disappeared from the local screens. Swiss candidates have been spotted on the German show since then.
  • Taiwan : Here the show is called "Wai Beng Fu Yung?", and it's aired and watched in both Taiwan and China.
  • Turkey : Here the show is called "Kim 500 (besyuz) milyar ister?" ("Who wants 500 billions?"). It was first broadcast by the commercial TV station Show TV, but later switched to Kanal D. The show is hosted by Kenan Işik. The prizes in New Turkish Liras are: 50 YTL, 100 YTL, 150 YTL, 250 YTL, 500 YTL, 1,000 YTL, 2,000 YTL, 4,000 YTL, 8,000 YTL, 16,000 YTL, 32,000 YTL, 64,000 YTL, 125,000 YTL, 250,000 YTL, 500,000 YTL.
  • Ukraine : In Ukraine, the show is called "Хто хоче стати мiльонером? - Перший мільйон" ("Chato hochie stati milionerom") ("Who wants to be a Millionaire? - The first million"), hosted by Danilo Janevskyj and aired on the commercial TV station 1+1. Here, as in Russia, the 'Ask the Audience' lifeline isn't one that the contestant would often use because the audience often gives wrong answers intentionally to trick the contestants. Here, the top prize is 1,000,000 (the contestant chooses a money unit).
  • Venezuela : In Venezuela the game is called "¿Quién quiere ser millonario?" ("Who wants to be a millionaire?"), and its producers also claim it to be the most popular programme in Venezuela. It is broadcast by RCTV (one of the two main private Venezuelan TV stations) and hosted by its president, Eladio Lares. The maximum price in venezuelan bolivares is 200,000,000 Bs.
  • Vietnam : In Vietnam, the show is called "Ai là triệu phú?"("Who is the millionaire?"). It's aired by the state television VTV 3. The prizes are in Dong, the local currency.

Rule changes

In 2001, the US edition of the show instituted a one-time bonus of $10,000 per episode retroactive from the last episode the top prize was awarded. With this bonus instituted, it grew to $1 million, making the first attempt at the million dollar question actually worth twice it's value. Eventually, the bonus grew to $1.18 million, when Kevin Olmstead won the eventual prize of $2.18 million. However, two such prizes were awarded due to a questioning error during the time the bonus was in place. Ed Toutant was called back after the aforementioned error, when the bonus was at $860,000. When he continued, he also answered all 15 of his question correctly, and was given $1 million and the $860,000 bonus. It has not been reinstituted since.

In the 2004-2005 season of the programme, the format of the game was changed in some versions, such as the United States syndicated edition.

The 32,000 lock-in has been decreased to 25,000, as well as a new prize pattern of 50,000; 100,000 and then 250,000. This has been done to encourage contestants not to stop prematurely, hopefully increasing the amount that contestants receive.

Also, after reaching the 25,000 level, contestants are given a new lifeline, "Switch the Question" (also known as a Flip), which appeared in the UK programme in a number of celebrity editions, and most recently in its 300th episode in 2002, which was broadcast live to mark that landmark. The idea seemed to have been taken from the UK show The People Versus, also produced by Celador. It allows them to dismiss the current question and to play a new one. However, they will not have any lifelines used on the discarded question returned to them.

Finally, the "Ask the Audience" lifeline has been expanded. Instead of just the studio audience giving answers, users of the AOL Instant Messenger (sometimes referred to as IM) can participate too. If they have asked the screenname "MillionaireIM" allow his or her participation, then they will receive an instant message if a contestant uses his or her "Ask the Audience" lifeline. The message will contain the question, and four possible answers, and they will send their answer back. This is the first time in history that the public has been able to interact with a game show while it is being taped. When the tape is shown, the results of the poll will first show the studio audience's response, then the IM users' response. This has been done as an effort to get everyone more involved with the programme, and to interest the producers in the show once again.

Since 2004, the UK version has had a feature called "Walk Away". When a contestant chooses to take the money, the question is thrown open to the viewers at home. They have 30 seconds to text in what they think the correct answer is. At the end of the 30 seconds, the right answer is revealed and those who have answered correctly are texted a question back. The fastest answer texted back wins £1,000. If there is a tie for the fastest time, further questions are asked until a winner was found. These questions are by no means easy, e.g. "How many movies did Laurel and Hardy make together?" — answer required within 1 minute.

Million winners

Winners of the major prize for each version of the show are:

United States (Primetime and Syndicated versions) in order of winning

In addition, Robert Essig won $1,000,000 on Super Millionaire, but did not win the top prize of $10,000,000.

United Kingdom (Including Charles Ingram, and in chronological order, together with original broadcast date)

Australia

Japan

Croatia

Slovenia

South Africa

Russia

Latvia

  • Elita Rumpe, 2003 (won 10 000 Ls, as then 10 000, not 20 000 Ls was value of 15. question)

India

Singapore


Malaysia


Germany

See also

Internet Movie Database sites

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