Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of randomized multiple-choice questions of varying difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize (in the original British version) is one million pounds.
The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire programme originated in the United Kingdom, where it is hosted by Chris Tarrant. The original working title for the show was Cash Mountain. When it first aired in the UK on 4 September 1998, it was a surprising twist on the game show genre.
Prior to 2007, contestants had to answer 15 questions to win £1 million. Since then, contestants now have to answer only 12 questions, with the first question worth £500 instead of £100. After reaching £1,000 by answering only two questions (which are considerably harder than in previous series), five questions will take a contestant up to a £50,000 milestone (previously £32,000). The theme music for each question round also changed. The format was unveiled in the first of seven celebrity charity specials on 18 August on ITV.
Beginning in summer 2010, the UK show became the third version to adopt the clock format from the U.S. version. The first two questions will each have a 15 second time-limit and contestants will have 30 seconds for each of the next five questions. However, the final five questions will not be timed. Chris Tarrant stated in an interview with Digital Spy that a fourth lifeline called "Switch"; also used in other country's versions as "Switch the Question" or "Flip", will be given to contestants once they reach £50,000. Also, the "Fastest Finger First" round has been dropped.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US). Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (also known as Millionaire) is an American television game show which offers a maximum prize of $1 million (originally lump sum, now annuitized) for correctly answering 14 (previously 15) consecutive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The show is based on and follows the same general format as the original version of the show, from the United Kingdom, and is now part of the international Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Who Wants to Be a Millionaire premiered in the United States on August 16, 1999[4] on ABC, and was hosted by television personality Regis Philbin.
Original format (1999–2008)
Once a contestant is in the "hot seat," their goal is to correctly answer 15 consecutive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty from progressively harder sets of questions. Each question is worth a specified amount of money; in most formats, the amounts are not cumulative.
Upon correctly answering questions five and ten, the contestant is guaranteed at least the amount of prize money associated with that level. If the contestant gives a wrong answer to any subsequent question, their game is over and their winnings will drop down to the last milestone achieved. If the contestant answers a question incorrectly before reaching question five, they leave with nothing. However, the contestant has the option of "walking away" without giving an answer after being presented with a question. In this case, the game ends and the contestant is awarded the amount of money s/he earned for his/her previous correct answer.
Clock format (2008–2010)
Contestants are given up to 15 seconds each for questions 1–5, 30 seconds each for questions 6–10, and 45 seconds each for questions 11–14. Unused time is banked, and should the contestant reach Question 15, s/he has 45 seconds plus however much time s/he banked. Usage of lifelines temporarily pauses the clock while the lifelines are played. If the clock reaches zero before a contestant can provide a final answer, they are forced to walk away with the winnings they have at that point. However, if a contestant uses the Double Dip lifeline and runs out of time prior to making a second guess, they are considered to have provided an incorrect answer and loses all winnings down to the last milestone achieved.
When the clock format was adopted, the on-screen graphics were updated and a new "Millionaire Menu" was introduced that showed a category for each question. The categories are revealed at the beginning of the game and are always visible to the contestant. Some of the prize levels also changed at the start of Season 8; this took effect after the ninth contestant from the 2009 prime time run played.
Shuffle format (2010–present)
The format was revised again for the beginning of Season 9, on September 13, 2010. The clock was removed, and there are 14 questions instead of 15, distributed into two rounds. Players are given three lifelines in this iteration: "Ask the Audience," and two "Jump the Question" lifelines.
The stage has also been significantly redesigned. The Hot Seat has been removed, meaning that the host and contestant now stand throughout the game. Questions (and other pertinent information) are now seen by all on a large screen in the studio. A new music package was also introduced.
>>> Who Wants To Be A Millionaire