Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Countries with their own version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a quiz show that first aired in the UK in 1998 on ITV 1 . The program was developed by British television production company Celador , but is now owned by Dutch rights trading company 2waytraffic , a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment , after Celador expanded its entire repertoire of television formats, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? sold to the highest bidder for £ 106 million in a bidding competition .

Television companies or producers in over 100 countries have licensed format and broadcast rights to this broadcast format from 2waytraffic . The regional subsidiaries of the Dutch company Endemol produce this broadcast format under license for Austria , Belgium , Germany , the Netherlands , Italy , Poland , Portugal and Switzerland . In Germany the show runs under the name Wer wird Millionär? on RTL , in Austria on ORF as Die Millionenshow .

The appearance of the program is the same everywhere. The structure and design of the studio , music recordings , recurring camera pans and drives as well as lighting are precisely defined by the licensor in the so-called production bible and may not be changed by the licensees themselves.

Application, procedure and rules of the game

Candidates who want to be part of the program can apply via the Internet, by telephone, postcard or SMS. Physically handicapped people can also apply. The editorial team selects applicants and then contacts them by phone. Everyone is asked quiz questions as well as personal questions about their private environment, hobbies, profession and level of education. Anyone who progresses in this casting round and would like to take part in the broadcast must send a current portrait photo of themselves, a copy of their identity card and personal information and reasons for choosing the accompanying person and the three friends / acquaintances as a telephone joker to the casting department of the production company Endemol. Only then will you receive a final notification of participation. The actual cooperation agreement, which is concluded between the production company Endemol and the candidate - with a comprehensive assignment of rights and confidentiality agreement - is received by the candidates for signature on the day of the recording. The production company pays the travel and hotel costs for the candidate and one accompanying person.

Even if you were already a candidate, you can still apply and participate in the show again (which at least happened several times in the German and Austrian versions). However, this only applies if you failed in the selection round. As soon as you have made it to the “middle”, you cannot participate again. Exceptions are the special programs, which have already resulted in multiple participations.

The selection round

The candidates sit in a semicircle around the "center" of the studio, where the actual game takes place. In order to get to the “middle”, the candidates must win the “selection round”.

The task of the candidate is to put four answers to a question in the correct ( chronological , logical, size) order. From the correct answers, a computer determines the fastest candidate, who then comes in the “middle”. If no candidate answers correctly, a new question is asked. A new question is also asked if two (or more) candidates were equally fast (the time is measured to the nearest hundredth of a second). However, only those candidates who had the same time for the previous question play a role in this question. The moderator has three such questions with him.

The middle"

In the middle of the studio, the two seats for the moderator and the candidate face each other. When both have taken their seats there, the real game begins: The candidate now has the opportunity to answer 15 randomly selected questions about various areas of knowledge one after the other. These become more and more difficult from level to level, depending on the potential cash gain. Four answer options are given for each question, only one of which is correct. If the candidate chooses the correct answer option, he rises one level and is allowed to tackle the next question.

Questions 5 and 10 play a special role: They are so-called “security levels”. If the questions of these levels are answered correctly, the candidate has surely won the corresponding amount of money and will no longer lose it. If he answers one of the following questions incorrectly, he falls back to the last security level and ends the game with the winning amount of the security level.

The chairs and the terminal in the middle are not pulled out of the floor from below during the transition, but are brought in and connected by employees. This is not shown when the program is broadcast.

The joker

Each candidate has three to four jokers ( lifelines ) available:

• The fifty-fifty joker: Two wrong answers are randomly deleted.
• The audience joker: The audience in the studio can vote for the audience joker via push buttons (A, B, C, D), which they consider to be the correct answer. Those who do not vote will not be counted when the percentages are announced.
• The telephone joker: The candidate can call one of three previously specified friends / acquaintances and ask him the question within 30 seconds (and hope that the person called knows the correct answer). Since the program cannot be seen live on television, the telephone joker only knows the question when he hears it through the candidate reading aloud over the phone. He therefore only has a few seconds to research the answer. A relatively new option is being able to call someone you don't know. The candidate can choose which gender the person should be and in which city they live. The rules are identical to those of the normal telephone joker.
• Swap question: From a certain level, a question can be swapped for another of the same level of difficulty. It is no longer possible to return to the previous question. This joker is not available in all country variants of the program.
• Additional joker: The additional joker is only available to candidates in the German version who, in return, forego the security level of 16,000 euros (the so-called risk variant ). This decision must be made before the first question and cannot be reversed. If the joker is played, all studio guests who think they can answer the question may stand up. The candidate in the middle can choose any of these people and listen to their suggestion. The candidate does not have to accept the answer. If the respondent's answer is correct, he receives 500 euros, even if the candidate does not accept this answer . In the Austrian edition, the additional joker consists instead of the “second chance”, whereby the question can be answered incorrectly once and in this case a second attempt can be made. What is remarkable is the possibility that this creates for the candidate to answer a question with certainty by combining the additional joker with the 50-50 joker.

In principle, several jokers can be used for each question, but each joker can only be used once in the game.

If the candidate's favorite answer remains in the case of the fifty-fifty joker , the probability of winning does not increase in contrast to the constellation for the goat problem if the candidate changes his mind for the other answer. This is because the selection of the omitted answers is not influenced by the preselection of the candidate; In contrast to the goat problem, it is also possible that a preferred answer option is removed from the computer.

the end of the game

There are three ways to end the game:

• Wrong answer: The candidate gives a wrong answer. Should this happen to him after a correctly answered question 5 or 10 (security levels), he will receive the profit amount of the respective last security level.
• Dropping out: If the candidate is unable to answer a question, he or she can decide at any time to end the game and take the amount earned up to that point with him.
• Main prize: If the candidate answers the last question (question 15) correctly, he is the owner of the main prize and the game is over for him as well.

As soon as a candidate finishes the game in the "middle", another selection round begins and a new candidate has the chance to win the main prize. Anyone who has not managed to get to the middle may apply again at the earliest three months after the program was broadcast.

If a candidate has not finished the game in one of the ways mentioned above at the end of the program, he continues to play in the next program as a so-called "overhang candidate" when the amount of money reached is reached, whereby you always end the program by answering a question and join in the next program begins with a new question. Sometimes, however, the program ends immediately after the candidate has been identified by the selection question, without even a question being asked. It has also happened that after asking the selection question, the program was over, although no one had managed the correct order. The candidates still present literally "lost" their chance. Furthermore, it can happen that an overhang candidate consumes the entire broadcast time and does not end the game or only ends it immediately before the end of the broadcast time. The available “new” candidates, who therefore have no chance of a selection question, are then allowed to run again in a later broadcast.

International editions

country	International name	German translation	Years of production
Albania , Kosovo , Macedonia	"Kush do të bëhet Milioner?"	"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"	2008–2012 2014
Afghanistan (Pashtun edition)	څوك غواري چې شي میلیونر؟ (Sok Ghwari Chi Shi Millonar?)		2008-2011
Afghanistan (Persian edition)	کی ميخواهد میلیونر شود؟ (Ke Mekhowahad Milyoner Shawad?)	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2010-2011
Argentina	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2000-2002 2019–
Chile	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2001-2003 2006-2008 2010 2011–2012 2019–
Costa Rica	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2009-2013
Denmark	"Hvem vil være millionær?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	1999–
Germany	Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?		1999–
Ecuador	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2001-2011 2012
El Salvador	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2010-2014
Finland	"Haluatko miljonääriksi?"	"Do you want to be a millionaire?"	1999-2007 2016–
France	"Qui veut gagner des millions?"	"Who wants to win millions?"	2000-2016 2019–
Greece and Cyprus	"Ποιος θέλει να γίνει εκατομμυριούχος? (Poios thelei na ginei ekatommyriouchos?) "	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	1999-2006 2014-2016
India ( Hindi )	"Kaun Banega Crorepati?"	"Who will be a ten-fold millionaire ?"	2000–
India ( Tamil )	"Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi" "Kodeeswari"	"You can win a crore" "Millionaire"	2012-2016 2019–
Italy	"Chi vuol essere miliardario?" "Chi vuol essere milionario?"	"Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?" "Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2000-2011 2018–
Canada	"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2000
Colombia	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2000-2011 2013-2015
Croatia	"Tko želi biti miljunaš?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2002-2010 2019–
Mexico	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2010–2012
New Zealand	"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2008
Netherlands	"Lotto Weekend Miljonairs." "BankGiro Miljonairs."	"Weekend lottery millionaires." "BankGiro millionaires."	1999-2008 2011 2019–
Austria	" The Millionaire Show "		2000–
Panama	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2009-2011
Peru	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2001-2002
Poland	" Milionerzy "	"Millionaires"	1999-2003 2008-2010 2017–
Portugal	"Quem Quer Ser Millionário?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2000-2001 2003-2005 2008 2010-2011 2013-2015 2020–
Romania	"Vrei să fii miliardar?" "Vrei să fii milionar?"	"Do you want to become a billionaire?" "Do you want to be a millionaire?"	2000-2003 2011–
Russia	"O, Schastlivchik!" "Kto chotschet stat millionerom?"	"Oh, luck!" "Who wants to be a millionaire?"	1999–
Sweden	"Vem vill bli miljonär?" "Post-Codemilionaries"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?" "The postcode millionaire"	2000-2003 2005–
Switzerland	Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?		2000-2001 2011
Serbia	"Želite li da postanete Milioner?"	"Do you want to be a millionaire?"	2002–
Slovakia	"Milionár"	"Millionaire"	2000-2008
Slovenia	"Lepo je biti milijonar" "Milijonar z Jonasom" "Milijonar"	"It's nice to be a millionaire" "Millionaire with Jonas" "Millionaire"	2000-2002 2003-2005 2007-2008 2019–
Spain	"¿Quiere ser millonario?"	"Do you want to be a millionaire?"	1999-2001 2005-2008 2009 2012 2020–
South Africa	"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	1999-2005
Czech Republic	"Chcete být milionářem?" "Milionář"	"Do you want to be a millionaire?" "Millionaire"	2000-2005 2008 2016
Turkey	"Kim 500 Milyar İster?" "Kim 500 Bin İster?" "Kim Bir Milyon İster?" "Kim Milyoner Olmak İster?"	"Who wants 500 billion?" "Who wants 500 thousand?" "Who wants a million?" "Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2000-2004 2005-2007 2008-2009 2011–
Hungary	"Legyen Ön is milliomos!"	"Become a millionaire too!"	2000-2010 2012-2013 2019
Uruguay	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2001-2002
Venezuela	"¿Quién quiere ser millonario?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	2000-2017
United Kingdom	"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?"	1998-2014 2018–
United States	"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" "Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire?"	"Who wants to be a millionaire?" "Who wants to be a super millionaire?"	1999-2019 2020–
Vietnam	"Ai Là Triệu Phu ??"	"Who is a millionaire?"	2005–

Red box: broadcast discontinued.

German-language editions

Germany

→ Main article : Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

The best known is the German edition, which is entitled Wer wird Millionär? has been broadcast by the Cologne-based private broadcaster RTL since 1999 . The program is moderated by Günther Jauch . Every Tuesday, two programs are recorded in Studio 7 of nobeo GmbH in Hürth near Cologne and broadcast on the following Friday and Monday.

Switzerland

→ Main article : Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Switzerland)

In 2001 there was the show under the title Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? also in Switzerland. It was broadcast by the Swiss private broadcaster TV3 , moderated by the cabaret artist René Rindlisbacher . When TV3 ceased broadcasting at the end of 2001, the program disappeared from the screens in Switzerland for ten years until the private broadcaster 3+ took the quiz into its program in November 2011 and broadcast the program again in Switzerland, albeit with the presenter Claudio Zuccolini .

Austria

→ Main article : The Millionaire Show

At the beginning the show was called Alles ist Possible - Die 10-Million-Show , the main prize was 10 million Austrian Schillings (around 720,000 €). The first moderator of the show, which started in January 2000, was Rainhard Fendrich , Barbara Stöckl moderated from May 2000 to September 2002. Since the introduction of the euro, the maximum profit in Austria has been € 1,000,000, but the profit levels differ in some cases from those of the German version. Armin Assinger , a former Austrian ski racer, has been hosting the show since October 2002 .

Other language editions

Albania / Kosovo / Macedonia

On December 15th, 2008 the show started in Albanian with the title Kush do të bëhet Milioner? ("Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"). The winnings are € 50,000 (in Albania also ALL six million ). The show is broadcast in Kosovo by the national broadcaster RTK , in Albania by the commercial broadcaster TV KLAN and in Macedonia by the commercial broadcaster TV ALSAT M. The moderator has been Agron Llakaj since January 1, 2011 , who is best known for the satirical show Portokalli as a moderator on the Albanian private broadcaster Top Channel . The show is produced by Grand Media Entertainment.

Denmark

In Denmark, the program has been broadcast by TV2 since 1999. The moderators were u. a. Peter Kær and Jes Dorph-Petersen, currently moderated by Hans Pilgaard. The maximum winning amount is 1 million Danish kroner (about 135,000 €).

Finland

In Finland, the show has been running since September 1999 under the title Haluatko miljonääriksi? (Would you like to be a millionaire?) Broadcast on the Nelonen channel with moderator Lasse Lehtinen. In 2005 the show switched to the MTV3 channel with Ville Klinga as the presenter, and in 2007 it was discontinued. The highest winnings were initially 1,000,000 Finnish marks (around € 160,000) and then € 200,000 after the conversion to euros. The highest profit paid out was € 70,000.

France

In France, the show was called Qui veut gagner des millions? (French: Who wants to win millions?) from July 3, 2000 to January 1, 2016 on TF1 . The quiz master was Jean-Pierre Foucault. In 2019, the broadcast was resumed with Camille Combal as the new presenter. The show is broadcast Monday through Friday in the evening program.

India

The Indian edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? with the name Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who will be a ten million millionaire - 1 Crore = 10 million) had two moderators, also known in Germany. These are the actors Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, who are mainly known from Bollywood films . Bachchan moderated the show initially from 2000 to 2002 and again from 2005 to 2006. From 2007 Shahrukh Khan then took over the moderation of the show. The maximum prize amount in India is 20 million Indian rupees (about € 350,000). However, Shahrukh Khan has terminated the contract with the show due to low fees and sued. The show plays a crucial role in Vikas Swarup 's novel “ Rupees! Rupees! “And the eight Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire based on it .

Italy

In Italy, the quiz was broadcast on Canale 5 from May 22, 2000 to July 29, 2011 . Until 2002 it was called Chi vuol essere miliardario? (Who wants to become a billionaire?), Since the changeover to the euro Chi vuol essere milionario? . The broadcast was resumed at the end of November 2018. Quizmaster is Gerry Scotti .

Croatia

In Croatia the program was called Tko želi biti miljunaš? which translates as: Who wants to be a millionaire? The program was moderated by Tarik Filipović . So far, seven seasons have been produced and the first show ran on March 24, 2002. The 7th season ran from September 17, 2009 to June 3, 2010, after which the show was discontinued. The program ran every Thursday and Sunday at 8:15 pm on HRT1 . So far, only one person (Mira Bićanić) has won the main prize of 1,000,000 kn (around € 137,000). The Croatian version only had the classic three jokers : the 50:50 joker ( pola-pola ), the audience joker ( pitaj publiku ) and the telephone joker ( zovi ).

Netherlands

In the Netherlands from 1999 to 2008 Robert ten Brink and 2011 Jeroen van der Boom presented the Lotto Weekend Miljonairs program on RTL 4 . Here too, the main prize was € 1,000,000. The broadcast was discontinued on October 15, 2011.

Poland

Main article: Milionerzy

In Poland the program is called Milionerzy (in German: millionaires) and is broadcast by the Polish private broadcaster TVN . The first broadcast started on September 3, 1999 with Hubert Urbański and was broadcast until January 26, 2003. The show has been in production again since January 19, 2008. Endemol is also involved in the Polish edition . In Poland, it has so far only one candidate, the one million zloty (converted 234,208 euro) to win. Instead of 15 questions, there are only twelve to answer.

Portugal

The Portuguese version of the program was called "Quem Quer Ser Millionário" and was presented by the presenter Jorge Gabriel . The broadcast was 50 minutes long. Since July 2010, a modified version of the program has been broadcast under the name "Quem Quer Ser Milionário - Alta Pressão" (in English: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - High Pressure). The program is moderated by José Carlos Malato . The concept of the broadcast is different from the original format. The candidates qualify in the selection round via an estimation question. Each candidate has the chance to get into the middle once. However, all jokers are missing and each candidate only has a certain amount of time to answer a question. If he cannot answer this, he can pass the question on to another candidate. If he rejects this, the candidate is eliminated from the quiz. “Quem Quer Ser Milionário - Alta Pressão” runs on the Portuguese channels RTP1 and RTPi

Romania

In Romania, the show was called Vrei să fii miliardar? From 2000 to 2003 . (literally: Do you want to become a billionaire?) broadcast on Prima TV. After the currency reform, it was renamed and from August 24, 2011 to November 29, 2012 under the name Vrei să fii milionar? (Do you want to be a millionaire?) Broadcast on Kanal D. Since March 22, 2014, the current version has been broadcast again on Prima TV.

Russia

In Russia the show is called Кто хочет стать миллионером? ( Kto chotschet stat millionerom?; Literally translated: Who wants to be a millionaire?) And is broadcast on the Russian channel Perwy kanal (called ORT until 2002) and moderated by Dmitri Dibrow (until November 2008: Maxim Galkin ).

The TV show premiered on October 1, 1999 on NTW (Cyrillic: HTB). Initially the program was called О, счастливчик! ( O, shchasliwchik!, In German: “Oh, lucky guy!”) And was moderated by Dmitri Dibrov. Due to its high popularity on Russian television, the show received a Russian TEFI award.

In 2001 the show moved to the Pervy channel and changed the name to "Кто хочет стать миллионером?", And it has since been moderated by Maxim Galkin, who was replaced in November 2008 by Dmitri Dibrow.

Since September 2005 you can win 3 million rubles (equivalent to almost 42,000 euros) instead of the previous one million . It was also possible to send SMS for the replies. On October 21, 2006, "Три мудреца" (see below) was introduced as an additional joker.

joker

The candidate has four wild cards to choose from; these are:

• 50:50 (Fifty-Fifty)
• Звонок другу (telephone joker)
• Помощь зала (public joker)
• Право на ошибку (Joker, with which you can only give a second answer with a first answer if the first answer option is wrong)

Millionaires

• On March 12, 2001, Igor Saseyev from St. Petersburg was the first candidate to win one million rubles (≈ € 25,000).
• Irina and Yuri Chudinovskich from Kirov won one million rubles as the second candidate on January 18, 2003.
• Svetlana Jaroslawzewa from Troitsk won three million rubles (≈ € 75,000) as the first candidate on February 19, 2006.
• Timur Budaev from Pyatigorsk won three million rubles on April 17, 2010 as the second candidate.

Serbia

In Serbia the program is called “Želite li da postanete Milioner?”. Translated it means "Do you want to be a millionaire?" The quiz was broadcast for the first time on May 6, 2002 on the private broadcaster RTV BK . After that, the station B92 took over the rights and broadcast the program for the first time on April 9, 2009. The conditions of participation state that participation in another character-like quiz show within at least three months is excluded. The Serbian edition of the show introduced the fourth Joker since the 2008 season. This is called “zamena pitanja” (exchange question) and entitles the participant from the fifth question to exchange the question asked for one of the same level of difficulty.

South Africa

In South Africa , the show was called Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? held from 2000 to 2005 according to the British original. Jeremy Maggs was the moderator . The program, which lasted 30 minutes each time, was broadcast on the public television channel SABC3 . The program was broadcast in English, but was also planned in Afrikaans .

Turkey

In Turkey the show was first called Kim Beş Yüz Milyar İster? translated: Who would like to have 500 billion? . Written out is 500,000,000,000 TL . After the new Turkish Lira (YTL) was introduced as the new currency unit in Turkey on January 1, 2005, the program was called Kim Beş Yüz Bin İster? translated: Who would like to have 500,000? (about € 103,000), as a new lira (1 YTL) was equivalent to the value of 1,000,000 old lira (1,000,000 TL). The show Kim Beş Yüz Milyar İster? was first presented on Show TV and later on Kanal D by Kenan Işık . After renaming to Kim Beş Yüz Bin İster? the show was still hosted by Kenal Işık, but was broadcast again on Show TV. Haluk later took over Bilginer . So far there has been no one who could achieve the maximum profit.

After a few years the show was released under the name Kim 1 Milyon İster? translated: Who would like to have a million? broadcast on Star TV . Kenan Işık was the moderator.

Since August 2, 2011, the current version is under Kim Milyoner Olmak Ister? (Eng. "Who wants to be / be a millionaire?") broadcast. The main prize is worth one million Turkish Lira (currently approx. € 128,000). The show is moderated by Kenan Işık and is broadcast on the private broadcaster ATV.

After the presenter Kenan Işık suffered a cerebral haemorrhage on March 21, 2014, friends and companions of Kenan Işık moderated the program for each episode. There were a total of 26 friends and companions, such as Acun Ilıcalı . Meltem Cumbul was the first and so far only woman to host an episode.

Since the start of the fourth season on September 15, 2014, the show has been hosted by Selçuk Yöntem . He previously moderated an episode of the show.

Hungary

In Hungary the program ran under the title Legyen Ön is milliomos! (translated: become a millionaire too! ). The show first aired on February 29, 2000 and discontinued on September 17, 2009. Quizmaster was István Vágó throughout the broadcast. The show was resumed later and runs with the new international design.

United States

In the United States there was - in addition to the "normal" Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - a variant of the quiz show with higher prizes, titled Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire? ran. Up to $ 10,000,000 could be won in this version .

A special feature of this version were two additional jokers. In addition to the three normal jokers (50:50, telephone joker and public joker), two more jokers were added from a profit of 100,000 dollars:

• “Three Wise Men” - “The Three Wise Men”, a panel of experts who had to respond within 30 seconds
• "Double Dip" - "Double Dip", the possibility of guessing twice.

This variant was only broadcast twelve times in 2004.

From 1999 to 2002, the normal show lasted one hour and it was broadcast on ABC and hosted by Regis Philbin . Since then only Super Millionaire and a ten-year anniversary have been broadcast like this, but since 2002 the main show has been syndicated, broadcast as episodes with a running time of half an hour and the selection round is no longer used. Instead of Philbin, the show has been moderated by Meredith Vieira , also since 2002 .

From the 3rd syndicated season to the end of the 6th season (2004-2008) the levels were little changed, but from a profit of 25,000 dollars an additional joker called "Switch the Question" was added. This enabled the candidate to answer another equivalent question if he could not answer the question asked. The prize levels were not changed until Season 7, but different rules were introduced.

The seventh and eighth seasons used time limits for each question. From the first to the fifth question, the candidate only had fifteen seconds to answer the question. From the sixth through the tenth he had thirty seconds per question, and from the $ 50,000 question to the $ 500,000 question there were 45 seconds per question. The time limit for the million dollar question was 45 seconds plus every second the candidate saved during the other questions. The clock stopped when you used a joker, but if a candidate ran out of time, he had to get out.

The jokers have also been changed for this "watch version". There was also “Ask the Audience” (audience joker) and “Phone a Friend” (telephone joker), but “50:” was replaced by “Double Dip” from Super Millionaire so that you could give two possible answers to a question. However, the candidate was not allowed to drop out if he chose to use that joker. If he did not have time to guess a second time, it was counted as if the candidate had given a wrong answer. A candidate received the additional joker after five questions instead of ten, but “Switch the Question” was replaced by “Ask the Expert”. With this joker, the candidate was allowed to skype a “ guest expert” - either a celebrity or a former candidate - and discuss with each other as long as the candidate wanted. In January 2010, Phone a Friend was removed and a candidate was allowed to use Ask the Expert from the beginning of the game.

From the 9th season onwards, the show was changed significantly. The clock and most of the old Jokers have been abolished, and the "mix version" has been introduced instead. Since then there have been fourteen questions in two different rounds - "Round 1" lasts up to the tenth question, and "Round 2" only includes the last four. There are no more security levels, but two consolation prizes. In "Round 1" all questions regarding the amount of winnings and the difficulty level are drawn at random. That means the first question could be the easiest or hardest of the group (or in between) and could be worth a minimum of $ 100 or a maximum of $ 25,000. The actual profit is only displayed when the question has been answered correctly, the candidate is not aware of this beforehand. The winnings are collected during Round 1, the candidate can exit at any time, but only with half of his accumulated money. If he answers a question incorrectly, he will receive a consolation prize of $ 1,000. $ 33,500 is the largest winning amount a candidate can fold without reaching Round 2.

Round 2 is called “Classic Millionaire ” and contains only the four most difficult questions of the group. Each question asked here is more difficult and worth more than the question asked before. The candidate may now exit with all of the money he has collected. If he answers a question incorrectly, he will receive a consolation prize of $ 25,000.

In the “mix version” there are three jokers: one “Ask the Audience” and two “Jump the Question”. "Jump the Question" allows the candidate to skip a question, but then does not receive any cash prize for that individual question. In Round 1, caution is advised here, as it is not clear what amount of money one would forego. In Round 2, for example, the $ 100,000 question can be specifically skipped in order to get the $ 250,000 question. "Jump the Question" must not be used on the million dollar question.

On May 17, 2019, the format was discontinued after 20 seasons; the last episode aired on May 31, 2019.

United Kingdom

Since August 18, 2007, only twelve questions have been asked in the UK, up from 15 before that. This broadcast was discontinued at the beginning of 2014. On May 5, 2018, it re-aired as a 20-year special for a week, with host Jeremy Clarkson .

Cough scandal

→ Main article : Charles Ingram

In September 2001, in the British version of the program, the candidate Major Charles Ingram was subsequently deprived of the grand prize of £ 1,000,000 because Tecwen Whittock, who was then also a participant in the show, and his wife, accompanying person in the audience, coughed and cleared the throat had helped several questions. It was noticeable that Ingram z. B. repeating aloud any question to which he had no immediate answer, waiting for the signs and suddenly discarding one answer he was ready to give and considering another.

Vietnam

In Vietnam the show is called Ai Là Triệu Phú? , also translates Who is a millionaire? . As in the German version, the participants have four jokers, whereby the additional joker can only be used from the 6th question and does not have to do without the second security level (22,000,000 VND). However, the maximum profit is only VND 150,000,000 , which corresponds to around € 6100 (as of June 2015).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chi Vuol Essere Milionario: il quiz show cult di Gerry Scotty presto tornerà on TV , popcorntv.it, November 7, 2018
2. ↑ Ipak kraj: Kviz "Tko želi biti milijunaš" zauvijek nestao s malih ekrana Nacional.hr, June 4, 2010 (Croatian)
3. ↑ 'Quem Quer Ser Millionário'  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. RTP website (accessed on August 10, 2010)  
4. ↑ 'Quem Quer Ser Milionário - Alta Pressão' ( Memento of the original from July 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. RTP website (accessed on August 10, 2010) 
5. ↑ 'Blog TV Nacional' ( Memento from November 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Retrieved on August 10, 2010)
6. ↑ Send data at the IMDb