The Success of the Game Shows - Case Study Example

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? In today’s fast paced life, television shows and movies are the two major sources of the quick entertainment for the people. Television shows such as comedy series and game shows increase the interest of people in watching television. Some shows provide only entertainment to the people whereas there are some shows which provide the audience with different prizes. Such shows are known as game shows. Who wants to be a millionaire is an example of a television game show, which has become extremely popular among the people because of the cash prizes, which it offers to the audience. Grosvenor (2010) states, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire is a fairly straight-forward quiz show that has seen many contestants walk away with big cash winnings over the years”. Basic Format Who wants to be a millionaire is hosted by Meredith Vieira (Grosvenor, 2010). The show started in the 1990s and within no time, it became extremely popular among the local people. Chakraborti (2008) asserts, “On September 4, 1998, UK television viewers watched a new quiz game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which took the country by storm”. The format of this game show is so much attractive that it has been successfully exported to a variety of national contests. The basic format of this show includes different multiple-choice questions which are of different complexity levels. The prize money varies with the level of complexity of each question. However, the largest cash prize is of one million pounds. Gould (2010) states, “The Million Dollar Question cannot be asked as a stand alone question”. The million-dollar question is accompanied by several other questions. When the game show was started, there used to be a preliminary round, which was known as Fastest Finger First. This round was there to pick the right candidate for the Hot Seat. In the preliminary round, there used to be a multiple-choice question which all candidates had to answer in order to reach the hot seat. Hot Seat In the Hot Seat, different general knowledge questions are asked to the contestants. The level of complexity rises with every question. The first five questions of the round are comparatively easier than the other questions, and the host does not ask the contestants whether to lock the final answer or not. After the first five questions, which are very easy general knowledge question, the contestants are asked difficult questions in order to guess their level of competency. The candidates can take a long time answering the questions as there is no time limit in this game. The host asks the candidates about the final answer. The contestants cannot change their selected answer after they name their answer as the final answer for any specific question. Choice of the Contestant One important thing related to the game show is that a contestant loses a part of his money if he gives an incorrect answer to a question. If a contestant quits the game on a wining mark, he gets the money that he has earned whereas a single wrong answer can result in sinking a major part of his earned money. The cash prize starts from 100 pounds and stops when the contestant makes up to 1 million pounds. There are some cash prizes which are guaranteed even if a contestant gives a wrong answer and gets ended with the game. Those cash prizes are guaranteed at three specific marks which include 1000 pounds, 32000 pounds, and 1 million pounds. The money earned between any two specific levels falls down to the lower level if a contestant gives an incorrect answer to a question. For example, if a contestant earns 4000 pounds but gives an incorrect answer, he will get 1000 pounds as the cash prize. Similarly, if a contestant earns 64000 pounds or 125000 pounds, he will get 32000 pounds if he gives a single incorrect answer to a question. Sometimes a contestant earns up to 500000 pounds from the game but falls down to 32000 pounds due to an incorrect answer given for the last question. Different Formats in Different Countries The format of the game show varies from country to country. In some countries, Fastest Finger First is the preliminary round, whereas in some countries, candidates directly take the Hot Seat. Not only that, but also the basic format of cash prizes has been made different in different countries. In Australia, 11 questions format is being followed in which the minimum cash prize of 1000 dollars is guaranteed to any individual who participates in the contest and gives the first correct answer. In the United Kingdom, the format was changed in 2007, when a 12 questions format was introduced in the show. The marks of cash prizes were changed to 1000 pounds, 5000 pounds, and 1 million pounds. The first mark has been set after 500 pounds which a contestant must win before reaching the first mark for the cash prize. A sixteen questions format was although introduced and tried by Australia and Thailand but both of the countries went back to the 12 questions format. Some Other Formats Four other formats of the game show are being tried by different countries with a purpose to make the game show more and more attractive to the audience. Those formats include Clock format, Risk format, Shuffle format, and changed Hot Seat format. United States of America, Germany, and Norway are the founders of these new formats of the game show. Clock format was introduced by the USA, and many other countries have also adopted this format now. In the Clock format, the total number of questions has been divided into parts and there is a timeline to answer each question of any specific part. In the Risk format, a fourth lifeline is added to the game, which makes it a risk for the contestants. In the Risk format, the contestants sometimes win a large prize and sometimes fall down to the money, which was earned by correctly answering the fifth question. Shuffle format is the latest format that has been adopted for the game show in the United States of America. In the Shuffle format, the contestants receive the accumulated money if they answer the 10 questions correctly. There are only 14 questions to be answered in this format. The contestants not only get accumulated money but also they proceed to the next levels of the tree to try for more money. However, the last four questions are of critical importance for the contestants because if they give an incorrect answer to a single question, they get only 25000 dollars as per rules of this format. Lifelines Apart from different formats and rules associated with the game show, there also exist some lifelines which add to the charm of this game show. There are three lifelines to help the contestant along the way (Alden, 2001). Some of the most famous and widely used lifelines include Fifty-Fifty (elimination of two incorrect choices), Phone a Friend (making a phone call to a friend for assistance), Double Dip (giving two answers for a question), Three Wise Men (asking the panel to choose right option), and Pass (question is passed on to next player). Fifty-fifty lifeline is very popular as the number of options is reduced to two options (Charles, 2008, p. 47). Format being exported to Other Contests Who wants to be a millionaire is a very famous game show all over the world. The format of this game show has been successfully exported to a variety of national contests as well. Who wants to be a millionaire has transformed the typical pattern of telephone traffic in the United States (Andrejevic, 2004, p. 72). It is because the format of this game show is extremely attractive to the public. “It is one the most successful and well-known tv-formats all over the world” (Ziemkendorf, 2008, p. 7). People enjoy participating in such game shows because of the prize money that they can receive. Green (2010) states, “If you can Who Wants to be A Millionaire there is no doubt that your life is going to change”. Hot seat has become an integral part of almost every game show because of the charm and magnetism attached to it. People love to take hot seat because they take it as an opportunity to get money by answering just a few questions. Some computer games on who want to be a millionaire offers all questions and answers a person needs to know to perfect the game (Fisher, 2000, p. 192). People are attracted towards such format because they find it the opportunity not only to test their general knowledge and luck but also to earn a good amount off money within no time. The organizers and planners of game shows consider the format of who want to be a millionaire as the most attractive and profit-oriented format for a game show. The organizers and planners have in their minds that people value money, so if they put some money in their game shows, people will definitely get attracted towards the shows. That is the reason why the concept and format of who want to be a millionaire game show has been exported to a variety of national contests nationally as well as internationally. References Alden, M. (2001). Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: 3rd Edition Review. Retrieved from http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Games/Reviews/whowants2bmillionaire/ Andrejevic, M. (2004). Reality TV: The Work of being Watched. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Chakraborti, C. (2008). Everyone Wants to Be a Millionaire. Retrieved from http://en.articlesgratuits.com/everyone-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-id3171.php Charles, H. (2008). Markets, Games, & Strategic Behavior. India: Pearson Education. Fisher, D. (2000). Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. New York: Cader Books. Green, R. (2010). How To Win Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Retrieved from http://business.ezinemark.com/how-to-win-who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-319b0269c83.html Gould, G. (2010). Who wants to Be a Millionaire? Ask the Million Dollar Question. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Who-Wants-to-Be-a-Millionaire?-Ask-the-Million-Dollar-Question&id=4441178 Grosvenor, C. (2010). Be a Contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Retrieved from http://gameshows.about.com/od/beacontestant/a/wwtbamauditions.htm Grosvenor, C. (2010). Meredith Vieira, Host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Retrieved from http://gameshows.about.com/od/hostprofiles/p/meredith_vieira.htm Ziemkendorf, M. (2008). Strategies of Adaptation and Commercialization from Global Entertainment tv-Formats on the Basis of the Endemol Company. Germany: GRIN Verlag. Read More