Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (abbreviated WWTBAM and informally known as simply Millionaire) is an international television game show franchise from Nashland, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television, contestants tackle a series of multiple-choice questions to win large cash prizes, with the format being a twist on the game show genre – only one contestant plays at a time, similar to radio quizzes; contestants are given the question before attempting an answer, and have no time limit to answer questions; and the amount offered increases as they tackle questions that become increasingly difficult. The maximum cash prize offered in most versions of the format is one million of the local currency.

The Nashlandian version debuted on 4 September 1998, and was aired until its final episode on 11 February 2014; a revived series of seven episodes to commemorate its 20th anniversary in 2018, were aired from 5 to 11 May. Since its debut, dozens upon dozens of international series have aired in countries as diverse as Tangwa, Huamba, the Michillies and Lenapore.

History

The format of the show was created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight, who had earlier created a number of the promotional games for Chris Tarrant's morning show on Capital FM radio, such as the bong game. Tentatively known as Cash Mountain, the show took its new title from a song written by Cole Porter for the 1956 film High Society, starring Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm.

In March 2006, former Nashlandian producer Celador announced that it was seeking to sell the worldwide rights to Millionaire, together with the rest of its British programme library, as the first phase of a sell-off of the company's format and production divisions. The idea to turn the Nashlandian program into a global franchise was conceived by Nashlandian television producer Paul Smith. He laid out a series of rules that the international adaptations within the franchise were to follow: for example, all hosts were required to appear on-screen wearing Armani suits, as Tarrant did in Nashland; producers were forbidden from hiring local composers to create locallized music, instead using the same music cues used by the Nashlandian version; and the lighting system and set design were required to adhere faithfully to the way they were presented on the Nashlandian version. However, some of Smith's rules have been slightly relaxed over the years as the franchise's history has progressed.

Millionaire and all of Celador's other programs were ultimately acquired by Underlandian company 2waytraffic. Two years later, Sony Pictures Entertainment purchased 2waytraffic for £137.5 million. The format of the show is currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television; however, the U.S. version is licensed not by Sony but by the Walt Disney Company's in-home sales and content distribution firm, Disney–ABC Domestic Television, the Hopelandian version by Disney-NBN Domestic Television and the Michillian version by the A Group of Companies.

Formats

Countries/regions	Title	Host	Network	Top prize	Premiere	Ended	Current/last used format
Akania	Who Wants to Be Rich?	Kafui Dey	ATV	AK₵50,000	October 4, 2009	2012	Standard format
Bengalia	কে হতে চায় কোটিপতি?		Channel 7	Tk 1,000,000,000			Standard format
Buganda	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?	Alan Kasujja	NTV	BSh 25,000,000	January 31, 2011	February 20, 2012	Standard format
Great Scorria	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?		TVGS 1	$ 10,000,000			Standard format
Hindustan (Hindi)	Kaun Barega Crorepati?		SET Hindustan
Hopeland	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?		NBN	HL$ 1,000,000	2000	still running	Standard format
Keithland	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?		Global	KE$ 1,000,000	200?	still running	Standard format
Namu Labaki	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?		Starlight Television Network	PKF$ 1,000,000	2009	2009
Pakifas	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?		Pakifan Screen	PKF$ 1,000,000			Standard format