MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment’s 2waytraffic has signed new multiple agreements for the classic game show format – Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, covering 10 countries.
The deals are announced as 2waytraffic prepares to launch a new spin off format, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Hot Seat, at MipTV.
Of the 10 countries covered by the licensing agreements, five are launching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire for the first time. These include Costa Rica, where it launched last month on Teletica and is currently the nation’s highest-rating programme with an average share of 52 per cent, and Kosovo and Albania, where Grand Media has produced a version of the show for Al Sat Radio TV and RTK Television respectively. The format will air in Panama on Medcom later in the year and in Angola, also later this year, on new channel, TV Zimbo.
Additionally, 2waytraffic has signed an agreement with Maghreb broadcaster, Nessma TV, which will produce and broadcast a version of the show into Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Libya, where it last aired in 2007. In the Philippines, where the show aired five years ago, it will be produced and broadcast by TV5, to air again later this year.
Demonstrating Millionaire’s appeal, 2waytraffic will also launch the latest spin off of the format at MipTV, with three major broadcasters already signed up. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Hot Seat has already been a success in Norway on TV2 where it drew an average share of 31 per cent. It is currently on air on Italy’s Canale 5, where it has averaged a share of 21 per cent since its launch in December, and Australia’s Nine Network has recently signed a deal for a series.
2waytraffic International managing director Ed Louwerse said, “Broadcasters are looking towards big established brands that they know they can trust to deliver to both advertisers and viewers. The fact that we have completed new deals in ten countries for the original format, while our latest spin-off is launching internationally with three major territories already on-board, is testament to the long-lasting appeal of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire brand.”
In a brand new twist on the classic format, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Hot Seat sees six contestants fighting for their chance to stay in the show’s famous hot seat and win a life-changing prize. The six contestants take turns in the hot seat and face one set of 15 questions. In a gripping game of elimination, contestants cannot walk away. They must answer all 15 questions correctly, or surrender their place in the hot seat to the next contestant using their ‘Pass’ Lifeline, or answer incorrectly and leave the game.
