Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz format that became one of the most successful and influential game shows in television history. Since its British debut in 1998, more than 100 local versions have been produced around the world. The premise is simple but powerful: one contestant faces a sequence of multiple-choice questions, increasingly valuable prizes, carefully chosen lifelines and the option to walk away. By combining knowledge, risk, strategy and dramatic presentation, the programme changed the visual language and emotional rhythm of the television quiz show.

From a British format to a worldwide phenomenon

The format was created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight, who had previously worked on promotional games and quiz features for radio and television. The programme was initially known by the working title “Cash Mountain.” Its final title was taken from a song written by Cole Porter for the 1956 film High Society, starring Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm.

The original British edition premiered on ITV on 4 September 1998, hosted by Chris Tarrant. At the height of its popularity, one 1999 episode attracted more than 19 million viewers. The success created a valuable international television format. Producer Paul Smith developed standards intended to keep local editions recognisably connected to the British original, including a consistent game structure, a related studio design, familiar music and a common visual style.

The format’s achievement was not simply its numerical reach. It could be translated into different languages and cultures while preserving its central identity. Questions, prize amounts, hosts and production details could be adapted locally, but the basic experience remained intact: one contestant, four possible answers, rising stakes, safety nets and a decisive choice between continuing and taking the money already secured.

The game: knowledge, risk and composure

In the classic format, a contestant answers fifteen questions that progress from relatively accessible general knowledge to increasingly difficult subjects. Each correct answer increases the prize fund. A wrong answer can send the contestant back to the last safety net reached, while walking away allows the contestant to keep the money already accumulated.

The three best-known lifelines are “50:50,” which removes two incorrect answers; “Phone a Friend,” which gives the contestant a limited opportunity to consult someone outside the studio; and “Ask the Audience,” which gathers the studio audience’s collective view. Different versions and periods introduced additional aids, including switching the question, consulting experts and making a second attempt.

The structure makes the programme more than a test of memory. Contestants must weigh what they know against the amount at stake, the safety net behind them and the assistance still available. Viewers at home are drawn into the same calculation, trying to answer the question themselves and deciding what they would do under pressure. The result is a form of television participation based on curiosity, judgment and suspense.

The Israeli edition

The Israeli edition first aired on 25 November 1999 under the title Millionaire, as part of Reshet programming on Channel 2. It initially achieved ratings of approximately 27 percent and became one of the most prominent prime-time quiz shows in Israel. Yoram Arbel hosted the programme during both its Channel 2 period and its later run on Channel 10.

After several seasons, the programme left Channel 2’s schedule in 2003. Channel 10 acquired the format rights in 2006, but that version received lower ratings and ended after about a year. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the show returned in a new edition on Keshet 12. The revival premiered on 16 July 2020 and was hosted by Erez Tal.

The Israeli game followed the familiar structure of fifteen questions leading to a top prize of one million shekels. The first five questions were subject to a time limit, while later questions were not. Safety nets at the fifth and tenth questions guaranteed a minimum prize to contestants who reached them. The format made the central tension especially clear: each correct answer brought the contestant closer to a life-changing sum, but each decision also increased the risk.

Contestants and moments remembered

The only contestant to win the top prize in the Israeli edition was Izhar Nevo, a computer professional born in 1972, who achieved the feat in August 2000. His half-million-shekel question asked which of four English kings had ruled first. Nevo consulted his friend, historian Izhar Ben-Nahum. The million-shekel question asked for the first book in the Young Athletes series. After using the 50:50 lifeline, Nevo was left with two choices: “Kick, Alon, Kick!” and “The Ball Is In... No!” He used a coin toss to choose, selected the correct answer and became the first—and, according to the supplied record, the only—million-shekel winner in the Israeli format.

Another notable contestant was the author and journalist Irit Linor, who won 250,000 shekels in 2000, a local record at the time. She eventually stopped at a question about Oscar Wilde’s famous claim concerning his genius. Earlier in the game, she used the phone-a-friend lifeline on a question about Yehuda Leib Pinsker’s Auto-Emancipation. Other well-known participants included Yair Lapid, Adir Miller and Gadi Sukenik.

Influence on television and popular culture

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? gave the quiz show the atmosphere of a thriller. The central contestant’s chair, dramatic lighting, darkening studio and escalating musical cues created a sense of danger and importance around what might otherwise have been a standard question-and-answer exchange. The score most closely associated with the format, composed by Keith and Matthew Strachan, was designed to accompany almost every stage of the game and to intensify as the questions and prizes grew more difficult and valuable.

The host’s question, “Is that your final answer?”, became a familiar phrase in many languages and a shorthand for a moment of irreversible decision. The programme also moved beyond television into board games, quiz books, computer games, online games and theme-park attractions. These adaptations transformed a broadcast into a repeatable social activity for families, friends, classrooms and trivia enthusiasts.

Local editions appeared in the United States, India, Australia, Russia, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, China, Vietnam and many other countries. Alongside the standard format, producers developed variations such as the Australian-style “Hot Seat” and the team-based spin-off 50-50. Each version demonstrated the format’s unusual flexibility: the rules could be modified substantially while the core drama of knowledge under pressure remained recognisable.

A legacy of accessible knowledge and shared viewing

The programme’s importance is not limited to its prize money or ratings. It made questions about history, literature, science, geography, sport and popular culture part of ordinary family and public conversation. Viewers were not merely watching someone else compete; they were invited to answer along, debate the options and consider how far their own knowledge would take them.

In Israel, the show helped define the quiz-show culture of the late 1990s and early 2000s. It placed general knowledge and familiarity with Israeli and international culture at the centre of a widely accessible commercial broadcast. Contestants from the public were given a stage on which to demonstrate memory, preparation, intuition and composure. Its return in 2020 showed that the underlying format could still connect with a new audience despite major changes in viewing habits and television technology.

Why this legacy belongs in Moreshet

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? merits inclusion in an archive of Jewish and Israeli heritage because it documents a significant meeting between global media culture and Israeli everyday life. In Israel, the programme became a defining Channel 2-era broadcast, created memorable public moments—including Izhar Nevo’s million-shekel victory—and connected general knowledge, literature, history, language and humour with mass entertainment.

The format also matters beyond Israel. It demonstrated how a television idea could travel across borders, adapt to local audiences and still preserve a recognisable identity. It encouraged curiosity, learning and intergenerational conversation, turning the question “What would you answer?” into a shared cultural habit. For these reasons, the programme belongs in Moreshet and on Moreshet.com, where the institutions, creations and media experiences that shaped Israeli cultural life and its connections with the wider world can be remembered in their proper context.