Is there’s a rabbit under the hat?
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I just want to acknowledge Hot Seat’s ratings while the cricket has been on Seven at the same time. Yesterday over 400,000. Not bad at all. Beats 10 News First.
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I hope Nine does something for twenty years of the original formats airing
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It’s hard to judge whether it beats Ten News as we are only seeing the 5.30pm ratings for Hot Seat in the top 20.
Very true. Forgot about that.
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Herald Sun reports Rajko Vukadinovic (father of Holly Valance and Olympia Valance) is a contestant on today’s show under the name Ryko Valance.
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Is he trying to score a gig on Neighbours too now? 
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Today is the 20th anniversary of the debut of the original Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Australia game show.
Really hope they bring back the original format one day.
Also, I’m not sure if this has been shared yet but the video below shows the full run of 2nd winner, Martin Flood. They really used to drag it out lol
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It’s worth noting that yesterday marked ten years since the afternoon version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Millionaire Hot Seat, started airing on Nine. It was originally a short run ratings stunt designed to dent the dominance of Seven’s game show juggernaut Deal or No Deal and was advertised with the tagline “20 nights! 20 million dollars!”. Nine commissioned a second series of the show before the planned run of 20 episodes had finished airing. This was Nine’s second attempt to improve the lead in to their news service with a version of the Millionaire format. The first attempt aired for two weeks in June 2004.
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Possibly the last year?
What gives you that impression?
I wonder if there’s any footage of that series available online.
MILLIONAIRE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS
FROM MONDAY, MAY 6, AT 5.00PM
After 40,000 questions, more than 2,000 episodes and nearly $80 million given away, the Millionaire Hot Seat program – which started out as Who Wants to be a Millionaire – is celebrating 20 years on air next week on Nine and 9Now.
From Monday to Thursday at 5.00pm, every episode will catch up with past winners and highlight the best moments from the last two decades.
After its premiere in April 1999, the program quickly became Australia’s new TV quiz phenomenon. A ratings smash hit, it was a game show with a difference, with the added elements of three lifelines – phone a friend, 50:50 and ask the audience.
Viewers at home played along with the contestants, seeing the highs and lows as regular Australians put huge money on the line and attempted to go one step further to win a million dollars whilst shouting, “Lock it in, Eddie”.
In 2009, Who Wants to be a Millionaire changed to the exciting format of Millionaire Hot Seat , which saw six people vying to win a million dollars with only the single lifeline of a “pass”. An added bonus gave the contestant winning the “fastest finger first” challenge the option to trade in the winning $1,000 cheque for one lifeline to help them along the way.
In its 20-year history, 18 contestants have been asked the million-dollar question, with only three answering correctly.
In October 2005, 46-year-old freelance image retoucher Rob “Coach” Fulton made history by becoming the first person to win a million dollars on Who Wants to be a Millionaire .
Just three weeks later, IT analyst Martin Flood, who had spent years trying to get on the show, also took home the top prize.
It wasn’t until 2016 that the big prize went off again, when South Australian retiree Edwin Daly answered nine straight questions to become the first $1 million winner on Millionaire Hot Seat .
Over the years, Millionaire has presented several celebrity specials, with some of Australia’s biggest names winning money for charity. Notable winners include Molly Meldrum scored $500,000, Shane Warne and Trevor Sauer (a previous winner of $500,000) who teamed up to win another $500,000, Tracy Grimshaw with $125,000, actress Rachel Griffiths who also won $125,000, and game show legend Tony Barber who won $250,000.
Eddie McGuire , who has been hosting the program from the start, said its longevity is due to its global appeal.
“ Millionaire broke the mould. It allowed the home viewer to play along with the contestant. The money, no matter how big or small, can be life-changing, and to be able to witness someone who is going through tough times winning some money is truly wonderful,” he declared.
Millionaire Hot Seat is still the only program on Australian television where it is possible to win one million dollars.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire has been adapted in over 120 territories around the world. In addition to the United Kingdom, the other longest running adaptations are Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Germany, where it has continuously aired on RTL with host Günther Jauch since 1999, and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Australia.
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I remembered Brett McDonald from perth who won $250 000 but sadly died 5 months later after a car crash.
It still bounces back.
Miniscule watermark in the corner… I don’t remember it ever being that small?
Pretty sure that’s not a screen grab from a broadcast.
That logo would have been added to the photo.
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Yeah, along with the hashtag.
It wasn’t until around 2001 or 2002 that Nine actually started using a watermark on all regular programming IIRC.
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I noticed tonight that the 2waytraffic end tag credit has been replaced by a Sony Pictures Television credit at the end of this show. Must be a recent change as I remember seeing the 2waytraffic logo last week.
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