'IS THAT YOUR final answer?' host Ken Chan Kai-tai asks a nervous contestant in the hottest quiz show in town: Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? For the past three months, this familiar scene and catchphrase have created a craze in Hong Kong and marked a rare victory in the ratings war for Asia Television (ATV).
Academics and media watchers say the popular quiz show has become more than just a TV programme and given rise to a whole new social phenomenon. A 'back-to-school' mentality has become evident as people from all walks of life pick up everything from encyclopedias to Chinese-history textbooks in the hope of memorising enough information to become the first Hong Kong person to win the show's maximum $1 million prize. And publishers have been quick to cash in on the craze, with several books featuring questions and answers from the show becoming local bestsellers.
Some media commentators believe the success of this quiz show's format, which has also swept many other countries, indicates that local audiences had become bored with the Canto-dramas which previously dominated primetime TV. But critics question whether the programme is really promoting knowledge or simply encouraging the rote-learning style so prevalent in the local education system.
Choi Chi-sum, the general-secretary of the Society for Truth and Light, an organisation which encourages higher moral standards in the local media, is among the show's enthusiasts. 'Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? has given a new choice to local audiences,' Mr Choi said. 'For too long, they have been spoon-fed a diet of Canto-dramas and 'infotainment' programmes featuring gossip about local celebrities and movie stars. For a long time, Hong Kong audiences were given no choice. TVB [Television Broadcasts] controlled the market and did not show many new ideas.'
ATV is also eager to sing the programme's praises. 'The show is educational and interesting. Many people say it has provided a chance for family togetherness,' programme controller Danny Leung Kai-ip said. 'Parents and children enjoy sitting together and watching the show.'
The station's enthusiasm is hardly surprising, as the programme has boosted ratings which were previously lagging far behind those of rival station TVB. On July 15, when the show featured celebrities and movie stars as contestants, it attracted a record 2.5 million viewers, the highest figure for any programme in the station's 15-year history.
