ABC Putting a New Twist on the Game Show Format: Pay to Play

“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,” a quiz show premiering tonight on ABC, offers contestants the opportunity to win $1 million. The network itself, meanwhile, is in a rare position to make money off the series before the first question is asked or the first commercial airs.

In what is apparently an unprecedented move for a broadcast network, people who hope to appear on the show must pay for the privilege, calling a 900 number that will cost them $1.50 per call.

Within the lengthy fine print in ads for the program, which will air every night (excluding Aug. 23) for the next two weeks, ABC estimates that 5.5 million people will call in--which, based on the $1.50 charge, would translate to revenue of more than $8 million.

Due to individual state laws limiting 900 numbers, the ad also notes that “residents of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont cannot play via the 900 number and will be referred at no charge to a toll-free number.”

“It’s called a lottery where I come from,” said one producer. “This is gambling. It’s really bizarre.”

Michael Davies, the program’s executive producer, maintains that the call-in system was conceived to allow viewers from all over the country to participate, as opposed to only residents of the city where the program will tape (in this case, New York), which is the case with most game shows.

Davies stressed that the volume of calls was almost certainly over-estimated to mollify ABC’s legal department, which wanted people to realize the long odds they face in getting on the show.

“We looked at the costs of doing an 800 number, and they were prohibitive,” he said, adding that roughly 80% of the telephone revenue generated would go toward taxes and expenses. “We’re not going to make a great deal of money . . . and what we do make [from the calls] will earn some money toward a massive prize and travel budget.”

Callers must correctly answer three push-button questions to qualify. Those who do so the fastest will be flown to New York to compete on the show. Episodes will be taped a day in advance, and calls will be accepted through Aug. 26.

Davies said the program is currently receiving about 20,000 calls a day, a figure expected to increase sharply once the series premieres. Because of concern about people spending inordinate sums trying to qualify for the program, ABC decided to cap the number of calls at two per person.

“I’m really curious about [how many people call],” said the program’s host, Regis Philbin. “I even called the 900 number myself and didn’t [qualify].”

This idea of charging potential contestants comes at a time when all the networks are clearly exploring secondary sources of revenue to offset declining ratings. NBC has been perhaps the most aggressive in this regard, from advertising videocassettes for sale when broadcasting miniseries such as “Noah’s Ark” to marketing compact discs in connection with its productions “The Temptations” and “The ‘60s.” Other broadcasters are looking to follow suit.

“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” is based on a British game show that has been extremely popular abroad. Each episode affords a contestant the chance to win up to $1 million by answering 15 questions that become progressively more difficult. Players can quit along the way, settling for a lesser sum. Thus far, no one in the U.K. has claimed the full prize.

ABC acquired the format rights and is producing the show through an entity called Valleycrest Productions--in fact an arm of the network’s corporate parent, the Walt Disney Co., which also produces the Comedy Central game show “Win Ben Stein’s Money.”

Disney officials admit that considerable uncertainty surrounds the program, from what sort of audience it will attract (August is generally a down time for network TV viewing) to its future beyond the trial run.

Asked what would happen if several people actually won $1 million, Davies conceded that he doesn’t expect that to be an issue.

“If over 13 nights I give away $13 million, I won’t work in television again,” he said. “But it’s just not going to happen.”

* “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” premieres at 8:30 tonight on ABC.