HISTORY OF THE IRISH TV QUIZ SHOW - PART SIX

What constitutes a quiz show? – Deal or No Deal is a game show as is The National Lottery Games like Winning Streak where luck plays a major role. Quiz shows are where questions and their answers whether general knowledge or specialized decides the winner

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In 2013 the British channels BBC, ITV and Channel 4 broadcast numerous quiz formats especially on their afternoon schedules. RTE do not broadcast any except for quizzes aimed at the youth audience. TV3 broadcast Junior Mastermind, while TG4 broadcasts Ceist GAA. None of these shows offer major cash prizes for successful contestants.

In April 2013, none of Ireland's main terrestrial channels carried any quiz shows with only National Lottery sponsored game shows on RTE. This can be attributed to the lack of finances and sponsorship and a lack of creativity being unable to create unique formats, relying instead on imported tried and tested formats which in itself costs valuable resources. The lack of quiz shows is very evident during afternoon programming. The UK channels have a varied choice that each day provides contestants with a chance to win or share in almost £400,000. Many of the shows have daily rollover jackpots.

BBC

Perfection (Jackpot total averages £4,000)

Pointless (Jackpot total usually reaches £7,000)

Eggheads (Jackpot total usually reaches £4000)

Only Connect

University Challenge

ITV

Tipping Point (Possible daily jackpot £10,000)

The Chase (Typical jackpot available £12,000 but success is limited)

CHANNEL 4

1001 Things You Should Know (Possible Jackpot 13,000)

Countdown

Deal or No Deal (Top prize £250,000)

5 Minutes To A Fortunr (Top prize £100,000)

(Quiz Shows Broadcast Monday April 29th 2013)

CEIST GAA

2010 -

Hector O’Heochagain

TG4

Joining Hector on Ceist GAA was resident captains Evanne Ní Chuilinn RTÉ Sport and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill from TG4's GAA BEO.

PUT EM UNDER PRESSURE

18th September 2011 – November 2011

Sunday Nights 7.30pm

Grainne Ni Seoige

RTE

A celebrity quiz show using their sporting knowledge loosely based on BBC’s A Question of Sport. The show was hosted by former TG4 and Sky News Ireland newscaster Grainne Ni Seoige.

Two teams of three sports personalities were led by captains, jockey Ruby Walsh and former GAA player and RTE pundit Pat Spillane.

CELEBRITY & JUNIOR MASTERMIND

17th June 2012 - Present

Nora Owen (Former TD & Government Minister)

TV3

In 1983 RTE hosted a season of BBC’s Mastermind series with the UK host Magnus Magnusson with Irish timekeeping Mary Hogan. The aim was to find an Irish champion for the International Mastermind series.

In 2011 Mastermind was made by TV 3 and recorded at The Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. The series began with a Celebrity version followed by Junior Mastermind

FAMILY FORTUNES

February 2012

Alan Hughes

TV3

Two family or celebrity family teams made up of five members are asked to guess the results of surveys, in which 100 people would be asked open ended questions. Each round begins with a member of each team in rotation approaching the podium and host Alan Hughes. As the question is read, the first of the two nominees to hit a buzzer gives an answer. If this is not the top answer, the other nominee is asked. The team with the higher answer then chooses whether to "play" the question, or "pass" control to the other team. The host then passes down the line of the controlling team, asking for an answer from each. After each answer, the board reveals whether this answer featured. If a family managed to come up with all the answers on the board that begins with six choices reducing to four, they win the euro equivalent of the total number of people who had given the answers.

Every time someone gave an answer that was not on the board or ran out of time, the family was charged a strike or 'na nah' accumulating three strikes means the family loses control of the game and the other family has the chance to steal, with only the head of the family giving one answer. If the answer is one of the remaining answers, they won the round and the money; otherwise, the opponents won the money that was on the board.

For the final round two members of the winning family attempt to find the most popular answers in various categories to reach two hundred points with a bonus prize if all the top answers are found.