Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television, contestants tackle a series of multiple-choice questions to win large cash prizes in a format that twists on many game show genre conventions – only one contestant plays at a time, similar to radio quizzes; contestants are given the question before deciding whether to answer, and have no time limit to answer questions; and the amount offered increases as they tackle questions that become increasingly difficult. The maximum cash prize offered in most versions of the format is an aspirational value in local currency, such as £1 million in the UK or ₹75 million in India.
Stars in Their Eyes is a British television talent series, based on Joop van den Ende's Dutch format Soundmixshow. It featured a singing contest in which members of the public impersonate showbiz stars.
Pop Idol is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer in the UK based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast, one in 2001–2002 and a second in 2003. An immense success when it launched in 2001, Maggie Brown in The Guardian wrote, "the show became a seminal reality/entertainment format once on air that autumn". Series judge Simon Cowell became a major public figure in entertainment, and the show produced instant No. 1 chart hits, including for the first series winner Will Young, whose single "Evergreen" was the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history and the best-selling song of 2002. Pop Idol was subsequently put on an indefinite hiatus after Simon Cowell announced the launch of The X Factor in the UK in April 2004.
Fame Academy was a British television talent competition to search for and educate new musical talents. The winner received a chance to become a successful music artist and part of the international franchise Star Academy known under various titles in various countries.
Opportunity Knocks is a British television and radio talent show originally hosted by Hughie Green, with a late-1980s revival hosted by Bob Monkhouse, and later by previous winner Les Dawson. From its origin on BBC Radio in 1949 the show provided a platform to fame for acts such as Spike Milligan and Frankie Vaughan. One of the most popular shows on British television, in the 1960s and 1970s it had a weekly audience of 20 million viewers.
BrainTeaser was a British game show based on the original Dutch format of Puzzeltijd. The show was broadcast live, with phone-in viewer puzzles being announced and played during the show in addition to the studio game. During its run from 5 August 2002 to 7 March 2007, it aired on Five Mondays to Fridays, usually for an hour around lunchtime, and was fronted by various presenters rotating with one another. Beginning in August 2005, a version of the show that exclusively focused on viewer participation was broadcast in a four-hour long block on YooPlay TV every day after the Five broadcast, as part of a thirteen-week trial.
Soapstar Superstar is a British talent show that aired on ITV from 6 January 2006 to 13 January 2007. The show's format works in a similar format to that of Pop Idol and The X Factor, in that the competition features a group of soap opera actors performing in front of a celebrity panel of judges, with the weakest performers being eliminated when they receive the fewest votes from the judges and a public vote. Unlike these shows, the audience decides upon the song contestants sung in the next round, with the eliminated contestant joining the judging panel for that episode to save one of the other contestants and decide on which song they would sing next.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz show, created by David Briggs, Steven Knight and Mike Whitehill for the ITV network. The programme's format has contestants answering multiple-choice questions based on general knowledge, winning a cash prize for each question they answer correctly, with the amount offered increasing as they take on more difficult questions. If an incorrect answer is given, the contestant will leave with whatever cash prize is guaranteed by the last safety net they have passed, unless they opt to walk away before answering the next question with the money they had managed to reach. To assist in the quiz, contestants are given a series of "lifelines" to help answer questions.
Big Brother is the Dutch version of the international reality television franchise Big Brother. It created a reality TV-show format where contestants live in an isolated house, and try to avoid being evicted by viewers to win a prize at the end. The original Dutch version of the show was initially aired from 1999 to 2006 for six regular seasons, and two celebrity editions. Many international versions have also been developed following the same structure. In 2021, the cooperation season with Flanders of Big Brother returned in the Netherlands after an absence of 14 years.
The DJ Kat Show was a children's television programme presented by the puppet DJ Kat and his friend Linda de Mol, the sister of Endemol founder John de Mol, which ran from 1 September 1986 to 31 December 1995. The show was first broadcast to Europe on satellite and cable channel Sky Channel and later on Sky One and Sky Europe. The show was aired every weekday morning and afternoon, and throughout its life was home to a particularly large number of imported animated series. A separate version of The DJ Kat Show was later created for the United States where it was aired on stations affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, including WNYW, Fox's flagship station. This article focuses primarily on the original European version.
Britain's Got Talent is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, it is produced by both Thames and Syco Entertainment, distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year in late Spring to early Summer. The show was originally intended for production in 2005, but filming was suspended in the wake of a dispute between ITV and the programme's originally planned host. Following the success of America's Got Talent that year, production resumed, and the programme eventually premiered on 9 June 2007.
The European Soundmix Show was an imitation talent competition held yearly from 1996 to 1999, with two special shows in 2001 and 2002.
Hendrikus Josephus Huisman is a Dutch television presenter and musician.
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! is a British survival reality television show, that is broadcast on ITV. It was created by London Weekend Television (LWT) and is produced by Lifted Entertainment. The format sees a group of celebrities living together in extreme conditions with few creature comforts. Each member undertakes challenges to secure additional food and treats for the group, and to avoid being voted out by viewers during their stay, with the final episode's votes nominating who wins a series.
The X Factor is a British reality television music competition, and part of the global X Factor franchise created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's British entertainment company, Thames, and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment for ITV, as well as simulcast on Virgin Media One in Ireland. The programme ran for around 445 episodes across fifteen series, each one primarily broadcast late in the year, until its final episode in December 2018. The majority of episodes were presented by Dermot O'Leary, with some exceptions: the first three series were hosted by Kate Thornton; while Caroline Flack and Olly Murs hosted the show for the twelfth series.
Got Talent is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. It has spawned spin-offs in over 69 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Fremantle of the Idol and The X Factor formats. Unlike those shows, Got Talent showcases other artistic disciplines as well as singers.
MasterChef is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying skill levels, through a series of cooking challenges, watched over by various acclaimed food critics and chefs.
Endemol Shine Group B.V. was a Dutch production and distribution company of scripted and non-scripted content, responsible for programmes such as Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, The Money Drop, Fear Factor, MasterChef, Your Face Sounds Familiar, Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror, Humans, Grantchester and Tin Star.
Your Face Sounds Familiar is a Spanish interactive reality television franchise series where celebrity contestants impersonate singers. The format, similar to Dutch television series Soundmixshow, was first used in Spain under the title Tu cara me suena in 2011.
René Shuman is a Dutch singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer.
