The Millionaire Project: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Quiz Shows From the United States, Russia, Poland, Norway, Finland, Israel, and Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This article compares the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire as it has been produced in 7 different countries-the United States, Russia, Poland, Norway, Finland, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. Through content analysis of 2,233 questions collected from 73 programs, the study aims to ascertain globalization and knowledge hierarchy as they manifest in a successful television program. The Nordic productions of Millionaire were rather similar to one another, as were shows from Russia and Poland, and-to a lesser extent-programs from the United States and Israel. Cultural proximity between nations correlated with similarity in content. The quiz show in larger nations included more questions about universal issues and fewer questions about local issues, in contrast to quiz shows from smaller European countries. Western quiz shows emphasized light entertainment, whereas the Saudi show and those from Russia and Poland brought to the foreground language and history. In terms of knowledge hierarchy, in all the countries academic knowledge yielded more valuable prizes than everyday knowledge.