“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” has been canceled after a 20-year run, the last 17 of which were in syndication.
“After a successful 17-year run, ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ will not return in national syndication for the 2019-20 season,” a spokesperson for the game show told TheWrap.
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” debuted in primetime in the summer of 1999 on ABC, and ran through 2002 with Regis Philbin serving as the host.
It shifted to syndication in 2002 and was hosted by Meredith Vieria until 2013. Since then, it’s been hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, Terry Crews and Chris Harrison, who has been the show host since 2015.
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” features contestants answering multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty, each being worth more money than the previous one, building to a $1 million dollar question. Contestants are given three “lifelines” to help them answer questions. The show has aired more than 3,000 episodes, including 300 on ABC.
“Millionaire” is produced by Valleycrest Productions Ltd. and is distributed by Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International. James Rowley serves as executive producer. It was initially developed for the U.S. by Michael Davies and is based on the British series of the same name, which is still running.
Variety first reported the news.