The Million Second Quiz (Philippine game show)

The Million Second Quiz is a Philippine game show based on the original American series with the same name. It airs on IBC as the Saturday night game show, and is hosted by Drew Arellano. It premiered on December 1, 2013. The show follows a group of contestants who compete for up to ₱1,000,000 in a quiz competition across 1,000,000 seconds (or 11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds), while the rest of the show was viewable from within the Million Second Quiz app.

In episode, Robi Domingo denided accidentally told the viewing public of the show that Drew Arellano would be the host of the show once it would air in January 26, 2014. Domingo was having upcoming commitments for the Saturday night game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

The winner of the first season, Dingdong Dantes, totaled ₱2.6 million which is the highest grand prize in game show on Philippine television history.

Format
The Million Second Quiz follows the format of the original American series, the quiz is set in a huge hourglass-shaped structure in the entrance to the Studio 4 of IBC studio, houses on the roof of the studio at Broadcast City, Capitol Hills, Diliman, Quezon City.

An indoor set witin the studio inportions of the game, as  the cast in contestants compete in a quiz competition played 24 hours a day for 1,000,000 seconds, or about eleven and a half dats. At any given time, one contestant is sitting in the "Money Chair" and accumulating money, while defending his/her portion against a series of challengers in head-to-head quiz bouts. Although commercials bill the winnings as ₱1 per second spent in the chair — or P36,000 per hour or P864,000 for every day — the rate is actually P1 per tenth of a second; winnings accumulate at a constant rate, even when bouts are not being played and during commercial breaks (prime time). Contestants in the chair earn money until they are defeated by a challenger, who replaces the occupant of the chair. Only the four contestants with the highest total winnings get to keep their money once the million seconds are up.

Each bout lasts for a set number of seconds at the studio contestant. In all bouts, both participants use keypads to secretly lock in their answers and have five seconds to do so after the question is asked.

Bouts
There are three bouts: the "Challenger" bout (300 seconds, or 5 minutes), the "Line Jumper" bout (300 seconds, or 5 minutes, in episode 1; 400 seconds, or 6 minutes 40 seconds, from episode 2 on), and the "Winner's Defense" bout (400 seconds in episodes 1-9; 500 seconds, or 8 minutes 20 seconds, in episode 10). Questions start at one point each, with the value increasing by one every 100 seconds. If a question is in play when the clock reaches one of these 100-second marks, it is completed for its original value.

At any time, either contestant may choose to "double" instead of answering; doing so doubles that question's value and forces the opponent to act. A doubled opponent may either answer or "double back," quadrupling the point value and forcing the original contestant to answer. If a doubled or doubled-back contestant answers incorrectly or fails to act within five seconds, the points are awarded to his/her opponent. Contestants may double as often as they wish during a bout.

At the end of the bout, the contestant with the higher score wins and either retains the Money Chair or replaces its current occupant. If the bout ends in a tie score, a tiebreaker question is asked; the contestant who locks in the correct answer first is the winner. If both of them miss, the contestant who has accumulated more money wins the bout. If a question is in play when the clock runs out, it is completed under the normal rules in which the contestant may eat, drink, or use the restroom as necessary.

The "Challenger" bout features a person who has successfully completed an on-site tryout process. The "Line Jumper" bout of each episode features a contestant who has achieved a sufficiently high score on the official Million Second Quiz app, allowing him/her to skip the tryouts and advance directly onto the show.

At any given time, the four contestants who have accumulated the most money in their bouts live in "Winners' Row," an area of living quarters set up next to the hourglass. They are at risk of being displaced if someone else out-scores them. During a "Winner's Defense" bout, the current "Power Player" chooses one of the four Winners' Row occupants (including himself/herself) to face off against the current Money Chair occupant. The winner claims the loser's entire winnings in addition to his/her own and takes/keeps the Money Chair, while the loser is eliminated. In episode 1, the Power Player was the contestant with the most winnings; starting with episode 2, it was the contestant who had the highest number of correct answers from playing along in Winners' Row that day.

Contestants who are defeated in the Winner's Defense bouts lose all winnings they have accumulated. All other defeated contestants, including those displaced from Winners' Row by being out-scored, may try out again for a chance to win their way back into the Money Chair.

Finals
Once the countdown clock reaches zero, the four contestants with the highest totals keep all of their credited winnings and compete in a series of three elimination bouts, as follows: The victor of bout #3 receives an additional ₱2,000,000. In this season, Dingdong Dantes defeated Mario Ripoll to win the grand prize, an an overall ₱2,300,600. Domingo announced that Dantes' winnings would be increased to ₱2,600,000; this made the all-time biggest regular-season winner on a single local version of the US game show, surpassing Jodi Sta. Maria's ₱1,000,000 run on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.
 * 1) Fourth- and third-place winners face off (400 seconds)
 * 2) Victor of bout #1 faces the second-place winner (400 seconds)
 * 3) Victor of bout #2 faces the first-place winner (500 seconds)

Notable players

 * Ernesto Paras Jr. as Jhune Paras (winner at ₱2,400,000) vs. Nicole Donesa (lose) (January 26, 2014)
 * Grace Poe (winner at ₱1,000,000) vs. Marvin Reyes (lose) (February 9, 2014)
 * Sonny Angara (winner at ₱1,800,500) vs. Fr. Joey Irlandes (lose) (February 23, 2014)
 * Bam Aquinio (winner at ₱1,400,000) vs. Chok Porciuncula (lose) (March 2, 2014)
 * Jamby Madrigal (winner at P2,000,000) vs. Mario Ripoll (lose) (July 26, 2014)

Celebrity player

 * Dingdong Dantes (winner at ₱2,600,000) vs. Mario Ripoll (lose) (December 23, 2013)
 * Nadine Lustre (winner at ₱2,700,000) vs. Lakam Chiu (lose) (December 29, 2013)
 * Janella Salvador (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Prances Jane Clemente (lose) (January 12, 2014)
 * Mario Maurer (winner at ₱1,000,000) vs. Paolo Porciuncula (lose) (January 19, 2014)
 * Jon Santos (winner at ₱500,000) vs. Arnel Layson (lose) (February 1, 2014)
 * Andre Paras (winner at ₱1,800,500) vs. Agusto Aclopen (lose) (February 16, 2014)
 * Jenine Desiderio (winner at ₱1,900,000) vs. Juan Miguel Salvador (lose) (March 9, 2 014)
 * Josh Padilla (winner at ₱1,800,500) vs. Robert Usita (lose) (March 24, 2014)
 * Liza Soberano (winner at ₱1,800,500) vs. Dareen Aguilar (lose) (March 29, 2014)
 * AJ Muhlach (winner at ₱1,900,000) vs. James Asuncion (lose) (April 5, 2014)
 * Claudine Barretto (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Anthon Miccolo Solis (lose) (April 5, 2014)
 * Marlo Mortel (winner at ₱3,000,000) vs. Eduardo Gaeilo Pajinag, Jr. (lose) (April 20, 2014)
 * Victor Anastacio (winner at ₱1,550,000) vs. Nadja Mirpuri (lose) (April 26, 2014)
 * Maricar Reyes (winner at ₱4,000,000) vs. Greta Cordillo (lose) (May 4, 2014)
 * Richard Yap (winner at ₱2,200,000) vs. Marc Quiambao (lose) (May 11, 2014)
 * Sandy Andalong (winner at ₱1,000,000) vs. Janelle Balboa (lose) (May 18, 2014)
 * Dingdong Avanzado (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Misty Rose Dado (lose) (May 25, 2014)
 * Jodi Sta. Maria (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Jhade Telimban (lose) (May 31, 2014)
 * Veejay Aragon (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Mariz Uytingco (lose) (June 7, 2014)
 * Cayleen Villamor (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Lakam Chiu (lose) (June 14, 2014)
 * Ramon Bautista (winner at ₱3,000,000) vs. Koi Nombre (lose) (June 21, 2014)
 * Jerome Ponce (winner at ₱1,000,000) vs. Yuji dela Cruz (lose) (June 28, 2014)
 * Cristine Reyes (winner at ₱1,400,000) vs. Grace Casolita (lose) (July 5 2014)
 * Anja Aguilar (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Kevin Villanueva (lose) (July 12, 2014)
 * Sam Concepcion (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Gaeilo Pajinag, Jr. (lose) (July 19, 2014)
 * Jon Lucas (winner at ₱1,000,000) vs. Gertrud Hahn (lose) (August 2, 2014)
 * Diether Ocampo (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. EJ Domingo (lose) (August 9, 2014)
 * Thyro Alfaro (winner at ₱1,300,000) vs. Loren Monares (lose) (August 16, 2014)
 * Josh Santana (winner at ₱2,900,000) vs. Natasha Mendoza (lose) (August 23, 2014)
 * Lindsay Custodio (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Nicole Donesa (lose) (August 30, 2014)
 * Dingdong Dantes (winner at ₱2,600,000) vs. Mario Ripoll (lose) (September 7, 2014)
 * Raymart Santiago (winner at ₱1,000,000) vs. EJ Domingo (lose) (September 13, 2014)
 * Arvin Ventanilla (winner at ₱2,000,000) vs. Robert Usita (lose) (September 20, 2014)

KBP Golden Dove Awards

 * 2014 Winner, Best TV Game Show Host (Drew Arellano)
 * 2014 Winner, Best TV Game Show

Bataan Peninsula State University: Kagitingan Awards

 * 2014 Winner, Pinaka-Magiting na Programang Pantelebisyon

USTv Student Choice Awards

 * 10th USTv Student's Choice Awards (Students’ Choice of Game Show Host) - Won (Drew Arellano)
 * 10th USTv Student's Choice Awards (Students’ Choice of Game Show) - Won