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CABLE WORLD STAFF
ESPN is bringing the network game show craze to cable this fall and secured the services of ABC's Who Wants to be a Millionaire executive producer Michael Davies to create what the net hopes will be an instant hit.
"We're very much promoting this in the ESPN style and attitude," says Len DeLuca, the network's VP-programming development. "This will be the first of many different initiatives we'll be rolling out to ESPN-branded, original programming out there that falls into a different genre."
6 is scheduled to debut Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. (ET) in the slot between SportsCenter and Monday Night (Football) Countdown. A second weekly edition will begin Oct. 12, preceding College Game Night.
The show's format will have three contestants dealing with three rounds of sports trivia questions. Each round begins with the host stating, "Your two minutes starts now!"
"Two elements of the game that set it apart are its speed and the pressure that the contestants will feel in the two minutes and the signature start phrase to each round," DeLuca says.
After 17 shows, each winner and the best second-place finisher will return for six quarterfinal and semifinal playoff rounds that will culminate in a championship episode airing Dec. 25. DeLuca says the payoffs won't even come close to that of Millionaire but will be a combination of cash and ESPN-related prizes.
The show's pilot was developed by Davies and Andrew Golder, creator of Win Ben Stein's Money.
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