How FG’s Fine On Sponsor Forced ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ Off Air – Frank Edoho

Frank Edoho, the Nigerian TV host, has revealed why the popular game show ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (WWTBAM)‘ went off air.

The show, which debuted in October 2004 with a N10 million grand prize, was cancelled in 2017 after its major sponsor withdrew funding.

In an interview on the KK podcast, Edoho said the sponsor had been hit with a hefty fine by the federal government and could no longer afford to support the programme.

Edoho added that when new sponsors later showed interest in a revival, he sought an executive producer role, believing his years of service deserved greater recognition.

According to him, negotiations broke down, and after a newspaper falsely reported that he had been dropped, he felt his contributions were unappreciated and chose to leave.

“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? came to an end when our sponsor withdrew after supporting the show for a decade. I think the federal government fined them. I believe it was a punitive measure over a corporate issue that occurred,” he said.

“I can’t go into details, but that affected the sponsorship of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? They told us, ‘Guys, we can’t continue because we have to pay an enormous amount of money to the federal government’. So, the show stopped.

“I entered into negotiations because we heard other sponsors were interested, and I wanted to become an executive producer. I wanted to have a stake in the show because I felt I had built myself up to the point where I had become an asset to it.

“However, we had differences during the negotiations. Then a newspaper reported that I had been dropped from the show because, when it was relaunched under a new sponsor, I wasn’t part of it. Naturally, people drew that conclusion.

“The newspaper announced that I had been dropped, which wasn’t true at the time. I released a statement explaining my position. In the end, I felt I had been thrown under the bus after all the years I had invested in the show, so I walked away.”

Edoho hosted WWTBAM from its inception on October 8, 2004, until September 2, 2017.

He left the show following a breakdown in a contract negotiation that would have seen him rise to the position of executive producer of the show.

But in 2022, organisers of the game show announced that Edoho would rehash his role as the anchor of the rebooted programme.

Before he was recalled to anchor the show, there were rumours that he was sacked for undisclosed reasons.

The TV presenter, however, dismissed the rumours, stating that he was never sacked.

Source: The Cable

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