The Chase Australia

The Chase Australia
Genre Game show
Created by Danny Carvalho
Pete Faherty
Chris Gepp
Elliot Johnson
Matt Pritchard
Amanda Wilson
Directed by Ian Hamilton
Stuart McDonald
Creative director(s) Michael Kelpie
Presented by Andrew O'Keefe
Starring Matt Parkinson
Brydon Coverdale
Anne Hegerty
Issa Schultz
Mark Labbett (2016–)
Theme music composer Paul Farrer
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2[1]
No. of episodes 130[1]
Production
Executive producer(s) Sue Allison
Martin Scott
Producer(s) Jennifer Stephenson
David Hall
Location(s) Melbourne, Victoria
Running time 60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company(s) ITV Studios
Distributor ITV Studios
Release
Original network Seven Network
Picture format 576i (SDTV)
Original release 14 September 2015 (2015-09-14) – present
Chronology
Related shows The Chase (UK)
The Chase (U.S.)
External links
Website

The Chase Australia is an Australian television quiz show based on the British program of the same name. It is broadcast on the Seven Network and hosted by Andrew O'Keefe.[2][3] Four contestants play against an opponent, known as the "chaser", who plays for the bank.[4] There are five chasers on the show; they are Matt Parkinson, Brydon Coverdale, Anne Hegerty, Issa Schultz and Mark Labbett.[5][6][7] The show premiered on 14 September 2015.[8][9]

Background

In mid-2014 it was reported that the Seven Network had considered producing a local version of The Chase on the back of good ratings for the British version of the show which has been airing in the 3:00 pm timeslot since August 2013. A pilot episode on the UK set was made, but ultimately it was decided not to proceed.[10]

However, interest in a local version was renewed in May 2015 and in July the Seven Network commissioned the show to eventually replace Deal or No Deal and Million Dollar Minute in the 5:00 pm timeslot in a bid to revive ratings for its struggling 6:00 pm nightly news.[11][12][13][14]

Gameplay

Cash Builder and Head-to-Head rounds

Each contestant comes up one at a time and is given one minute to answer as many questions as possible with each correct answer worth $2,000.[15] This element is known as the "cash builder". After the minute is up, the money earned from the cash builder is placed three steps down on a seven-step money board. The contestant may remain at this step and play for the money in their bank. However, the contestant may also be placed one step lower down the board for a lesser award, or one step further up the board for a greater award, with each award's value being set by the chaser.

If the contestant elects to play for the greater reward, the chaser starts two steps behind and the contestant must answer six questions correctly to reach home. If the contestant elects to remain at the standard starting position, the chaser is three steps behind and the contestant must answer five questions correctly to reach home. However, if the contestant elects to play for the smaller reward, the chaser is four steps behind and the contestant must answer four questions correctly to reach home.

Once the contestant nominates their starting position, questions must then be answered correctly in order to reach the bottom of the board and bank their money. Both the contestant and the chaser are given the same multiple-choice question with three possible answers. Each must then secretly press one of the three buttons on their keypad to lock in their answer. When one person locks in their answer, the other is given five seconds to lock in, or else be locked out. For every correct response, the contestant will move one step towards the bank. Additionally, the chaser also moves one step down the board for each correct answer. No movement is made (either by the contestant or the chaser) if each give an incorrect answer. The chaser's job is to catch up to the contestant and eliminate him or her from the game by capitalizing on the mistakes the contestant makes before he or she can bank their money. If this happens, the contestant is out of the game and no money is added to the team's total. However, if the contestant successfully banks his or her money, this is put into the team's prize pot which will be contested for in the final round. In the case the contestant chose to play for a negative amount and wins his or her Head-to-Head round, the contestant remains in the game but the team's total pot is reduced by the negative value. This is repeated for all four contestants.

The contestants who successfully outrun the chaser proceed to the Final Chase. If all four contestants are caught by the chaser, the chaser offers a certain amount of money and the team nominates one contestant to proceed to the Final Chase.

Final Chase round

In the final round, called the "Final Chase", the remaining contestants have two minutes to answer as many questions as possible. During the commercial break, the contestants choose one of two question sets, A or B, with the other set being put aside for the chaser. Also, the contestants are given a head start of one space per contestant participating in the round. The contestants must press their own buzzer to answer a question and only the one who pressed their buzzer first can respond; if any other contestant responds the question is treated as an incorrect answer, regardless of whether it was answered correctly or not. The buzzer is not used if only one contestant is in the Final Chase. Every correct answer moves the contestants ahead one space.

After the two minutes are up (and following a short news update) the chaser is also given two minutes of quick-fire questions to attempt to catch the team. If the chaser gets a question wrong or passes, the clock is briefly stopped and the question is thrown over to the contestants; if a correct answer is given, the chaser is pushed back one space. If the contestants answer the chaser's question correctly whilst the chaser is at the starting line, an additional space is added to the requirement for the chaser. If the chaser succeeds in catching the contestants before the clock runs out, the contestants lose the prize pot and leave with nothing. If the contestants are not caught by the chaser, the prize pot is split equally between those contestants participating in the Final Chase. If there is only one winning contestant remaining, the contestant wins his or head to head round amount.

Rule variations

On 8 October 2015, an episode aired during Channel Seven's Sunrise. In this episode, one person would play in the Cash Builder round, and the next person would play for the money earned in the individual chase. $1,000 instead of $2,000 was awarded for each correct answer in the Cash Builder.

On 3 and 5 of November 2015, two half-hour episodes aired to fit in with Channel Seven's coverage of the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival. These two episodes were only broadcast in Victoria and New South Wales. This format involved two contestants instead of four. Each contestant would play the Cash Builder round, and the contestant that earned the highest amount of money would play for the combined total of the two contestants in the individual chase. The Final Chase was played as per usual.

Chasers

Ratings

Since debuting in September 2015, The Chase Australia has generally performed well in the ratings, often beating the second half of the Nine Network's Afternoon News and Millionaire Hot Seat, which follows immediately after, and Network Ten's Ten Eyewitness News, in the important 5:00 to 6:00 pm timeslot.[19] The debut episode drew 520,000 for its first half-hour, and 720,000 for its second half-hour which went up against Millionaire Hot Seat.[20][21] This has resulted in a minor resurgence in ratings for Seven News, which continues to trail Nine News on the eastern seaboard, but still leads in the Adelaide and Perth markets.[22]

Transmissions

The Chase Australia airs at 5:00 pm on weeknights. Additionally, in New Zealand, episodes of The Chase Australia air twice weekly—on Monday and Tuesday nights at 7:00 pm—on TV One.[23][24] On 14 March 2016, The Chase Australia began airing on UK TV channel Challenge, also available in Ireland.[25][26]

Merchandise

An iOS and Android version of the game has been released, developed by ITV Studios Ltd. The app features all five chasers and can be played by up to four people, as in the actual show. There is one significant difference between the show and the app; only three choices are presented for questions in the Cash Builder and Final Chase rounds, and no Final Chase is played if all the players are caught in their individual chases.[27][28]

A board game has also been released.[29]

References

  1. 1 2 "ITV Studios – The Chase Australia". ITV Studios. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Knox, David (18 July 2015). "Media gets on board with AOK to host The Chase". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Why Andrew O'Keefe almost walked away from Seven's The Chase Australia". Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Chase – Be on TV". ITV. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 Byrnes, Holly (29 November 2015). "The Chase Australia’s newest UK recruit Mark Labbett is already doing a number on rivals at Nine". The Sunday Telegraph (Australia). Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Knox, David (6 August 2015). "The Chase Australia: promo". TV Tonight. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Chase Australia". Seven Network. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "The biggest TV day of the year is coming!". Seven Network. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "The Chase Australia – Weekdays 5pm – Seven West Media" (PDF). Seven Network. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Knox, David (18 June 2014). "Seven decides against local version of The Chase". TV Tonight. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Seven in The Chase for new game show". TV Tonight.
  12. ↑ Knox, David (3 July 2015). "The Chase tipped for 5pm slot". TV Tonight. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Sharp, Annette (18 July 2015). "Thrill of Chase as Andrew O’Keefe lands role". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Channel 7 shelves next series of House Rules and replaces Million Dollar Minute in major revamp". News.com.au. 30 August 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  15. ↑ "Who is this scary looking woman and what is Channel Seven’s The Chase Australia". News.com.au. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Seven previews The Chase". Mediaweek. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "The Chase – Meet the Chasers". Bradley Walsh. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "World Quizzing Championships Results". International Quizzing Association. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  19. ↑ Vickery, Colin (19 February 2016). "Afternoon TV quiz shows in a renewed battle with advertising implications for the 6pm News". news.com.au. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  20. ↑ "The Chase outruns Hot Seat in TV ratings". AAP. Daily Mail Australia. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Molloy, Shannon (27 September 2015). "Andrew O'Keefe is game show king with the early ratings success of The Chase on Channel Seven". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  22. ↑ Knox, David (13 November 2015). "The Chase lifts Seven News". TV Tonight. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  23. ↑ Dale, David (15 December 2015). "The Chase Australia's Issa Schultz reveals key to the show's success". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  24. ↑ Butterworth, Monique (11 December 2015). "UK quiz show The Chase heads down under". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  25. ↑ "Challenge TV on Twitter". Twitter.
  26. ↑ "The Chase - Challenge". Challenge. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  27. ↑ "The Chase Australia on the App Store". ITV Studios Ltd. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  28. ↑ "The Chase Australia - Android Apps". Google Play. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  29. ↑ "The Chase Family Board Game". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
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