who wants to be a millionaire phone a friend rules
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The show's original three lifelines are "50/50", in which the computer eliminates two of the incorrect answers; "Phone a Friend", in which the contestant makes a thirty-second call to one of a number of friends (who provide their phone numbers in advance) and reads them the question and answer choices, after which the friend provides input; and "Ask the Audience", in which audience members use touch pads to designate what they believe the correct answer to be, after which the percentage of the audience choosing each specific option is displayed to the contestant. In countries where the show is broadcast live, friends selected for Phone-a-Friend are alerted when their contestant begins to play the main game, and are told to keep the phone free and to wait for three rings before answering.[10] Phone-a-Friend was removed from the U.S. version beginning with the episode that aired on 11 January 2010, after it was determined that there was an increasing trend of contestants' friends using web search engines and other Internet resources to assist them, which unfairly privileged individuals who had computer access over those who did not, and that it was contrary to the original intent of the lifeline, by which friends were supposed to provide assistance based on what they already knew.[11] From 2004 to 2008, the U.S. version had a fourth lifeline called "Switch the Question",[4] earned upon answering question ten, in which the computer replaced, at the contestant's request, one question with another of the same monetary value; however, any lifelines used on the original question were not reinstated for the new question. Switch the Question returned as Cut the Question for a special week of shows with child contestants aired in 2014 (in the latter case, it could only be used on the first ten questions).