Winning Streak, though fun to watch, isn't that great a programme. Awful graphics not refreshed for HD, a mix of different cameras, some SD and some HD filming the whole thing (or SD stock footage being re-used because they couldn't be arsed filming new ones that would have taken literally seconds to do) rabbit-in-the-headlight contestants, hosts trying to get something from them which is like pulling teeth and, to top it all off, the show where one or more of the "losers" could actually go home with more money than the winner. It's an institution at this point and for all its faults, I still watch it when I get the chance!
It's funny how all 5 contestants take home lots of money for picking a few numbers. Even when someone wins 50k on one of the games they act like they won a few euro on a scratchcard. How can a show give away all that money each week?
It's funny how all 5 contestants take home lots of money for picking a few numbers. Even when someone wins 50k on one of the games they act like they won a few euro on a scratchcard. How can a show give away all that money each week?
The Irish Lottery is played by thousands of Irish people each week. Unlike the UK lottery, where now in 2018 the whole business is in decline, the Irish have had their lottery for that bit longer than the British, and show feel more attached to it and play regular, so the Irish lottery rakes in a lot of money which they can use on Winning Streak. Remember there is thousands of scratchcards on sale too which rakes in a lot of money for them. That is how they can fund Winning Streak each week, which normally runs around 38-40 weeks a year.
Winning Streak, though fun to watch, isn't that great a programme. Awful graphics not refreshed for HD, a mix of different cameras, some SD and some HD filming the whole thing (or SD stock footage being re-used because they couldn't be arsed filming new ones that would have taken literally seconds to do) rabbit-in-the-headlight contestants, hosts trying to get something from them which is like pulling teeth and, to top it all off, the show where one or more of the "losers" could actually go home with more money than the winner. It's an institution at this point and for all its faults, I still watch it when I get the chance!
Winning Streak is filmed in Studio 1 at RTE, what used to be RTE's largest studio up until the early 1980s at just over 4,000 Sq Ft, so the whole production is crushed into a very small studio. I think Studio 1 is in HD, am sure they upgraded it at some point, but like everything at RTE, it is run on a shoestring budget.
It's funny how all 5 contestants take home lots of money for picking a few numbers. Even when someone wins 50k on one of the games they act like they won a few euro on a scratchcard. How can a show give away all that money each week?
The Irish Lottery is played by thousands of Irish people each week. Unlike the UK lottery, where now in 2018 the whole business is in decline,
Whole other topic but whilst true the main Lotto draws have long been in decline I think up until last year overall the National Lottery saw growth year on year, but IIRC has seen less revenues than the year before in their latest reported results. Losing that BBC1 primetime window surely would be a factor in that - a 30 second update after the news just isn't the same exposure.
How can a show give away all that money each week?
A clue should be the full title of the show,
'The National Lottery Winning Streak' and the green dancing star lotto logo appearing in the centre of the wheel, entry on the show via a lottery operated scratchcard, presenters plugging the national lottery at regular intervals etc..
Clues about who is funding the prize budget are all around..
Awful graphics not refreshed for HD.. rabbit-in-the-headlight contestants, hosts trying to get something from them which is like pulling teeth..
*Nods furiously in agreement*
It's typically 'irish' and sometimes swerves dangerously into a real life Father Ted sketch. Sticking rigidly to this 'as live' feel hurts it. It's recorded around 4.30-5pm and apart from commercial breaks, I've never spotted an edit. With the painful stilted contestant/host dialogue, just start recording an hour earlier, and do a quick cut and stick job on tightening the whole production up. I guess EVS has arrived at RTE so shouldn't be that difficult to do. If it hasn't, get a lottery grant and buy one.
By the way, for those still bewildered by what we are talking about..
Winning Streak, though fun to watch, isn't that great a programme. Awful graphics not refreshed for HD, a mix of different cameras, some SD and some HD filming the whole thing (or SD stock footage being re-used because they couldn't be arsed filming new ones that would have taken literally seconds to do) rabbit-in-the-headlight contestants, hosts trying to get something from them which is like pulling teeth and, to top it all off, the show where one or more of the "losers" could actually go home with more money than the winner. It's an institution at this point and for all its faults, I still watch it when I get the chance!
Also, the current titles have been in use since 2008, and have only been updated when the hosts have changed.
And I wonder why the scratchcards use a different logo to the programme itself? I would have thought that basic marketing courses advised against having more than one logo for one thing...
It's funny how all 5 contestants take home lots of money for picking a few numbers. Even when someone wins 50k on one of the games they act like they won a few euro on a scratchcard. How can a show give away all that money each week?
It does feel, however, like the show has paid out *less* money on average in the last three years...
Before Premier Lotteries Ireland took over from An Post as the operator of the Irish National Lottery, the least that any WS contestant could win was €20,000 - I've seen quite a few contestants go home with less than that amount since. And I don't think the wheel has changed at all since the PLI takeover, either - precisely half of the 100 segments display prizes of €20k, €22k or €24k, and a further 28 segments display prizes of €25k or €30k. (Having a 1 in 100 chance of winning the €500k top prize is absolutely fine, and having a 1 in 10 chance of winning more than €50k is fair enough - but having less than a 1 in 4 chance of winning more than €30k does feel a bit stingy, IMO.)
And the total winnings on the 1000th episode last weekend were less than €150,000. I'm fairly sure that before the PLI takeover, it wasn't uncommon for an episode to give away over €200,000 - with almost all the others giving away at least €180,000.
If a contestant wins less than €20,000 then it gets rounded up so everyone goes home with a minimum of €20,000. On quite a few occasions a player that is a runner up has won in excess of €50,000 whilst the person who "won" only had around €20,000 and then won a further €20,000 on the wheel, so they went home with less than a runner up. How that seems fair to anyone is beyond me. The minimum for the wheel should be higher and they need to increase the amounts. Before they would have added an extra €100,000 segment every week until someone won it or the €500,000 now there's just one of each on the wheel. How stingy.
How the heck does that happen? You'd think the one who has the most winnings would be the one who progresses to the final? That's how shows like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy work.
You would think, but its a quirk of the show that it can happen, and it isn't technically a competition, it's all luck and chance so it might be something the contestants are told about before recording that they just have to accept. The final game to decide who goes through is complete chance and you have to hope your ball is picked often and you make the correct guesses every time to get 3 symbols first.
It would be tough to accept though if you "won" the show by going through to the big wheel with the bare minimum of €20,000 and won another €20,000 on it whilst someone else could have had an amazing night with around €40,000 cash, a holiday and a brand new €30,000 car!
It certainly seemed to me, before coming across this IT article, that the minimum prize had been reduced - especially when a contestant did finish with less than €20k, and Marty and Sinead would say e.g. "David's going back to Galway with €18,000" with no mention of it being rounded up.
On the other hand, when Derek Mooney was the host, he would always make it clear that the least any contestant would go home with was €10k/€20k (it was doubled around 2004). And when a contestant did finish with less than the minimum, he would duly tell him/her that it had been rounded up accordingly.
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On quite a few occasions a player that is a runner up has won in excess of €50,000 whilst the person who "won" only had around €20,000 and then won a further €20,000 on the wheel, so they went home with less than a runner up. How that seems fair to anyone is beyond me.
On the ill-fated Million Euro Challenge in 2015, an Irish-speaking couple from Connemara went through to the end game by virtue of winning the most money in the second game - despite one of the other two couples winning more money across the first two games.
And they didn't win a lot of money in the end game, either. Less than €10,000, in fact...
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The minimum for the wheel should be higher and they need to increase the amounts. Before they would have added an extra €100,000 segment every week until someone won it or the €500,000 now there's just one of each on the wheel. How stingy.
As I said, I don't think the wheel has changed at all since the PLI takeover.
As you say, in days gone by they added an extra €100k segment each week until it, the €250k or the €500k was won. At one point, the wheel also had special segments that, if landed on, allowed the contestant to spin again. And throughout 2014, there was a €1,000,000 segment - I assume the failure of this prize to be won, plus the PLI takeover, were factors in the creation of the aforementioned Million Euro Challenge.
When WS returned after the MEC had concluded its inglorious run, a golden wheel was added to the Wheel Reveal game - if found, the contestant who found it could spin the wheel along with whoever revealed their three regular wheels first. Didn't last long, though...