Brian Damage
01-08-2009, 12:57 AM
Endemol’s “Deal or No Deal” is sparking a furor in Italy, where a feisty consumer advocacy group is claiming that the hugely popular local version of the gamer, “Affari tuoi,” is rigged and is taking legal action to have it pulled off the air.
According to consumer org Codacons, “Affari tuoi,” which regularly reaps boffo ratings on pubcaster RAI’s flagship RAI-1 station, is marred by irregularities both in the way the game is played and how contestants are chosen.
Codacons prexy Carlo Rienzi cites “contestants with numbers written on their hands and winners who are related to people who work for the show.”
The org’s website also mentions other “curious occurrences,” such as “too many contestants breaking out in tears” and “the strange odds that too often see the biggest prizes unveiled in the game’s final stages.”
Those prizes are worth up to e500,000 ($686,000) in Italy.
Endemol and RAI are countering that the game and the contestant selection criteria are fully legitimate and transparent, and are preparing to file a counter-suit.
“Affari tuoi” is hosted in Italy by comic thesp Max Giusti and has been among the country’s regular primetime ratings champs since it began airing on RAI in 2003.
The Endemol game is played in somewhat different versions to the U.S. show across six continents.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998099.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
According to consumer org Codacons, “Affari tuoi,” which regularly reaps boffo ratings on pubcaster RAI’s flagship RAI-1 station, is marred by irregularities both in the way the game is played and how contestants are chosen.
Codacons prexy Carlo Rienzi cites “contestants with numbers written on their hands and winners who are related to people who work for the show.”
The org’s website also mentions other “curious occurrences,” such as “too many contestants breaking out in tears” and “the strange odds that too often see the biggest prizes unveiled in the game’s final stages.”
Those prizes are worth up to e500,000 ($686,000) in Italy.
Endemol and RAI are countering that the game and the contestant selection criteria are fully legitimate and transparent, and are preparing to file a counter-suit.
“Affari tuoi” is hosted in Italy by comic thesp Max Giusti and has been among the country’s regular primetime ratings champs since it began airing on RAI in 2003.
The Endemol game is played in somewhat different versions to the U.S. show across six continents.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998099.html?categoryid=14&cs=1