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Viewers complain about Today show contest

Viewers unhappy with a Million Dollar Call competition in which just $10,000 was won.

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Today show viewers took to social media to complain about a Million Dollar Call competition in which just $10,000 was won.

Some viewers got worked up over a wheel which had just 1 of 20 chances to spin $1m, others were angry about being charged for calls after the contest had closed, and even more complained their state was never called by the Nine show (especially those outside AEDT).

Contest participants must answer their phone within three rings answering, ‘I wake up with Today‘ and give the code words ‘Australia’s number one breakfast burrito,’ before spinning the wheel.

On Facebook, viewers gave Nine a serve:

Thomas Lysa: What a load of nonsense was this morning ..you were never going to give away that amount of money …just a ratings grab …what was John Burgess there for ?

Jean Dotta: As I have commented a couple of times I would like to see how it is drawn.

Sarah Truong: I’m never entering again I waited and someone already won but they kept saying to enter and they would call.

Lynn Gillespie: Costs a fortune to enter all the time.

Amanda Haris: Over it

Kell Bell: Epic fail – 3 rings pffft

Gail Fairweather: What a huge let down TODAY, so much for all the hype over the ‘Million Dollar Giveaway’, getting people to call each and every day, having them watch every day for the code word, and then come time for the wheel to be spun the guy ends up with $10K, it`s no different to what you giveaway on a normal weekday, very disappointed with the network and also the show, what a big con.

Angela Troath: It’s amazing how there is NO comment from Today or 9 now ,waiting for the backlash !!!

A Channel Nine spokesperson told Daily Mail “The competition closed at 6.00am. At no point after 6.00am did any of the TODAY Show hosts call out for viewers to continue to enter the competition,’ the spokesperson said.

“The competition terms, including the competition period and time and date the competition closes, have been made clear throughout the competition, including on the competition website.

“If people have concerns or disputes about premium call charges, we would encourage them to contact their individual telco service provider.”

14 Responses

  1. I happened to see this and the very first call went to Alice Springs, and they did mention that if the call was to a western state, they only needed to give 4 codewords.

  4. People only hear or see what they want to hear/see. It’s greed. Just about everyday people complain on Facebook about which states both Today and Sunrise phone. The simple answer is ‘don’t enter and save your money’ but I think they prefer to whinge.

    1. The person I know who entered said they called 6 or so people and all those people were from NSW or QLD. This persons general complaint with today show competitions is that they really only call NSW or QLD.

    2. Calling it greed is unfair. When viewers enter a competition they want to know they have an equal chance of winning and when something seems suss they will call you out on it. I don’t watch the today show and don’t care about their competition but the person I know who does tells me on a regular basis that they tend to call QLD and NSW the most. Considering that today show does well in VIC according to ratings (haven’t looked lately at the ratings but that’s the impression I have) it makes you wonder why certain states are being ignored?

  6. “Some viewers got worked up over a wheel which had just 1 of 20 chances to spin $1m.” Good thing they weren’t around in 1975. Graham Kennedy had a wheel which had a one in 50 chance of winning a car.

  7. Not surprised. 9 does this all the time. Remember all those people Eddies given a million to on Hot Seat? Me neither. Most days its a 1 in 6 chance of winning $1000

    1. I think the structure of Hot Seat is totally dishonest, with contestants supposedly playing for $20,000, $30,000 and so on but they don’t win the previous amount they answered correctly for.

  8. Gee, people will complain about anything these days. It’s your choice to enter the competition, it’s your choice to wait patiently by the phone in case it does ring. Say those magic words and you have a 1 in 20 chance of winning the million. How difficult was this for the viewer to understand? And no, I did not enter the competition.

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