Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has had two hosts during its nearly one decade run. Regis Philbin hosted the primetime edition from 1999-2001. After Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’s ratings dropped and made it impossible for the show to remain in primetime; it was moved to daytime on a syndicated basis where this version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is hosted by former journalist Meredith Vieira. Philbin has had a long career in entertainment. Upon leaving the Navy he took on several low paying behind the scenes jobs in TV and radio. Eventually Philbin began hosting The Regis Philbin Show in the early 1960s. One of his first big breaks is when he began as Rat Packer Joey Bishop’s sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show. He also had a brief stint on The Tonight Show replacing Steve Allen, but Johnny Carson proved too popular. In June 1985 he began hosting Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and that show has become a fixture of daytime TV for the past 20+ years. After Kathie Lee left the show in 2000 it was renamed Live with Regis and Kelly, in honor of Kelly Ripa who was the new host. This show was most important in terms of Philbin becoming the host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as his presence on TV every day made him familiar with viewers which was important when considering a risky proposition such as running a game show at night. Coming from a completely different background as Regis Philbin, Meredith Vieira is an Emmy award winning journalist who has been a correspondent for 60 Minutes, The Today Show, and The View among others. She didn’t have any game show experience prior to taking over the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Nevertheless, she has proven successful and was hired because Americans had come to know her for her excellent news coverage and relatability to people.
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