NTV's 'Millionaire' gamer jumps to ORT
Charismatic host won't move with hit show
NTV confirmed that the ratings winner will move to ORT, where the first program is due to air Feb. 19.Charismatic host Dmitry Dibrov will not follow the program. Dibrov told local press in early February that he'd refused the invitation to move with the show: "To betray NTV at this time would be to betray more than just the channel," he said. "It would be to betray what I have been advocating over the last 10 years -- love and freedom."
Ways unclear
The position of the franchise's local rights holder, producer Ways Media, is unclear. A Ways Media rep told Daily Variety in late January that rumors of the show's move to ORT were just that, and that no changes were expected.
Dibrov said that problems of payment from NTV to the show's producer had been a factor in its move, adding that he in no way blamed Ways Media for the outcome.
An NTV rep described the move as a "normal phenomenon," in which one channel outbids another for popular product.
After its October 1999 launch, the show achieved ratings success within two months, when it overtook the longer-established "Pole Chudes" (Field of Wonders, the local "Wheel of Fortune" format) for the top spot in the gameshow category.
