In Singapore, local Tamil TV channel Vasantham has introduced a current affairs and trivia quiz show for family entertainment called Bus Payanam, which uses Option Technologies’ interactive game technology. By using OTI’s Group Competition Module, Bus Payanam is able to cater to a younger crowd by using interactivity as well as the chance to win money. Since its first airing on Vasantham, Bus Payanam has already become a must-watch family show in Indian homes on Sundays at 7pm in Singapore. Quiz competitors must be highly knowledgeable in regards to Singapore trivia as well as have lightning-fast reflexes to use OTI’s OptionFinder G3 wireless keypads in order to stay in the game.
To start, there are ten contestants that compete in up to four rounds, each receiving a credit of $350 on their E Z-Link cards by the program sponsors for upon boarding the “bus” for Round One. This credit on the E Z-Link cards is called a “top-up” in the game. Instead of eliminating contestants after the first round, Vishnu, the game show host, provides interesting information for the passengers to add to their own personal knowledge. During elimination, which begins after the second round, the passengers get off at the “bus stop” with the dollar amount that they were able to attain during their participation as a prize. Dollar amounts are determined by the number of answers entered correctly and incorrectly. For example, for every wrong answer or unanswered question within the 10 second time limit, $50 is subtracted from their current top-up total. If answered correctly, they get to keep the $50 in their top-up.
The goal of the game is to answer as many questions correct as possible for the chance to become “Passenger #1” at the end of the show and win $1000 on top of the contestant’s top-up balance. In order to become “Passenger #1”, passengers must make it to the fourth round and answer questions quickly and correctly to attain the highest dollar amount in their top-up. Once this is achieved, the final contestant will answer a single question and if correct, will win an additional bonus of $1000.
The first round is called “Right! Right!” and consists of seven questions with ten seconds allotted for each answer. Using OptionFinder G3 keypads, passengers can change their mind for their answer during the 10 seconds, but the last answer entered is the only one that is counted. The second round consists of six questions and is titled “The Fastest Finger Wins” and gives passengers an extra $300 prize in their top up. For this round, two or more passengers with the same top-up dollar amount will be ranked by the OptionPower software by who answered the fastest. This also serves as a tie breaker in case two contestants are tied for fifth place in which case the one with the slower time must get off the bus. At the end of round two, five passengers are eliminated.
Starting in round three, passengers are given an extra $250 in their top-up total and have to answer five questions. Two of these passengers are eliminated at the end of the round. For the fourth and final round called “Shaky or Steady”, passengers are given an extra $150 in their top-up total and have to answer four questions. The passenger with the largest amount in their top-up total at the end of the round is “Passenger #1”, requiring the two other finalists get off the bus. In order to win the $1000 bonus prize, the Passenger #1 must answer the final question correctly. They are given ten seconds to answer and confirm the answer as their final decision.
Option Technologies’ Group Competition Module and OptionFinder G3 wireless keypad services are supported by Mr. Lim Hong Tan, OTI’s distributor in Singapore. The software recognizes the wireless keypad responses from multiple participants and rank orders a range of responses in a variety of formats. The moderator can reconfigure questions according to responses in real time as well as configure the responses to be anonymous or openly identified. The whole system is exceptionally versatile and ideal for research, analysis and market surveys calling for candid, honest responses from clients, in addition to game show usage.
Click Here to see video of the exciting debut program of Bus Payanam so that you can observe Option Technologies’ G3 keypads and Group Competition Module in action! If you are interested in what OTI’s interactive game technology can do for your organization, please Click Here or call us at 407-872-3333.
