Beat the Chasers: winning percentage?

[JasonA1]

I finally caught glimpses of this show, even though it premiered 3 years ago. About how often do the contestants win? I guess it worked out in the show's favor to save equal clocks on both sides for the "Super Offer," but in the games I've seen thus far, I'm shocked -- even as a primetime show -- they want to offer such a big time advantage to the contestants, even when they go for higher stakes.

-Jason

[Jeremy Nelson]

I'm shocked -- even as a primetime show -- they want to offer such a big time advantage to the contestants, even when they go for higher stakes.

-Jason

Even as one amazing quizzer, you're still going up against five legit Top 50 world quizzers. I'd have to imagine they've calculated a civilian get rate versus the Chasers' get rate in coming up with those times.

[tvmitch]

The show is one of my favorites, and I've seen all the episodes. I can't pinpoint for sure, but I'd say there was an average of 1 winner per show, with 2 at the most. I don't recall seeing three winners in one show but it may have happened.

I believe they record all the rounds and then stack them after taping; each series has gone out on a high note with a top-level game/win. So there is a bit of artificial producing there in that they are spreading out the wins over the week of episodes.

[Joe Mello]

I'm shocked -- even as a primetime show -- they want to offer such a big time advantage to the contestants, even when they go for higher stakes.

I think there are two things to keep in mind:

One is that, just like in the main show, each level translates effectively into "how many wrong answers do you want to afford giving?" Assuming around 6 seconds per question/answer combo, a 10-second cushion leaves maybe room for 2 wrong, but...

The other thing is that the contestant always goes first, so if both sides have the same clock and are perfect, the contestant will almost certainly lose, so for non-Super Offers there needs to be a little bit of a cushion for that, too.

[Brig Bother]

There was a bit of murmuring after series two when people were cottoning on to the idea that "good quizzer = rubbish offers" and they've tried to make it a bit more equitable since, so someone who gets more Cashbuilder questions right won't be offered less (in terms of money at least) than someone who only gets one or two correct.

The fun thing about the show is that it suggests that professional quizzers can be just as bad as playing as a team than members of the public under similar conditions.

[Kevin Prather]

The fun thing about the show is that it suggests that professional quizzers can be just as bad as playing as a team than members of the public under similar conditions.

I do have to admit that one of the highlights of the show is seeing the Chasers get mad at each other.