Uutisvuoto is the Finnish version of the popular British television quiz show Have I Got News For You. Broadcast on Saturday nights on YLE TV1 since 1998, the show receives very high viewing figures. Uutisvuoto mainly follows the same format as Have I Got News For You. The guests are usually celebrities, and frequently politicians. In the last two presidential elections, both of the second-round candidates appeared as guests: to-be-president Tarja Halonen and Esko Aho in 2000, and president Halonen and Sauli Niinistö in 2006. To date, winning the show has correlated with winning the election contest itself. In 2006 the "presidential show" broke all viewing records when it was watched by 1.4 million viewers. The show is so popular in Finland that it was even parodied in the Aku Ankka comic book as Uutiskuono. "Haluatteko lukea hyvän vitsin jonka kuulin äsken Yleisradion kahvilassa?" is Peter Nyman's Uutisvuoto joke book. The book's name is a reference to Nyman's way of telling jokes. He opens with the book's name, then, ignoring all answers, continues: "Ei se mitään, kerron sen silti."
Stan Saanila
