It's Academic
It's Academic programs have notably aired on NBC-owned WRC-TV (and, as of October 29, 2022, exclusively on PBS member station WETA-TV) in Washington, D.C., NBC affiliate WVIR-TV in Charlottesville, Virginia, and CBS-owned WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland.
[needs update] The Washington, D.C. version of the show has been on the air since October 7, 1961, and is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the longest-running quiz program in TV history.
Hillary Howard, formerly a news anchor for Washington radio station WTOP-FM, took over as host subsequent to McGarry's official retirement in November 2011.
[2] The program is sponsored by philanthropist investor David Rubenstein and by the McLean, Virginia-based Mitre Corporation.
After the host has announced the teams' final scores, the studio audience is invited down from the stands to join the contestants on camera during the closing credit sequence.
In the Washington version from about 1976 to June 2017, the song heard under the credit roll (if there are no musicians from any of the competing schools) was "T.L.C.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C., later episodes in the 2019–2020 season were played in a remote format, with teams in separate locations, and without buzzers.
In other cases, all the answers in the category round shared an announced characteristic in common (e.g., geographical locations whose names begin and end with "A"[5]).
[9] Beginning in 2008, telecasts on the WRC-TV version have included "guest questions" from notable persons in government, business, sports, and the arts.
WNBC in New York aired a local edition of It's Academic from September 15, 1963[12] through July 1, 1972,[13] hosted most of the time by Art James, with Lee Leonard filling in for a year.
The Cincinnati hosts included Dave Manning, Lloyd Baldwin, Steve Douglas and Claire Slemmer.
Initially hosted by National Football League Hall of Fame radio broadcaster of the Buffalo Bills, Van Miller, the first season concluded on April 20, 1968.
The show returned to the area starting January 12, 2013 and was hosted by O'Neill and produced by Full Circle Studios for broadcast on WGRZ.
After a 35 consecutive year run and a brief hiatus, Academic Challenge returned to the WEWS airwaves in 2003 with host Adam Shapiro.
[16] A similar show predating It's Academic ran in the United Kingdom for many years featuring teams from British secondary schools.
Another similar British quiz show featuring competition by post-secondary teams is University Challenge, which has been on air since 1962, making it only slightly younger than It's Academic.
[17] Notable people who have competed on It's Academic include: Other notable participants: In 1979, a charity special was held between a team of three Democratic senators (Patrick Moynihan, Lloyd Bentsen, and Alan Cranston), three Republican senators (Lowell Weicker, John Danforth, and John Heinz), and three members of the press (Jessica Savitch, Art Buchwald, and David Broder).
