Tennessee Knowledge Bowl

WREG News Channel Three's Knowledge Bowl is a high school televised quiz competition held each year by WREG-TV in the Memphis and greater Mid-South region. It has taken place annually for over 31 years, though production was halted on the 2020-2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personnel

Kyle Rote Jr. was the host for many years in the late 90s and early 00s. Later, Chief Meteorologist Jim Jaggers took over and is currently the host. The judge for possibly the entire course of the show has been (now-retired) Dean Richard Ranta of the University of Memphis.

Game Format

The original format featured two rounds of 7 minutes each followed by a 4-minute all-current-events "Lightning Round." The Lightning Round is known for asking about stories featured on WREG and for having tiebreakers such as "what was the average temperature in Memphis last month." Recently, the format was modified to include a 2-minute "Captain's Showdown" segment that takes place before the Lightning Round. It was again modified to add "Extra Credit" questions worth 50 points as well as themed team bonus rounds.

A correct answer in the first two rounds earns a team 10 points and a team bonus question that is worth 20 points. Lightning Round questions are 10 points each.

Competition Format

32 teams from across the Mid-South compete in the tournament in single-elimination format each year. Only the semifinalists and finalists from previous years are guaranteed a spot in the next year's tournament. Teams from the WREG viewing area may apply for entry via a lottery, which is held at the year-end banquet each year and determines the draw as well as which schools are selected each year. Without any seeding, some first-round matches end up featuring some of the best teams, which can lead to frustration given the high financial stakes for advancing later in the tournament. Matches are filmed throughout the year at WREG's studios.

Questions

The non-current events questions are from Academic Hallmarks and have the same bad quizbowl issues that most other Knowledge Bowl-branded formats have with swerves, speed-checks, and hoses as well as a focus on the pet topics of the Academic Hallmarks writer and near-verbatim repeats year after year. Occasionally, there have been monitor-based questions requiring players to respond to math questions or identify various people, places, and things. The current events questions appear to be written by various personnel involved with the program, but also display many of the same issues as the non-current event questions.

Prizes

Significant savings bonds and college scholarships are offered through a number of corporate and public sponsorships. All members of the winning team receive $7,500 each while the runners-up receive $3,500, with lesser prizes offered each round.

Impact

Due to its longevity, large prize money amounts, and the high profile of its recent hosts, Knowledge Bowl has dominated the attention of most high schools in the Mid-South area compared to other quizbowl events. Almost all tournaments in the Memphis area use Academic Hallmarks questions in an effort to imitate the TV show and prepare for it, leading to a dearth of pyramidal quizbowl in the area.

Controversy

In 2017, the final match between Lausanne and MUS was filmed, but never aired after a reporter noticed that questions used during the semi-final matches had been re-used in the finals. Both teams were awarded a split of the prize money.

Winners

The 2015-2016 champions were Lausanne Collegiate. White Station was the 2013-2014 championship team and has won a number of other titles in the past (including 2003, 2005, and 2006).

Official Website

The Official WREG Knowledge Bowl website