Bay Area Quiz Kids

Bay Area Quiz Kids was a televised quizbowl show that airs on Peninsula TV in the San Francisco Bay Area. It ended in 2015 after 15 seasons.

Season 15 game format

Each episode (except the championship) consists of two matches between two different pairs of teams.

The first round is the "Three-for-all". Teams are asked a ten-point tossup question. The first player to buzz must answer without conferring, but if a team misses a tossup, the other team may confer and answer. The team correctly answering the tossup then gets the chance to answer up to two related bonus questions. Answering one question correctly increases the score for the tossup-bonus cycle to 25; answering both bonus questions increases the score to 50. Failing to answer a bonus question correctly ends the cycle.

The second round is the Collaboration Round. Starting with the trailing team, each team selects a category from one of three options. The team is then asked seven directed questions, each worth at least 30 points. (If the trailing team trails by more than 210 points, the value of the Collaboration Round questions is increased by multiples of five such that a sweep of the Collaboration Round would give the trailing team the lead.) There is no bonus for sweeping the category. The game ends as soon as the leading team overtakes the trailing team or the trailing team cannot reach the score of the leading team.

The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament seeded based on the regular-season games (using win-loss record, total points, and a strength-of-schedule metric based on total points scored by a team's opponents).

Season 13 game format

Each episode consists of a single match between two teams.

The first round is the "Three-for-all" (see above), but with values of 5, 10, and 25.

The second round is the Collaboration Round (see above). Each question is worth 10 points. If a team answers all seven questions correctly, they receive a 30 point bonus.

The third round is another "Three-for-all", but the point values are increased: 10 points for a toss-up, increased to 25 for answering one bonus question correctly and to 50 for sweeping the set of questions.

The final round is the Countdown Round. It is a timed three-minute round consisting entirely of toss-ups worth 30 points. As before, the first player to buzz must answer without conferring, but a wrong answer allows the other team to confer and rebound.

Question providers

The 2006-07, 2007-08, 2011-12, and 2013-2014 seasons used NAQT questions. Other seasons have used different providers, including housewritten questions.

Recent developments

Season 11 (2010) saw a major overhaul of the set and format. The season 11 format originally consisted of the collaboration round first, followed by a lightning round of 10-point tossups, and an "X-treme Lightning Round" of 20-point tossups, with the value deducted for a wrong answer. Halfway through the season, the lightning round was replaced with the "Three-for-all", with point values of 10-20-40.

Season 12 (2010-11) saw the replacement of the "X-treme Lightning Round" with the Countdown Round.

Season 13 (2011-12) changed the format to the one described above.

Season 14 (2012-2013) saw a significant decline in quality. There are no credited writers, and all toss-up questions in the "Three-for-all" are multiple choice.

Season 15 (2013-2014) saw the changes from 2013 undone and changed the format.

External Links

A video of the 2015 season championship match