WHIO-TV High-Q

High-Q was a local television program hosted on WHIO-TV Channel 7 in the Dayton, Ohio media market from 1994 to 2011. The show aired for the past on Channel 7 at 8:30 am on Sunday mornings. The show was hosted by WHIO Sports Anchor Mike Hartsock for the past several years, with weatherman Rich Wirdzig filling in as needed. The show was hosted for many years by News Anchor Ken Jefferson.

Format

The High-Q program consists of a four-quarters format, which many competitors believe keeps matches artificially close due to the nature of the third round.

Round One: 10 point toss-ups, no negs.

Round Two: One-on-one round. Teams compete in a 1-on-1 toss-up against a member of the opposing team (students are pre-numbered 1 through 4). The team answering the toss-up correctly earns up to 3 bonus questions worth up to 30 points (usually on a 5-10-15 scale).

Round Three: Rapid Fire Round. Teams get 1 minute to answer as many 10 point questions as they can. Any missed or passed questions go to the other team to steal. The team trailing in the match gets to choose the first category. This round generally consists of 1 really easy category (such as "given an English word, give its Spanish equivalent") and several ambiguous or long categories (such as "identify the movie based upon a description"). In many cases, the first team to select hears all 15 questions, while the second team, which is exposed to longer questions, often only hears 9-11 questions- giving the trailing team a substantial advantage.

Round Four: 20 point toss-ups, no negs.

Entry

The High-Q field is a single elimination, 36 team bracket. The top two teams from the previous season are guaranteed spots in the field. All other spots are random draw from teams that express an interest in playing. (Annually around 60 schools).

Champions

Four schools are tied with three High-Q championships apiece, including Beavercreek, Carroll, Northmont and Tippecanoe.

1993-94: Northmont High School

1994-95: Miamisburg High School

1995-96: Miami Valley School

1996-97: Tippecanoe High School

1997-98: Northmont High School (2nd title)

1998-99: Beavercreek High School

1999-2000: Celina High School

2000-01: Beavercreek High School (2nd title)

2001-02: Beavercreek High School (3rd title)

2002-03: Russia High School

2003-04: Carroll High School

2004-05: Tippecanoe High School (2nd title)

2005-06: Miami Valley School (2nd title)

2006-07: Tippecanoe High School (3rd title)

2007-08: Carroll High School (2nd title)

2008-09: Carroll High School (3rd title)

2009-10: Northmont High School (3rd title)

2010-11: Bishop Fenwick High School

Future

It was announced on May 19th that the 2010-2011 season of High-Q will be the last, as the show was cancelled by WHIO-TV. As of 2011, David Jones and Joe Czupryn from Northmont High School were working with another local station to develop an alternate televised quiz bowl program to take its place.