Hometown High-Q

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Hometown High-Q is a high school quiz bowl game show that tapes and broadcasts on KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is sponsored by Westfield Insurance (and previously by Giant Eagle) and has been hosted by KDKA news anchor Ken Rice since its inception in 2000.

Hometown High-Q is based on the It's Academic format. Three teams of three field academically-based questions for points, and possibly advancement in a season-long tournament. The actual game format is as follows:

Each team is spotted 100 points at the start of the game.

Round 1 ("Start Smart"): Host Rice asks 10 questions, each with a common theme. Only the first team to buzz in is allowed to attempt an answer. A correct answer earns the team 10 points, whereas a wrong answer subtracts 10 points from the team's total.

Round 2 ("Database"): Host Rice chats with each team before asking them their own set of 6 questions. Each correct answer is worth 20 points; there is no penalty for a wrong answer in this round. A team that sweeps all 6 questions will have earned a total of 120 points.

Round 3 ("Pix File"): This round plays similarly to the Start Smart round, but each of the 10 questions has a related picture shown on the teams' monitors. The first team to buzz in answers for +/- 10 points. Past players have noted that the pictures in this game show often have very little if any relevance to the question that follows.

Round 4 ("Advantage Round"): From the start of the show, host Rice has three envelopes on his podium. Those envelopes come into play here, as each team picks a packet of 8 questions for another team. Generally, the yellow team picks for the green team, then the red team picks for the yellow team, then the red team takes whatever is left. (Starting in the 2005-06 season, the yellow team was placed on the far left, and green in the middle, so that green now picks for yellow, and red for green.) One question of the eight is always a visual triple-choice science question, and another (usually the seventh) is always a visual math question. Each question is worth 20 points, and a bonus of 25 points kicks in in the event of a perfect round; a team that does get all 8 will add 185 points to their score.

Round 5 ("Quicktime"): This is the show's speed round. As in the Start Smart and Pix File rounds, host Rice asks questions to all three teams on the buzzers; only the first team in attempts the question. Usually, questions are worth +/- 20 points, but some questions (usually two or three) have a visual reference; these are worth +/- 30. The length of the round varies wildly from show to show; the round will usually range between 90 seconds and 4 minutes, depending on the show's pacing; on one occasion, Quicktime lasted only about 60 seconds. Regardless, the contestants are not told the length of the round; in fact, the on-screen timer only counts the last 1 to 2 minutes, and the players' only indication of the remaining time is when host Rice gives a warning at 30 seconds to go. When the final bell sounds, the current question is the last one, then the game is over, and the highest scoring team wins.

In earlier seasons, the winning teams received "Apples for the Students Points," a special currency redeemable through Giant Eagle for computers and other equipment for the team's school. Even through today, all players receive a Hometown High-Q T-shirt and a certificate. Formerly, the players also won a $10 Iggle Video gift card, however, this has been discontinued.

Thanks to increased sponsorship from Westfield Insurance, the prize money was substantially increased during the 2005-2006 season. The championship school currently receives ten thousand dollars while both runners-up receive five thousand dollars. All teams that make it to the semi-finals are given two thousand dollars.

An alternate version of Hometown High Q, which began in summer 2005 is the McDonalds Steelers Trivia Challenge, a nighttime series hosted by KDKA sports anchor Bob Pompeani. The gameplay is essentially the same, except that first-round questions are worth + / - 20 points, the fourth round has only 5 questions per team with no opportunity to pick the opposing teams' questions, and the final round has no visual questions. Furthermore, the questions are all related to the Steelers, the rounds have been renamed to "Opening Drive," "Stat Pak," "Quick Snap," "McDonald's Extra Value Round," and "No Huddle Offense" (respectively), and the game is contested by adult teams. Changes to the 2006 season rules include increasing the number of questions in the "McDonald's Extra Value Round" to 8.

Starting in the 2005-2006 season, Hometown High-Q was given a new set. This set is the same as the 5PM news set, but without the desk, and different background graphic panels. The show in previous years was recorded in KDKA's Studio B. However, when the station suffered flooding in 2005, a new set for news updates and WPCW-TV's Subway Nightly Sports Call was constructed in Studio B due to the ongoing reconstruction of KDKA's basement floor. This necessitated moving the recording of the show to Studio A.

From 2003-2006, the show aired twice on Saturday. This means a new episode at 11:00am, reruns from the past season at 11:30am. As of 2006, the show became an hour-long format, with six teams compete a week. Three teams compete in game one, the other three participate in game two.