3401 Macomb Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20016
The Guinness Book of World Records has recognized IT’S ACADEMIC as the longest-running TV quiz show in the world!
IT’S ACADEMIC, the nation’s foremost high school quiz program, is now in its 48th season on NBC4 in Washington. This is a unique achievement in the ephemeral world of television, where shows come and go---often not lasting a full 13 weeks.
In addition to its base in Washington, DC, IT’S ACADEMIC is produced with local students in Baltimore (WJZ) and Charlottesville (WVIR). It is also produced---under a different name---in Pittsburgh (KDKA), Cleveland (WEWS), Phoenix (Cox Cable.), San Diego (Cox Cable.), and Buffalo (WGRZ)
Each year hundreds of secondary schools---public, parochial, private, suburban, rural, and inner-city---participate on the program. The competition is intense. Schools come out in force to root for their teams---with banners, bands, cheerleaders, and fans who have their faces painted in school colors. The adulation normally reserved for athletic heroes is extended to the students who represent their schools on the program. (As a high school cheerleader, Sandra Bullock came to the NBC4 studio with the rest of her squad to root for her school’s IT'S ACADEMIC team.)
Over the years, the program has been on the air in many other major cities---including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Honolulu, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Norfolk and the entire state of Kentucky.
President Ronald Reagan praised IT’S ACADEMIC in a special presentation, broadcast on the program’s 25th anniversary. The program’s alumni include both New York Senators—Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton; Washington Post Chairman, Donald Graham, political commentator George Stephanopoulos, astronaut Timothy Creamer, as well as others who have won an Oscar, a Tony, and the Pulitzer Prize.
Altman Productions has also produced special IT’S ACADEMIC programs at the State Department, where some of the questions were asked by then Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Because of the popularity of IT’S ACADEMIC, the excitement of academic competition spreads far beyond the studio. School systems in the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas have made IT’S ACADEMIC CLUBS official extracurricular activities. Almost every weekend, various high schools stage their own tournaments, inviting teams from all over the area.
IT'S ACADEMIC has won a number of state and national awards, and is endorsed by the National Association of School Boards.
