Battle of the Brains is a quizbowl show in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas of Virginia. It currently airs on WTVR in the Richmond area, and WAVY in Hampton Roads. The current show began in Richmond in 1985, and it originally aired on a local PBS member station until it was cancelled by the station. Its 2002–2003 season was aired on a public access station, before the Richmond CBS affiliate added the show, where it currently airs on Saturday mornings at 10:00 A.M. The Hampton Roads program began with the 2004-2005 season. It airs on WAVY at 10:00 as well. Since the early 1990s, the team to beat in the competition has been the Governor’s School in Richmond, and is currently the reigning champion in the Richmond program. Ocean Lakes High School of Virginia Beach is the reigning Hampton Roads area champion.
The show’s format consists of a toss-up round, a “21st Century Round” in which the host combines brief information about each player with a current events (since 2001) question, the category round, in which the players may confer together on an answer, and ends with a final tossup round. If the teams have a tie score at the end of the game, a sudden death question is used to determine the winner.
The show currently matches the Richmond-area winner against the Hampton Roads-area winner in a game called the “Champion’s Challenge”. Maggie Walker Governor's School is the reigning champion. Also, the 2003-2004 season marked the first time an All-Star game was held from the top individual players representing themselves. The first All-Star game featured eight players from seven different schools, while the second game had eight from six schools.
The Richmond show is hosted by WTVR's Cheryl Miller and the Hampton Roads show is hosted by WAVY's David Nelson.
Champions:
Richmond-area champions
1985- St. Christopher's School
1986- Stafford High School
1987- Thomas Dale High School
1988- Meadowbrook High School
1989- Douglas S. Freeman High School
1990- Collegiate School
1991- Collegiate School
1992- Douglas Freeman High School
1993- Governor's School
1994- Governor's School
1995- Governor's School
1996- Governor's School
1997- St. Christopher's School
1998- St. Christopher's School
1999- Governor's School
2000- Governor's School
2001- Collegiate School
2002- Governor's School
2003- Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot
2004- Governor's School
2005- Charlottesville High School
2006- Governor's School
Hampton Roads Champions
2005- Kecoughtan High School
2006- Ocean Lakes High School
Champion's Challenge Winners
2005- Charlottesville High School
2006- Governor's School
Website: http://www.battleofthebrains.net/