WISS Trivia Contest
Encyclopedia
WISS Trivia Contest was a trivia
contest that was held annually on WISS-AM between 1982 and 2005. The contest was billed as the "world's longest running commercial trivia contest" before the 2006 contest was canceled.
. In the late 1990s the trivia contest was simulcast on both of Hometown Broadcasting's radio stations (WISS-AM and WBJZ-FM/WAUH-FM). The 2005 contest was broadcast only on WAUH-FM - Retro Radio (FM 102.3).
waiver to broadcast outside its normal daytime hours. The 2004 and 2005 contests were lengthened to 22 and 23 hours respectively.
The questions had a point value of 5, 10, 25, or 50 points. There were two difficult 50 point questions that were asked overnight.
The radio station read a question and announced its point value. Teams were given three songs (approximately 10 minutes worth of time) to call the station's request lines with the correct answer. Teams were allowed unlimited guesses, and the phone operators would only ask for the team name after a correct guess. Teams were NOT allowed to continue guessing after calling in with a correct answer (the term is jamming). Any and all teams that correctly answered the question were credited with question's points.
There was no restriction or limit on the source of the guesses. Teams in the 1980s would use books for sources, but by the mid to late 1990s teams had gone away from books in favor of using the internet. The internet and Fred L. Worth books were not considered "sources" for the purpose of contesting an answer.
The top four team were awarded cash prizes between $25 and $100.
Trivia
The trivia are the three lower Artes Liberales, i.e. grammar, rhetoric and logic. These were the topics of basic education, foundational to the quadrivia of higher education, and hence the material of basic education, of interest only to undergraduates...
contest that was held annually on WISS-AM between 1982 and 2005. The contest was billed as the "world's longest running commercial trivia contest" before the 2006 contest was canceled.
Radio station
The trivia contest began in 1982 on Hometown Broadcasting's WISS-AM in Berlin, WisconsinBerlin, Wisconsin
Berlin is a city in Green Lake and Waushara Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 5,305 at the 2000 census. The city is located mostly within the Town of Berlin in Green Lake County; only a small portion of the city extends into the Town of Aurora in Waushara...
. In the late 1990s the trivia contest was simulcast on both of Hometown Broadcasting's radio stations (WISS-AM and WBJZ-FM/WAUH-FM). The 2005 contest was broadcast only on WAUH-FM - Retro Radio (FM 102.3).
Rules
The contest traditionally started on the first Saturday morning of February (often at 10:00 a.m. local time), and it ran continuously until some time on Sunday morning. The contest was 21 hours long from 1982-1999 and 2002-2003. The 2000 and 2001 contests were shortened to 9 daylight hours because WISS-AM was unable to get a Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
waiver to broadcast outside its normal daytime hours. The 2004 and 2005 contests were lengthened to 22 and 23 hours respectively.
The questions had a point value of 5, 10, 25, or 50 points. There were two difficult 50 point questions that were asked overnight.
The radio station read a question and announced its point value. Teams were given three songs (approximately 10 minutes worth of time) to call the station's request lines with the correct answer. Teams were allowed unlimited guesses, and the phone operators would only ask for the team name after a correct guess. Teams were NOT allowed to continue guessing after calling in with a correct answer (the term is jamming). Any and all teams that correctly answered the question were credited with question's points.
There was no restriction or limit on the source of the guesses. Teams in the 1980s would use books for sources, but by the mid to late 1990s teams had gone away from books in favor of using the internet. The internet and Fred L. Worth books were not considered "sources" for the purpose of contesting an answer.
The top four team were awarded cash prizes between $25 and $100.
Trivia masters
The original trivia master was Steve Handrich, who presided over the contest from 1982 until 1997. Martin Jury was trivia master from 1998 until 2001, and Andy Disterhaft from 2002 until 2005.Sample questions
- 2005, question #6 (10 points): Which (United States) Presidents are buried in TennesseeTennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
?- Answer: Andrew JacksonAndrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, James Polk, and Andrew JohnsonAndrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
- Answer: Andrew Jackson
- 2002, question #52 (25 points): Hakeem OlajuwonHakeem OlajuwonHakeem Abdul Olajuwon is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008,...
and Alex RodriguezAlex RodriguezAlexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez is an American professional baseball third baseman with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Known popularly by his nickname A-Rod, he previously played shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.Rodriguez is considered one of the best...
have both studied flexibility at what ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
gym?- Answer: A.T.T.A.C.K. ATHLETICS, Incorporated
- 1999, question #1 (5 points): What is the name of Wisconsin's current Miss Teen, and what city is she from?
- Answer: Heidi Cody - Markesan, WisconsinMarkesan, WisconsinMarkesan is a city in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,396 at the 2000 census. The center of population of Wisconsin is located in Markesan.-Geography:Markesan is located at ....
- Answer: Heidi Cody - Markesan, Wisconsin
- 1995, question #69 (50 points): What does the acronym "PRETTY BLUE BATCH" mean?
- Answer: Philadelphia Regional Exchange Tea Toddling Young Belles Letters Universal Experimental Bibliography Association To Civilized Humanity
Annual question categories
- Music
- Current events
- Television/Radio
- Movies/Hollywood
- History
- Sports
- Cartoons/Comics
- General Knowledge
- plus one revolving category
List of results and revolving categories
- 2005 World Leaders (Results)
- 2004 Food (Results)
- 2003 Major world cities (Results)
- 2002 WISS station history (Results)
- 2001 Elections (Results)
- 2000 Cats (Results)
- 1999 Holidays
- 1998 Toys (Results)
- 1997 Games
- 1996 Double Jeopardy (35 point questions that had been asked in a previous contest)
- 1995 Acronymns
- 1994 Big Business
- 1993 Religions
- 1992 Express Yourself
- 1991 American military conflicts
- 1990 The 1980s decade
- 1989 Listening/Audio Questions
- 1988 Transportation
- 1987 Wisconsin
- 1986 Disasters
- 1985 Cartoons
- 1984 Olympics
- 1983 Soap Operas
- 1982 None