Battle of the Brains

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Battle of the Brains is a quizbowl show in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas of Virginia. The show is Central Virginia's longest running highschool quiz TV Show. It currently airs on WTVR in the Richmond area, and WTKR in Hampton Roads. The current show began in Richmond in 1975, and it originally aired on a local PBS member station until it was canceled by the station. Its 2002–2003 season was aired on a public-access television cable TV 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, formerly airing on WAVY-TV. In the 2017-18 season, it airs on WTKR at 11:00 A.M. As of August 2024, it has changed the timeslot to Saturday mornings at 10:00 A.M.^[1]

Since the early 2000s, the team to beat in the competition has been the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in Richmond, although the 2012 champion was Charlottesville High School. Ocean Lakes High School of Virginia Beach is the reigning Hampton Roads area champion.

The show currently matches the Richmond-area winner against the Hampton Roads-area winner in a game called the “Champion's Challenge”. Charlottesville High 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.

Beginning with the 2007-2008 season, high schools from Northeastern North Carolina were allowed to compete in the Hampton Roads show.

The show is hosted by WTVR's Cheryl Miller. The Hampton Roads show was hosted by WAVY's Stephanie Harris when it aired on that station. Since the move to WTKR, the Richmond version airs in both markets.