IF YOU SCORED...
0-5: Congrats. You have successfully blocked out 2008. God bless denial.
6-10: You probably think the DTV transition is a one-day promotion where everyone can switch to DirecTV for free.
11-16: You are right down the middle. You know, fair and balanced.
17-23: You have a future in the television industry. If the television industry has a future.
23-24: Put down the B&C. Step away from the Internet. Get a life.
25: You got 25 out of 25 right? We believe you, Gov. Blagojevich.
1. Who is the highest-paid professional actor, per episode, in television?
a. William Petersen (CSI)
b. Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men)
c. Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
d. Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order: SVU)
The correct answer is: b.
2. Which Discovery Channel will disappear to make way for Oprah’s new cable channel OWN?
a. Military Channel
b. Animal Planet
c. Discovery Health
d. Investigation Discovery
The correct answer is: c.
3. Which unreal president did Paris Hilton consult with in her Funny or Die video?
a. Martin Sheen
b. Dennis Haysbert
c. Geena Davis
d. George W. Bush
The correct answer is: a.
4. Which of these statements was not made by Sarah Palin during interviews with Katie Couric and was instead made, at some point, by President Bush?
a. “Our next-door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of.”
b. “We have trade missions back and forth [with Russia]; we do. It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska.”
c. “This is crisis moment for America—really the rest of the world also. Looking to see what the impacts would be if America were to choose not to shore up what has happened on Wall Street because of the ultimate adverse affects on Main Street and then how that affects this globalization that we’re a part of in our world. So the rest of the world really is looking at John McCain.”
d. “I made my position clear about this war on terror. And by the way, the enemy made their position clear yet again when they, uh, when we’re able to stop ’em. And the American people expect us to protect them.”
The correct answer is: d.
5. In 2007, automotive was the largest category in TV ad spending at 10.2%, according to TNS. What category placed second?
a. Fast food restaurants
b. Consumer electronics
c. Financial services
d. Cruises/vacations
The correct answer is: c.
6. Which victor received a higher percentage of his respective popular vote?
a. American Idol winner David Cook
b. U.S. Presidential winner Barack Obama
c. Amazingly, the two had a statistical tie out to one percentage point
The correct answer is: a.
7. Answering the question of whether or not he’d like to “throw the switch” in the analog-to-digital transition, he said,“Sure. I am going to get blamed for it anyway. Good or bad,I’m going to get blamed, so I might as well get to do that.” Who said it?
a. President George W. Bush
b. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin
c. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch
d. President-elect Barack Obama
The correct answer is: b.
8. Which series was cancelled in 2008 after a single episode, with no more episodes airing anywhere?
a. Quarterlife
b. Secret Talents of the Stars
c. My Own Worst Enemy
d. Cavemen
The correct answer is: b.
9. How much did CBS pay for technology-focused Web operator CNet in May?
a. $2.5 billion
b. $1.8 billion
c. $437 million
d. $900 million
The correct answer is: b.
10. Which did keynote speaker Tim Robbins not say while imploring broadcasters to focus on substance, not sleaze, at the NAB show in April?
a. “Show me Knight Rider, drunk on the floor eating a hamburger, and I won’t ask why my kid has no health insurance.”
b. “Lewinsky v. Clinton. Now that was fun. There were salacious details, semen stains, oral sex.”
c. “Die, you Nazi cocksuckers!”
d. “Digital penetration? Ooo, sounds kinky!”
The correct answer is: d.
11. What’s the working title for the agreement between NBC and Fox to share local content in Philadelphia?
a. FNBC
b. Pool Party
c. News We Can Both Use
d. Local News Service
The correct answer is: d.
12. Which one of these was not on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s tongue-in-cheek list of the top 10 things he could do after leaving the FCC?
a. Become a wardrobe consultant for Janet Jackson
b. Run for mayor of Wilmington
c. Play Harry Potter on Broadway
d. Start his own K-mart line of DTV-to-analog converter boxes
The correct answer is: d.
13. At a press conference, John Podesta, the co-chairman of President-elect Obama’s transition team, was asked if he knew when the digital transition was going to occur. What was his answer?
a. “I don’t have the date stuck in my head.”
b. At 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2009, so for all intents and purposes, Feb. 18. Did you lose a bet that I wouldn’t know?”
c. “Not really. I’m sure someone on the transition team does, but I’m not into TV.”
d. “I can only deal with one transition at a time.”
The correct answer is: a.
14.) Which items in Lara Logan’s office at 60 Minutes caught the attention of the Department of Homeland Security after they were featured in a video report by B&C?
a. Unexploded IEDs from Iraq
b. Portraits of Saddam Hussein recovered from ruins
in Baghdad
c. Silverware from one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces
d. Yellowcake
The correct answer is: b.
15. Which late-night host opted to grow a “strike uni-brow” instead of a “strike beard?”
a. Jimmy Kimmel
b. Jon Stewart
c. Stephen Colbert
d. Craig Ferguson
e. Carson Daly
The correct answer is: b.
16. Which technological flourish was not on display in CNN’s coverage of the 2008 presidential election?
a. Holographic projections of correspondents
b. A “Magic Wall” for displaying electoral results and other graphic data
c. A 3D virtual model of the U.S. Capitol
d. A vertical touch-screen display for exit-polling results
e. A Segway to enable anchor Wolf Blitzer to move around the studio
The correct answer is: e.
17. Which program won the most Emmys this year?
a. AMC’s Mad Men
b. FX’s Damages
c. HBO’s John Adams
d. NBC’s 30 Rock
The correct answer is: c.
18. What was the first cancelled show of the 2008-2009season?
a. CBS’s Ex-List
b. NBC’s My Own Worst Enemy
c. ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money
d. Fox’s Do Not Disturb
The correct answer is: d.
19. Which broadcast and cable programmer was the first to announce plans to move all its program distribution to high-definition satellite feeds?
a. CBS
b. Fox
c. NBC Universal
d. Disney
The correct answer is: b.
20. Which U.S. professional sports team became the first to be featured in a live 3D HD satellite broadcast?
a. Cleveland Cavaliers
b. New York Yankees
c. Oakland Raiders
d. Dallas Mavericks
The correct answer is: d.
21. At the July TCA, Lorne Michaels said new Late Night host Jimmy Fallon would:
a. Be a good placeholder until Carson Daly can take over
b. Kick Leno’s ass
c. Launch online months in advance of the broadcast program
d. Never star in something as crappy as Taxi ever again
The correct answer is: c.
22. Approximately how many video streams did NBC stream during the Olympics?
a. 7.5 million
b. 17 million
c. 57 million
d. 75.5 million
The correct answer is: d
23. Lifetime purchased ROIWorld.com. What is ROIWorld?
a. A popular message board for women
b. A site with tips and tricks for making life easy and fun
c. Something about return on investment, right?
d. A Korean dress-up game site
The correct answer is: d.
24. “I felt this thrill going up my leg”
a. What Bill Kristol said to Brit Hume after listening to Sarah Palin’s RNC speech
b. What Chris Matthews said after listening to Barack Obama’s Potomac Primary speech
c. What Keith Olbermann said to Rachel Maddow after listening to her interview with Barack Obama
d. What Hillary Clinton said to Barack Obama after his Election Night acceptance speech
The correct answer is: b.
25. Who hosted the Emmys this year?
a. Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel
b. Jeff Probst and Ryan Seacrest
c. A and B
d. Who cares, it should have been Ricky Gervais and Steve Carrell
The correct answer is: c.
EXTRA CREDIT
26. What extracurricular vocation is CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler pursuing?
a. Training for a triathlon
b. Studying to be a Pilates instructor
c. Studying to be a cantor
d. Studying to become a forensic criminologist
The correct answer is: c.
27. According to Nielsen, what percentage of TV homes have DVRs?
a. 25%
b. 50%
c. 28%
d. 100%
The correct answer is: c.
28. According to Forbes' Richest Americans list which of these had the most coin – at least before Wall Street collapsed?
a. Larry Page
b. Sergey Brin
c. Rupert Murdoch
d. Michael Bloomberg
The correct answer is: d.
29. How long was the WGA on strike?
a. 29 days
b. 100 days
c. 102 days
d. 242 days
The correct answer is: b.
30. Why did John McCain say he famously had to skip out on his Late Show with David Letterman appearance?
a. to get back to Washington to help solve the economic crisis
b. to appear on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
c. to go aerial fox hunting with Sarah Palin
d. he needed to better prepare for his next presidential debate against Barack Obama
The correct answer is: a.
31. Which network-owned station fired two key anchors at separate times this year after one allegedly smacked a police officer and the second was caught illegally accessing the first anchor’s email account?
a. WNYW New York
b. KABC Los Angeles
c. WMAQ Chicago
d. KYW Philadelphia
The correct answer is: d.
32. According to Nielsen, what percentage of TV homes have an HD television and receive HDTV programming?
a. 23%
b. 12%
c, 60%
d. 75%
The correct answer is: a.
33. Who were the original hosts of 60 Minutes, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this season?
a. Mike Wallace and Morley Safer
b. Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner
c. Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite
d. Walter Cronkite and Harry Reasoner
The correct answer is: b.
