2016 NETA Award Winner: Broadcast Program

The people who made this: Allison NeCamp Day, Mary Duncan, Anna Gordon, Brandon Wickey

Budget: $3,100 per program; $105,323 for the series.

For 30-plus years, News Quiz, a weekly current events program for grades 4-8, has consistently ranked among the station's top 10 educational resources. In 2014-15, budget constraints and the retirement of the show's long-time producer led to a number of changes for News Quiz. These included abandoning live-on-tape studio production for more time- and cost-effective greenscreen technology, dropping CNN news footage for less expensive AP footage, producing a streamlined website, and creating a News Quiz collection on PBS LearningMedia™. Thanks to the changes, costs dropped by 57 percent; the show's look became more kid-friendly, with livelier, more varied footage; streaming and downloading functions improved; and viewership increased both in and out of state. Teachers were universally enthusiastic about the updates. In July 2015, for the first time in its 30-year history, News Quiz was awarded a regional Emmy.

What the Awards Judges review panel said: 

“So clearly designed for the interests of children. News Quiz takes current events and makes them
understandable with out ‘dumbing it down.’”

“So crisp and clean. It's not too busy and all of the graphics have a point. It clearly shows that there is a
lot of pre-planning.”

“The budget also demonstrates that the show knows how to scale back when funding is reduced or cut.”

Find out more on their website