s from around the state compete against each other to win "brainy bragging rights" and grant money for their school. The first season of the program was hosted by Tom Bergeron, one of Bergeron's first jobs appearing on television. Starting in the second season and continuing to 2018, Jim Jeannotte took over hosting duties. Jon Cannon became the host in the 2018-2019 season. Prior co-hosts include, Lori Warriner, Tim Estiloz, John Herman, and Alison MacNair. The competition features 16 teams in a single elimination tournament competing in half-hour shows that are pretaped over a few weeks and air through the broadcast season. The program previously selected 32 teams to compete on the televised rounds based on state geography and recent appearances; however, after a year-long hiatus, the program required interested teams to complete a written test, with the top-scoring sixteen teams earning spots. The championship game is called the Superchallenge. Since 1995, part of the funding for Granite State Challenge comes from proceeds of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission. Unitil Corporation is also one of the show's primary sponsors. Beginning in 2008, each episode is available to view on YouTube and to download at no charge on iTunes. Since 2012/2013, the winners of the NHPTV Granite State Challenge faces off against the WGBH High School Quiz Show Champions for a trophy called the "Governors Cup". Since the Governor's Cup started, New Hampshire has 2 wins and Massachusetts has three wins.
Rules
The game is played by two teams of four, and uses a four-quarter format. All four quarters are played to a time limit. The first quarter is a round of toss-up questions worth 10 points each. In the 30th season, one 30-point toss-up based on the year 1984 is included. The second quarter uses 20-point toss-ups. The third quarter is the show's "60-second" round. Since the 30th season, the teams' alternates participate in this round only. The trailing team gets the first choice of three categories, and the leading team picks from the remaining two. Each team gets 60 seconds to answer either 10 questions with each question worth 10 points. A 10-point bonus is awarded for answering all questions correctly. The fourth quarter is a final round of 20-point toss-ups. Since the 30th season, 20 points are deducted should a team provide an incorrect answer. The winning team advances in a season-long tournament. Previously, in the final, titled "Granite State SuperChallenge," there were seven rounds: the first, fifth, and seventh are toss-up rounds, the second and fourth rounds are toss-ups followed by bonuses, and the third and sixth rounds are the 60-second lightning rounds. However, since the 30th season, the SuperChallenge lasts four rounds.
