WSUM to broadcast trivia marathon

This weekend, the University of Wisconsin–Madison student radio station WSUM 91.7FM is teaming with St. Cloud State University’s student radio to broadcast their 50-hour trivia marathon.

Th 31st annual Trivia Weekend, presented by KVSC 88.1 FM, kicks off Friday, Feb. 12, and concludes at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14. Teams of an unlimited number are required to register by 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 12. Registered teams will be contacted Feb. 12 afternoon with contest details.

For the first time, WSUM will broadcast the entire contest, making it easier for Madisonians to participate, and so WSUM staff can learn how to run a trivia marathon in hopes of hosting their own in the future.

“We’ve looked at having our own trivia contest for years, but we don’t really know how to do it,” says David Black, WSUM general manager. “The big bonus for us is to see on a minute-to-minute basis how this works.”

Last year, stations in Mankato and Austin, Minn., syndicated the contest and will do so again this weekend. Along with WSUM, Trivia Weekend is debuting on 90.1 FM KSRQ in Thief River Falls, Minn.

It costs $45 per team to register, and funds from local teams who register with WSUM go to the Friends of Madison Student Radio.

Nine questions will be broadcast each hour of the contest. Teams are encouraged to designate a headquarters for the weekend, and someone always needs to be awake to answer questions at all hours of the night.

“It’s a chance to get together with your old classmates and come back to Madison and hang out,” Black says. “They’ll also get caught up on how each other’s doing and that kind of thing. It’s great publicity for the station, and it’s a lot of fun for the contestants and the staff that participate.”

This year’s contest theme is “Trivia in 3-D” because of the resurgence in 3-D movies and broadcast television. KVSC is partnering with St. Cloud State University student television, UTVS, to broadcast affiliated programming in 3-D both on television and online streaming at http://www.utvs.com.

All registered teams will get 3-D glasses for the occasion.

The winning team will receive the Minnesota Masters of Trivia Traveling Trophy, engraved with the names of the winning teams during the past 30 years.

Other prizes, including gift certificates to local St. Cloud businesses, will be awarded at the 8 p.m. ceremony in St. Cloud on Sunday, Feb. 14.

St. Cloud’s Trivia Weekend is one of several famous university trivia marathons in the Midwest. Among others, UW-Stevens Point and Lawrence University host renowned marathons.

Listen to the trivia weekend online and stream WSUM’s broadcast at http://wsum.org/home/main/streaming-options.