Sky Arts will ask arts institutions to take each other on for the ultimate test of their arts and cultural knowledge in The Great Culture Quiz.

Hosted by Anita Rani, The Great Culture Quiz will bring two teams of arts professionals from different British organisations together in a head-to-head battle to test their knowledge of the arts, and their own institutions. Spanning a diverse and challenging range of arts trivia and covering all forms of art – from cave paintings to Lady Gaga – the new 15-part series will push these experts, and viewers at home, to the very limit of their arts knowledge.

Each heat will see organisations – from the British Museum, the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to Handel House Museum, the Bach Choir and the National Ballet of Ireland amongst others – answer a broad range of arts questions across a number of rounds; show off their knowledge of their own institution in a specialist round and battle it out during the show’s quick-fire ‘A-Z’ finale.

Host Anita Rani commented: "In this show we dig deep into the core of the arts knowledge of our teams and at the same time get an in-depth insight into their wonderful institutions."

Philip Edgar-Jones, Director, Sky Arts commented: “The Great Culture Quiz brings together the great and good of the British arts world to see who can really lay claim to being the most knowledgeable of all. We’ve been awe-struck by the depth of certain organisations’ knowledge and have really enjoyed seeing their competitive sides come out when the scores are tight!”

Each team brings along a prize related to their organisation with the losing team handing over their prize to the winning team once the final scores have been totted up. Over the course of the series the teams will face each-other in heats, quarter finals, semi-finals and a 60-minute grand final where the winners will be crowned The Great Culture Quiz champions.

For further information, please contact:

Sky
Ffion Williams
PR Manager, Sky Arts
ffion.williams@bskyb.com 
020 7032 0599

Sky Arts

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Notes to Editors

The series will be produced for Sky Arts by Maverick Television. The Executive Producer for the series will be Jim Sayer and Stephen Leahy for Maverick Television and the Series Producer will be Neil Gallery. It was commissioned by Chris Brogden, Commissioning Editor, Sky.

About Maverick Television
Maverick Television is one of the UK’s leading production companies, and has created hundreds of hours of award-winning shows ranging from character-driven documentaries, to factual, features and entertainment series for all the major UK broadcasters.

Recently, Maverick has triumphed with programmes including Stephen Fry: Out There (BBC Two), Growing Up Down’s (BBC Three), BAFTA winning Operation Ouch (CBBC), Was It Something I Said? (Channel 4) Party Wright Around The World (ITV2), Billy Connolly’s Route 66 (ITV1), Embarrassing Bodies and Embarrassing Bodies: Live From The Clinic (Channel 4).

Previous output has ranged from Channel 4’s The Model Agency, How To Look Good Naked and Ten Years Younger, to Bizarre E.R and Bizarre Crime (BBC Three), Children’s Hospital and Kids With Tourette’s (ITV1) and the award-winning mental health documentary, Sectioned (BBC Four).

Alongside its television programmes, Maverick has been recognised for its award winning multiplatform work – winning four BAFTAs, an Emmy, six Royal Television Society Awards, two Broadcast Digital awards, two BIMAs, two World Media Awards and numerous others.

Maverick Television is run by CEO Jim Sayer and Chief Creative Officer Mark Downie and has offices in London, Birmingham and Los Angeles.

About Sky
Sky is the UK and Ireland’s leading home entertainment and communications company.  Around 40% of all homes have a direct relationship with Sky through its range of TV, broadband and home telephony services.
Sky is the UK’s biggest investor in television content, investing more than £2.5 billion a year in channels such as Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and Sky News.   Around two-thirds of Sky’s content spend is invested in the UK and Sky is the fastest-growing source of investment in original British programmes.  More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week.

Alongside its commitment to offering customers a greater choice of high-quality content, Sky is a leading innovator.  Customers enjoy total control and flexibility over their favourite TV through Sky+, watch TV on the move through Sky Go, and enjoy the best quality TV experience at home through High Definition and 3D.

Sky distributes its content broadly over several platforms, including satellite, cable, IPTV, mobile and WiFi.  NOW TV, Sky’s second consumer brand, builds on the company’s leadership in internet TV.  Sky is also the UK's fastest-growing home communications company and favourite ‘triple-play’ provider of TV, broadband and home phone.

Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates by taking positive action on the environment, supporting grassroots sports and increasing access to, and participation in, the arts.  Sky employs 24,000 people, has annual revenues of £7.2 billion and is estimated to support a £5.9 billion contribution to UK GDP.  Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (BSY).