BBC America to Bring NPR Radio Show to U.S. TV

NEW YORK: The NPR radio quiz show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! is to make its U.S. television debut on BBC America during the 2011 Year in Review special airing December 23.

The year-end special will also run on NPR stations on December 24 and 25. The hour-long special of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! will be produced by BBC America, NPR and Chauncey Street Productions. Host Peter Sagal and judge/scorekeeper Carl Kasell will lead a panel of U.S. and U.K. talent on the year’s top stories from an American and British perspective. The show will tape in front of a live audience at the Chase Auditorium in Chicago on December 2. Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, now in its 14th season, has an audience of more than 3.2 million listeners weekly on 595 NPR member public radio stations.

Perry Simon, the general manager of channels at BBC Worldwide America, said: "The comedy panel show has been a staple of British television and Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! is the gold standard of the format on radio in the U.S. This year-end special offers the perfect opportunity to join forces with our friends at NPR and is a great addition to our new original programming development stable. As a long-time listener of Wait Wait Don’t… Tell Me!, I think its television debut is long overdue and I can’t wait to see what Peter, Carl and the team look like."