Question Time

Question Time is a topical debate television programme on The National Television, hosted by Scott Thompson. The show typically features politicians as well as other public figures who answer pre-selected questions put to them by an audience selected on the basis of its political views and demographic. The programme is presented from a different location each week, usually in the US, with a local studio audience each time. The make-up of the panel is usually altered to reflect part of the country where it is filmed.

Question Time began on Tuesday 25 September 1979. Originally intended to have only a short run, the programme became very popular and was duly extended.

Format
Question Time began with a panel of four guests, usually one member from each of the three major parties (Republican Party, Democratic Party, Libertarian Party) and another public figure, for example non-governmental organisation directors, newspaper columnists, or religious leaders. In 1998, the panel was enlarged to five, with another non-partisan member or leading member of Green Party joining the panel.

The chairman sits in the middle and chairs the debate, deciding who can speak on the panel and bringing audience members into the discussion. Questions are submitted by the audience before the programme goes on air. The programme makers select some to put to the panel, who never know the questions before recording begins. During the programme, the presenter calls on the relevant members of the audience to put their question to the panel and gives each member an opportunity to answer the question and respond to each other's points. Every audience member is asked to bring a question and those chosen are informed immediately prior to filming.

Question Time audiences are not a random sample of the public, but are screened and selected in advance, on the basis of their replies to a questionnaire on an application form. Mandatory fields on the application form include the applicant’s desired questions, voting intention, political party membership, occupation, ethnicity, and disability status.

Usually, filming takes place on the evening of broadcast, to ensure issues are as up-to-date as possible.

For a brief period in the mid-1990s, the programme used voting keypads to take a poll of the audience, who were stated to have been selected to provide a balanced sample compared with the nation as a whole.

The theme music was originally written by Stanley Meyers. The current arrangement is by Mike Connaris.

Chairman

 * Floyd Kalber (1979-1984)
 * Tim Nathans (1984-1994)
 * Suzanne Humprey (1994-2006)
 * Scott Thompson (2006-present)

Twitter
On 24 September 2009, the show launched its Twitter presence and the show's presenter has regularly announced its presence on Twitter since late 2009. Using the Twitter ID "@tntquestiontime" it tweeted using the #tntQT hashtag.