east of Phoenix. Bill Smullin retired in 1985 and was succeeded by his daughter, Patricia C. "Patsy" Smullin, who serves as owner and president today. KOBI added a DT2 channel for AccuWeather's local and national weather digital channel to KOBI's digital signal were instituted in early 2008. It was replaced by This TV in January 2014, then Cozi TV in December 2019. Programming Jackpot Bingo During the 1980s, KOBI broadcast a popular interactive game show called Jackpot Bingo, hosted by Tom Carnes. The show aired before Days of Our Lives and took after the popular Dialing for Dollars format. Jackpot Bingo gave contestants the opportunity to win up to $5,000 in cash by playing blackout bingo. However, contestants usually won the minimum $200 prize. Carnes was replaced by Sally Holliday in 1987 and the show was renamed $10,000 Jackpot Bingo as the prize money doubled. Still, contestants usually won $200. The show garnered the highest ratings for its time slot, although it was cancelled in 1988. Academic Challenge The Academic Challenge quiz bowl program, similar to GE College Bowl, places local high schools in a head-to-head battle for the championship title and over $40,000 in scholarship money. Twenty high schools from Southern Oregon and Northern California participate in the Academic Challenge. Each school brings in a team of five students, four participating and one alternate, who answer a series of questions from the host, NBC 5 chief meteorologist Jeff Heaton, on topics such as history, math, literature, current events and a variety of other categories. At the end of this double-elimination competition the final two teams will split the scholarship money, 60% to the championship team, 40% to the runner-up team. The idea for Academic Challenge started at KRCR-TV in Redding in 1998 and was hosted by Gary Gunter from 1998 to 2005, then Tim Mapes from then on. NBC 5's newly hired general manager Bob Wise brought the identically formatted program to southern Oregon in 2005. The program regularly aired on Sundays at 6:30 p.m., or after NBC Sunday Night Football and NBC 5 News during the NFL season, but has since been canceled. Southern Oregon Meth Project In 2005, KOBI started a special program called the Southern Oregon Meth Project to educate viewers and concerned citizens about the dangers of methamphetamine and what can be done to prevent it. The project was headed up by KOBI's lead news