In the battle for game show supremacy one show has seen a surge in ratings while the other has cooled down. New figures show that Jeopardy! is back on top as Wheel of Fortune saw a drop in viewing figures.
And it seems that some of that could be down to contestant Drew Goins, who appeared on Jeopardy!‘s Champions Wild Card Tournament during the week of January 20 to January 26, which saw the game show reclaim its top spot. Despite falling just short of victory against Mehal Shah for a spot in the Tournament of Champions, Goins was picked to be an alternate after Celebrity Jeopardy! winner Lisa Ann Walter wasn’t able to take her spot. Sadly, he lost in the semi-final on February 6.
The U.S. Sun reports that 8,430,000 people tuned in to watch Jeopardy! that week, according to Nielsen. Wheel of Fortune wasn’t far behind with 8,111,000 viewers.
These ratings come five months after Ryan Seacrest made his debut as host on WOF. He took over for Pat Sajak, who retired in 2024 after 41 seasons.
In October, just weeks after Seacrest made his debut on Wheel of Fortune, the game show totaled 7.99 million total viewers, making its best premiere month audience (9/9/24-10/6/24) in three years. At the time, Wheel was TV’s number one most-watched entertainment program, surpassing Jeopardy!, which is hosted by Ken Jennings. Wheel has long trailed Jeopardy! in ratings, despite the game shows airing back-to-back in syndication. Even with the celebrity versions, Jeopardy! pulls ahead.
The reason for Wheel‘s rating drop could be because fans noticed the game show is consistently giving away $40,000 during the Bonus Round. After a contestant correctly guesses the puzzle in the Bonus Round, Seacrest reveals how much they added to their jackpot by opening an envelope with a cash amount on it.
Without fail, it seems that Seacrest continuously opens $40,000 envelopes and not any higher.
YouTube viewers were not enthused with the prize and wondered if there were any higher amounts on the wheel.
“When I saw Ryan was hiding the prize from the envelope, I thought he [was] gonna surprise her and the audience with $100,000!” a viewer commented.
“How many $40,000 envelopes are there in the Bonus Round? I see another $40,000 win again,” one fan wrote.
“I thought for sure [Seacrest] was going to reveal the $100,000, and it was only the $40,000. Still, a great solve and great effort. Nice work!” said another.
Another fan observed Season 42 hasn’t had any $1 million, $70K, or $75K winners yet.
Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, weeknights, check local listings