For months now, Jeopardy! fans watched the beloved quiz show hosted by numerous celebrities and TV personalities, including Mayim Bialik, Ken Jennings and Anderson Cooper. Although no body will ever replace former longtime host Alex Trebek, who passed away last November, the full time for Jeopardy! to choose his new successor to lead this program into its next chapter.
Now it’s a matter of when and who will soon be threatened! producers choose to end up being the show’s next regular host. Here’s everything we know about where Jeopardy! is in the viewfinder:
When will Jeopardy! choose permanent host?
Based on executive producer and previous guest host Mike Richards, who spoke on The Wall Street Journal podcast this spring, the decision will soon be made before the next season of Jeopardy! starts recording in late July or early August. He also shared exactly why the show features a slow hiring process.
“We started speaking about it internally that it will be very difficult for us to mention someone right away because we were still dealing with losing [Alex Trebek],” he told the paper. “[For] Jeopardy! family – that is the fans, the country, the staff – when it’s Alex’s last show on Friday and a new person’s show on Monday, it may possibly be unfair to the person who walks into it.”
While Jeopardy! viewers enjoy watching the guest hosts take turns, the show’s numbers are closely watched behind the scenes. What’s more, focus groups are joining the testing, and social media marketing can be being considered to greatly help decide who becomes the permanent host of Jeopardy!
“You wish to make an educated decision,” Mike told The Journal. “We want to go at it with real analytics and real testing and not only say, ‘Hey, what you think about this man?’, that is how plenty of these decisions have now been made historically.”
So, who could be the new host of Jeopardy!?
That’s obviously the largest question fans have right now. That said, Mike explained that there clearly was no top contender for the permanent hosting position as of April.
The executive producer anticipates that one of the guest hosts will soon be named the new face of Jeopardy!, though he also doesn’t rule anything out. He noted he would like the chosen someone to only dedicate their time to the beloved game show and make the role their particular while honoring Alex’s legacy.
If the ratings are any indication, then Ken Jennings probably features a solid chance of having offered the job. As shown in the list below of the best average ratings as of mid-June, he tops the list, accompanied by Mike and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
- Ken Jennings – 6
- Mike Richards – 5.9
- Aaron Rodgers – 5.6
- Katie Couric- 5.5
- Bill Whitaker – 5.2
- Buss Cohen – 5.1 (2021 Tournament of Champions Host)
- Dr. Oz – 5.1
- Anderson Cooper – 5.0
- Mayim Bialik – 4.9 (after weekly of episodes)
But of course these ratings are one among many. What’s more, we still have additional guest hosts, including Reading Rainbow’s LeVar Burton and GMA’s George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts.
We will need to wait and see who is selected this summer. For the time being, we’ll you should be here enjoying all the new faces at the lectern!
