Monday, November 4, 2024

“Jeopardy!” Spikes 22% Higher Ratings in Week After Alex Trebek’s Death to Number 1 and a Whopping 6 Million Viewers

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Alex Trebek got a Grammy nomination this afternoon, but even something better.

Ratings for “Jeopardy!” for the week following the beloved game show host’s death shot up 22% to 6 million. The show is number 1 among all syndicated shows. Frankly, with 6 million viewers, it’s doing better than most prime time network shows.

Other syndicated shows did well the week ending November 15th, including “Live with Kelly and Ryan” which jumped to 2 million viewers, up 11%, and tied with “Dr. Phil.” In the the key age demo, “Live” actually did better than “Dr. Phil” with 900,000 vs. 700,000.

“The Ellen Show” has stayed the same for weeks with 1.2 million viewers. At least it’s not losing fans. But Drew Barrymore is struggling with 600,000 average weekly viewers.

“Judge Judy” finished second of all shows with 5.9 viewers right behind “Jeopardy!” Usually the Judge is number 1. But even her numbers increased 9% from the week before. Judy’s spin off show, “Hot Bench,” which Drew Barrymore replaced, continues to do a very strong 1.7 million. Even though CBS Paramount owns “Drew Barrymore,” it won’t be long before stations will ask for “Hot Bench” back if “Drew” doesn’t pick up steam.

Ken Jennings has a lot of pressure on him when he takes over “Jeopardy!” on January 11th. But my guess is the publicity will be so strong he’ll do very well. And the “Jeopardy!” producers will be smart to keep the In Memory of Trebek card up at the end and have Alex in the opening montage at least until June.

PS Did anyone see Trebek tap dance on Monday’s show? The man was very ill, and he still looked great. I have a whole new admiration for him. That’s a star!

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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