‘Jeopardy!’ has had 7 guest hosts in 2021. Here’s who has had highest, lowest ratings
Seven people have had the opportunity to guest host “Jeopardy!” since Alex Trebek’s death in November, giving fans a different view of the beloved show.
Former champions, TV personalities and athletes have all hosted and at least nine more will get a crack at hosting duties by August.
Here’s who among them have scored the best ratings.
Ratings are determined by Nielsen, which calculates them “based on a sample of 40,000 homes and about 100,000 people that are demographically representative of the population as a whole,” according to Hollywood Reporter. A rating shows the percentage of that group that were tuned in to the program.
Ken Jennings is the most successful “Jeopardy!” contestant in the show’s history — and he’s also proven to be the guest host champion. His first week hosting the show in January led to a 6.2 rating from Nielsen, Next TV reported.
Jennings averaged a 6.0 over his six weeks hosting the show from Jan. 11-Feb. 19, Sports Illustrated reported.
Mike Richards, the executive producer of the show, hosted after Jennings and continued the strong ratings. He had an average rating of 5.9, The Wrap reported.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers received a lot of positive social media feedback from his two-week hosting stint in April, and the TV ratings back it up. He had a rating of 5.6 his first week, followed by a 5.5 the second, according to TV News Check.
TV journalist Katie Couric had similar ratings compared to Rodgers with an average rating of 5.5, with the two lowest belonging to Dr. Oz and Anderson Cooper.
Dr. Oz’s hosting tenure was marred by a petition signed by hundreds of former “Jeopardy!” contestants, who were opposed to the controversial television doctor hosting the show. He had an average rating of 5.1 over his two weeks on the show, according to Decider.
That was the worst mark — until Cooper’s first week ratings were revealed this week. The CNN host’s 5.1 rating was the lowest rated debut week of any of the first six guest hosts, The Wrap reported.
“60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker is hosting the show this week and next week. His debut ratings will be revealed later this month.
Upcoming ‘Jeopardy!’ guest host schedule:
May 3-14: Bill Whitaker, “60 Minutes” correspondent
May 17-28: Buzzy Cohen, former “Jeopardy!” champion
May 31-June 11: Mayim Bialik, actress and neuroscientist
June 14-25: Savannah Guthrie, NBC News’ “TODAY” co-anchor
June 28-July 9: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent
July 12-16: George Stephanopoulos, ABC’s “Good Morning America” co-anchor
July 19-23: Robin Roberts, ABC’s “Good Morning America” co-anchor
July 26-30: LeVar Burton, actor and former host of “Reading Rainbow”
Aug. 2-6: David Faber, co-host of CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”
Aug. 9-13: Joe Buck, Fox sportscaster
This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 4:42 PM with the headline "‘Jeopardy!’ has had 7 guest hosts in 2021. Here’s who has had highest, lowest ratings."