'Jeopardy!' Ratings Slip in Aaron Rodgers' Second Week as Guest Host
Did the intrigue of having a star pro athlete host a game show wear off a bit after a week?
Former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers gave Jeopardy! a ratings boost in his first week as the game show's guest host from April 5-9, but the ratings for the show dropped ever so slightly in his second week, April 12-16.
Rodgers' presence pushed Jeopardy! back to the top slot among syndicated game shows in his first week, after it had dropped behind Family Feud the previous week, when Dr. Oz was the Jeopardy! guest host. Jeopardy! earned a 5.6 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating in Rodgers' first week, a 14 percent increase from the previous week.
But in the ratings released Tuesday, the Jeopardy! ratings for April 12-16 slipped marginally to 5.5, a drop of just 2 percent and keeping Jeopardy! in first place among syndicated game shows.
Wheel of Fortune took over the No. 2 spot, and maybe Rodgers can claim credit for that as the lead-in show to Wheel of Fortune in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rodgers has said he would like to become the permanent host of Jeopardy!, but the challenges will be considerable. Anderson Cooper is the guest host this week, and he will be followed by 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker, Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, The Big Bang Theory actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik, CNN chief medical correspondent and neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Buzzy Cohen, a former Jeopardy! champion scheduled to host this year's Tournament of Champions.
And there may be others.
Here are the syndicated game-show rating for the week of April 12-16, as reported by TVnewscheck.com:
Jeopardy (CMV) 5.5 -2%
Wheel of Fortune (CMV) 5.3 +4%
Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 5.3 +2%
25 Words or Less (CMV) 0.8 No change
Funny You Should Ask (Entertainment Studios) 0.4 No change
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Here is a video ode to Rodgers' stint as guest host:
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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
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