When Ken Jennings helmed “Jeopardy!” for six weeks, ratings were high.
Jennings’ entire debut week in January drew an average of 10.3 million viewers — second this season only to Alex Trebek’s final week as host, the Deseret News reported.
Since then, other guest hosts — like Katie Couric and Dr. Oz — have had a turn behind the hosting lectern.
But, the ratings haven’t been as strong.
“Jeopardy!” ratings fell 5% during Couric’s debut week as guest host in March, according to The Wrap. After that week, the quiz show — which led syndication during Jennings’ hosting stint — shared first place with “Wheel of Fortune” in terms of household ratings. During Couric’s second week, “Jeopardy!” fell to second place behind “Family Feud.”
And during Dr. Oz’s stint as guest host — which led many fans to consider boycotting the show — “Jeopardy!” ratings fell another 2%. The ratings are the lowest “Jeopardy!” has reported since the week ending in Jan. 3, shortly before Jennings’ debut, according to The Wrap.
Now, NFL star Aaron Rodgers is hosting “Jeopardy!” through April 16. Although ratings haven’t been revealed yet, Rodgers seems to have popularity with “Jeopardy” fans so far — primarily thanks to a moment from his first game that went viral.
Rodgers has also expressed interest in possibly becoming the permanent replacement for Trebek.
“I’m not shy at all about saying I want the job,” he recently told The Ringer. “I don’t think I’d need to give up football to do it. They film 46 days a year. I worked 187 this year in Green Bay. That gives me ... 178 days to do ‘Jeopardy!’ So I feel like I could fit 46 into that 178 and make it work. It would be a dream job for sure.”
But first “Jeopardy!” still has a number of guest hosts to highlight, and the show likely won’t announce an official host until the new season starts in September, the Deseret News reported.