‘Jeopardy!’ & ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Ratings Shift: Who’s on Top?
What To Know
- For the week ending January 4, Wheel of Fortune narrowly surpassed Jeopardy! in both total viewers and the key 18-49 demographic, marking only the second time this season it has led in both categories.
- Both shows saw week-over-week gains in viewership and demo ratings.
- Family Feud, hosted by Steve Harvey, also performed strongly, ranking as the No. 4 syndicated broadcast with 7.88 million viewers.
The latest game show ratings for the week ending January 4 have seen a change at the top of the chart as Wheel of Fortune has taken a slight lead over the usual frontrunner, Jeopardy!
According to Nielsen ratings, Wheel of Fortune finished No. 2 among syndicated shows (behind only ESPN’s NFL coverage), averaging 8,124,000 total viewers for the week of December 29. This was up over a million viewers from the week prior, which averaged 7,061,000 viewers.
The Ryan Seacrest-hosted game show also increased its demo average to 2.51 in the key 18-49 demographic, up from the week prior’s 2.19.
In comparison, Jeopardy! averaged 8,009,000 viewers, only 100,000 viewers behind its game show rival. This number was also up on the week prior, which scored 7,193,000 million viewers. The Ken Jennings-fronted show ranked No. 3 among syndicated broadcasts. During the period in question the show was featuring its Second Chance Tournament.
Jeopardy! was also up in the demo compared to the week before. For the week of December 29, the show averaged 2.48 in the 18-49 demo, up from the 2.23 from the previous week.
While the numbers have been close for months, this marks only the second time Wheel has topped Jeopardy! in both viewers and demo since the shows kicked off new seasons last September. Jeopardy regularly remained on top throughout the fall, as it did last summer.
However, for the week beginning September 29, Wheel averaged 7,595,000 million viewers and 2.35 in the demo, compared to Jeopardy‘s 7,513,000 viewers and 2.33 in the demo.
Another game show faring well is the Steve Harvey hosted Family Feud, which finished as the No. 4 syndicated broadcast for the week of December 29 to January 4. The show averaged 7,876 million viewers, only 200,000 viewers away from beating Jeopardy and 300,000 from Wheel.
Seacrest took over from longtime host Pat Sajak in late 2024, and the shake-up immediately paid off in viewers. For his debut as host in September 2024, Wheel averaged 7.99 million total viewers, marking its best premiere month audience in three years. The show has maintained strong numbers since then, closing the gap on Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!, Weeknights, check local listings
Wheel of Fortune, Season 43, Fall 2025, check local listings
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