‘Jeopardy! Season 42 Finale Week Ratings: Is it Good News for Ken Jennings?

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What is a great final week? Jeopardy! delivered high ratings for the final week of shows of Season 42.

Season 42 ended on Friday, July 24. From the week of July 20 to July 26, Jeopardy! was the highest-rated show in syndication. Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud followed behind it as the top three syndicated shows, according to Nielsen.

This week also featured Ken Jennings‘ 1,000th episode as host. The final week of the season reached 8.755 million viewers, which was an increase of 14 percent from Season 41’s finale at 7.684 million viewers. It also had a Household Rating of 5.0. This was only about a 130,000 difference in the premiere ratings.

Despite being in reruns in July, WOF still had 8.417 million viewers that week. WOF only received a 4.8 Household Rating.

The season ended with Matthew Riggle winning his second game. He ended with a two-day total of $64,400 and will return in September for game three.

However, the finale week was not the highest-rated week of the season. According to US TVDB, the highest-watched week of the season was the week ending on February 1. This season, that was the middle of the Tournament of Champions, right before the finals began.

That week delivered an average audience of 9.972 million viewers. The next highest week, with 9.348 million viewers, was the week ending in March 1. This was when James Hirsh won three games.

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Surprisingly, there was a dip in viewers at the beginning of super champ Jamie Ding‘s run, with 8.369 million viewers. However, after Ding’s reign, ratings reached their highest on May 3 with 9.002 million viewers, the third-highest rating of the season. Ding’s final game was on April 26, in which the ratings were 8.517 million viewers.

Season 43 has not yet set an official premiere date, but it is expected to start on Monday, September 14. Jennings will be back as host. But before the new season starts, fans can tune in to the two-week Jeopardy! Masters event, beginning on August 25.

The six contestants competing this season are Yogesh Raut, Juveria Zaheer, Victoria Groce, Paolo Pasco, Andrew He, and Long Nguyen. Fans can also watch reruns of Season 42 until September 11 on their local channel and streaming on Hulu and Peacock.

Jeopardy!, Season 43, September 2026, weekdays, check local listings