Streaming platform Roku has picked up streaming rights to Sony Pictures Television’s comedy The Goldbergs, to be made available to viewers for free on The Roku Channel. Starting August 1, all 10 seasons of The Goldbergs also will be featured on a FAST channel exclusively dedicated to the show. 

The Goldbergs is Sony’s latest deal with free streamer Roku. Earlier this month, Sony and the NFL announced that Roku would be airing NFL Network’s two-hour extension of popular weekday panel talker, Good Morning Football, titled GMFB: Overtime. TV stations also have picked up GMFB: Overtime  in syndication, with the Fox Television Stations serving as the launch group in major markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. 

The Goldbergs entered broadcast syndication in 2017. The show is currently sold to television stations owned by Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair, Hearst Television, Tegna, Sunbeam Television, Gray Television, Cox Media Group and other station groups. The Goldbergs also is available to stream on Hulu. 

The Goldbergs, which is set in the Reagan-era ‘80s, tells the story of 11-year-old Adam, a would-be filmmaker whose subject matter focuses mostly on his overprotective mother, quick-tempered father, rebellious sister, high-strung brother and suave grandfather.

The Goldbergs aired on ABC from 2013 to 2023 and starred Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jeff Garlin, Hayley Orrantia, Sean Giambrone, Troy Gentile, George Segal, Patton Oswalt and Sam Lerner. The show is executive produced by Adam F. Goldberg, who also created it, along with Seth Gordon and Doug Robinson. Sony Pictures Television and Happy Madison Productions produced.

Pat Sajak closed out his final day on Wheel of Fortune with 11.03 million viewers, the largest audience to have tuned into the access game show in more than four years. 

Sajak’s last episode, which aired on Friday, June 7, was the most-watched telecast in all of television, excluding sports, among households with a 6.2 rating in the week ended Sunday, June 9, according to Nielsen. All five of that week’s episodes landed in TV’s top 15 telecasts among homes and total viewers, according to the show’s distributor, CBS Media Ventures. Across the total week, the Sony Pictures Television-produced show averaged a 5.0 rating in households, up 16% compared to the same week last year, and 8.5 million viewers. 

Sajak, 77, has hosted Wheel of Fortune for all of the 8,000 episodes and 41 seasons it has aired in syndication, making him the longest-running game-show host in television history. He surpassed The Price is Right’s late Bob Barker to take that title in 2018. Along the way, Sajak has won three Emmys for outstanding game-show host, as well as received the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award. He is expected to remain with the show for three more years as a consultant.

Sajak’s co-host, Vanna White, 67, joined the show in 1982. Sajak will be replaced by Ryan Seacrest in September while White has signed to remain with Wheel of Fortune through the 2025-26 season. Bellamie Blackstone is the executive producer, having joined Wheel of Fortune in March 2022. 

The King of Queens has been licensed across the cable and streaming platforms of Paramount Global in a non-exclusive multiplatform deal, Sony Pictures Television said Thursday.

The deal includes rights to stream all nine seasons of the half-hour sitcom on Paramount Plus and the first three seasons on Pluto TV.

“Paramount recognized the importance of consolidated cross-platform negotiations years ago to deliver entertainment to audiences anywhere and everywhere they consume content,” Paramount Global chief program acquisitions officer Barbara Zaneri said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to execute industry-leading deals that give fans more ways to watch what they love across our multiplatform ecosystem of cable and streaming products.”

Sony Pictures Television took the show to market for a new licensing cycle a year ago. Since 2020, The King of Queens has been available to stream on Peacock, where it will remain, but now it will also be available on Paramount Plus. It’s been airing on Paramount-owned cable networks CMT and TV Land. 

“We are thrilled to extend our long-standing relationship with Paramount through this multi-platform agreement for one of the most iconic sitcoms in SPT’s library,” Sony Pictures Entertainment executive VP Flory Bramnick said in a statement. “We’re fortunate to be able to offer our partners highly coveted content across any genre that can be programmed specifically to their unique audience needs, and we’re confident The King of Queens will be a strong performer across multiple platforms.”

The King of Queens stars Kevin James and Leah Remini as married couple Doug and Carrie who live with Carrie’s father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller). The series aired on CBS from 1998 to 2007 and it began running in broadcast syndication in 2002. 

The King of Queens is produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions in association with SPT. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, and is executive-produced by Tony Sheehan, Kevin James, Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa, Jeff Sussman, David Bickel, Ilana Wernick, Chris Downey, Rock Reuben and Rob Schiller.

Sony Pictures Television Advertiser Sales said it would be pushing its digital broadcast network Great Entertainment Television (GET) during its upfront discussions.

GET shows vintage programming such as Good Times and Sanford & Son. Sony recently subscribed to Nielsen ratings for the network, and viewership has grown 13% in total day among viewers 2-plus year over year, Sony said.

Sony will also be talking about its Game Show Network as well as its long-running syndicated game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.

Game Show Network has green-lit three new strip series, including Beat the Bridge, based on the popular U.K. format from STV Studios, to be hosted by Cameron Mathison of General Hospital and Home & Family; and a revival of Tic Tac Dough hosted by Brooke Burns of The Chase.

Both shows are scheduled to air this summer.

The recently announced Flip Side, hosted by Jaleel White, will premiere in syndication and appear on Game Show Network This fall.

“In keeping with Game Show Network’s strategy, we continue to produce originals to keep our pipeline fresh, which resonates with our viewers,” Stuart Zimmerman, executive VP, ad sales, Sony Pictures Advertiser Sales, said. “As the overall marketplace faces headwinds, Game Show Network has weathered the storm better than most of its counterparts in both viewership and distribution. Our audience is highly engaged with our programs and our clients’ commercials are viewed in a trusted environment.“

In addition to Jeopardy! and Wheel, Sony distributes the syndicated shows S.W.A.T, Seinfeld and The Goldbergs.

Sony Pictures Television said it is launching a 60th Diamond Collection campaign to mark the three-score anniversary of the long-running answer-and-question game Jeopardy!

The year-long celebration will including a new “Why Not You?” campaign to recruit contestants kicking off March 30, which is being designated as “JeoparDay!”

“For 60 years, Jeopardy! has been America’s favorite sport of the mind, defying time and continuing to attract viewers of all generations,” said Suzanne Prete, president, game shows, at Sony Pictures Television. “Like the true diamond that it is, we’re excited to bring our fans a year of festivities to honor this important milestone while inspiring enthusiasm for the franchise’s future through the 60th Diamond Celebration.”

Also Read: Remembering Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek

There will also be a nationwide series of live events from April through December starting in New York, with a taping of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast featuring host Ken Jennings and other Jeopardy! Champions.

A new Jeopardy! bar trivia game will also be coming to major cities later this fall.

“Sixty years ago, Merv Griffin and his wife, Julann, created a quiz show that remains as unique and exciting today as it was in 1964,” said Jeopardy! executive producer Michael Davies. “It is only fitting to honor their creation, and the show’s enduring legacy, with a meaningful celebration that pays tribute to the show’s past and to its future. And we want to invite every fan to celebrate alongside us as this will be Jeopardy!’s biggest and best year yet.”

NFL Network's Good Morning Football is headed to syndication for the 2024-25 season, confirms Sony Pictures Television, which is handling national distribution.

The show, which has been airing on NFL Network since August 2016, will produce two additional original hours each day to air five days a week on broadcast and other platforms. Good Morning Football — or GMFB, as it will be called in syndication — will premiere ahead of NFL preseason football this summer.

Stations can take one or two hours each day and air the show whenever they want. GMFB is being sold to stations with a 7-7 barter split, meaning there will be seven minutes of national advertising and seven minutes of local advertising in each hour-long episode. Deals are currently in progress, according to Sony, and will be announced at a later date.

Good Morning Football stars Kyle Brandt, Jamie Erdahl, Jason McCourty and Peter Schrager, who discuss all things NFL in a roundtable setting. Besides the regular hosts, it also features guests and sideline reporters talking about the NFL news of the day. The show airs 7-10 a.m. ET Monday through Friday on NFL Network and is available to watch on the NFL Network live stream. 

While the NFL season runs from preseason matchups in August through the Super Bowl in early February, Good Morning Football airs year-round. Producers plan to produce 42-48 weeks of original episodes, while stations will be able to run the show 52 weeks a year, including repeats.

Riding the coattails of the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift romance and a highly competitive NFL season, Good Morning Football posted its most-viewed season since 2017, with viewership up 16%, according to Sony.

Good Morning Football is executive produced by Michael Davies and his Embassy Row Productions, which is housed at SPT.

Jeopardy! will host its biggest Tournament of Champions yet with 27 players taking on the challenge starting Friday, February 23. 

The field includes players who have won the most games since Jeopardy!’s last Tournament of Champions in 2022. It also includes six players who advanced out of Jeopardy!’s Wildcard competitions, which feature former contestants who won between one and three games playing for $100,000 and an invitation to the Tournament of Champions. Four Wildcard champions are playing from season 37/38 and two are coming in from season 39, which has yet to conclude on broadcast. Rounding out the cast are the winners of the Jeopardy! High School Reunion Tournament as well as season one of ABC’s Celebrity Jeopardy!.

Players will compete across nine quarter-finals, three semi-finals and a best-of-seven finals series. The first player to win three games during the best-of-seven final will claim a $250,000 grand prize and an invitation to compete on the upcoming Jeopardy! Masters primetime event on ABC. 

Jeopardy!’s Tournament of Champions tends to garner strong ratings, especially as the tournament goes on and the stakes climb ever higher. 

Following is the list of returning champions and the competition schedule:

Friday, February 23: Quarterfinal 1

– Suresh Krishnan, a six-game champion from Suwanee, Ga.

– Matthew Marcus, a four-game champion from Portland, Ore.

– Emily Sands, a three-game champion and S37/38 Champions Wildcard winner from Chanhassen, Minn.

Monday, February 26: Quarterfinal 2

– Ben Goldstein, a five-game champion from Dexter, Mich.

– Cris Pannullo, a 21-game champion from Ocean City, N.J.

– Jared Watson, a three-game champion from Greenville, Texas

Tuesday, February 27: Quarterfinal 3

– David Sibley, a four-game champion from Walla Walla, Wash.

– Yungsheng Wang, three-game champion and S37/38 Champions Wildcard winner originally from Lafayette, La.

– Hannah Wilson, an 8-game champion from Chicago, Ill.

Wednesday, February 28: Quarterfinal 4

– Nick Cascone, a one-game champion and S37/38 Champions Wildcard winner originally from Queens, N.Y.

– Jake DeArruda, a three-game champion originally from Ludlow, Vt.

– Yogesh Raut, a three -game champion from Vancouver, Wash.

Thursday, February 29: Quarterfinal 5

– Kevin Belle, a three-game champion from Silver Spring, Md.

– Luigi de Guzman, a five-game champion from Arlington, Va.

– Juveria Zaheer, a S39 Second Chance winner and S39 Champions Wildcard winner from Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Friday, March 1: Quarterfinal 6

– Brian Henegar, a three-game champion from LaFollette, Tenn.

– Josh Saak, a three-game champion and S37/38 Champions Wildcard winner from Boise, Idaho

– Stephen Webb, an eight-game champion from Longmont, Colo.

Monday, March 4: Quarterfinal 7

– Ike Barinholtz, Celebrity Jeopardy! Season 1 champion from Chicago, Ill.

– Melissa Klapper, a three-game champion from Merion Station, Pa.

– Ray Lalonde, a 13-game champion from Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Tuesday, March 5: Quarterfinal 8

– Justin Bolsen, Jeopardy! High School Reunion Tournament champion from Canton, Ga.

– Ben Chan, a nine-game champion from Green Bay, Wisc.

– Emmett Stanton, a three-game champion from Baltimore, Md.

Wednesday, March 6: Quarterfinal 9

– Sean McShane, a three-day champion from South Boston, Ma.

– Troy Meyer, a six-day champion from Tampa, Fla.

– Season 39 Champions Wildcard Winner (to be determined)

The semi-finals start Thursday, March 7, and the finals begin Tuesday, March 12. The finals will run through at least Thursday, March 14, if someone manages to win three in a row, but if seven games are needed, the tournament will conclude Wednesday, March 20. 

Syndicated game show Jeopardy!, now in its 40th season, is produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Media Ventures. It is hosted by Ken Jennings and executive produced by Michael Davies. 

Suzanne Prete has been promoted to president, game shows, Sony Pictures Television (SPT), Ravi Ahuja, chairman of global television studios and corporate development at SPT, said Thursday. 

SPT established its game-show group two years ago, and the new division focused on expanding its well-known game-show brands, including Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and other franchises. 

“Under Suzanne’s leadership, our game show division has excelled beyond even our lofty expectations,” Ahuja said. “The team has expanded SPT’s established franchises and leveraged our extensive library of formats to create innovative ‘radical reboots,’ while simultaneously developing original content for today’s buyers and audiences.” 

Over the past two years, Prete and her team worked closely with Disney-owned ABC to renew both of its powerhouse access game shows, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, for five more years, taking both shows through the 2027-28 season. The division also has been actively spinning off shows from both brands to air on ABC’s primetime. These new series include Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Celebrity Jeopardy! and Jeopardy! Masters.

Prete has been at Sony Pictures Television for 29 years, during which time she expanded the studio’s game show ancillary businesses through strategic licensing deals, in-show product integrations, and business partnerships. This includes a multi-year agreement with IGT that puts Wheel of Fortune in casinos and on lottery tickets. 

Prete and her team recently produced a U.S. adaptation of Raid the Cage, hosted by Damon Wayans Jr., for CBS, and they oversee The $100,000 Pyramid, hosted by Michael Strahan, on ABC. That show is currently in its seventh season. 

This past fall, TLC’s popular reality show 90 Day Fiancé launched its 10th season, having already logged 68 billion viewing hours across 150 countries throughout its run under the leadership of Matt Sharp, CEO of Sharp Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television.

With 20 years of television production under his belt, starting with VH1’s iconic reality series The Fabulous Life, Sharp has developed such franchises as 90 Day Fiancé —about international couples facing a visa deadline to get married — and its remarkable 34 spinoff series; WE tv’s Love After Lockup; Travel Channel's food-themed competition series Man v. Food and National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers. 

New York-based Sharp Entertainment shows no signs of slowing down. With several new shows in development for distribution across multiple platforms, Sharp continues to be one of  the most prolific producers in television. His ability to successfully create unique and addictive original programming has earned Matt Sharp and Sharp Entertainment the 2024 Broadcasting+Cable Multichannel News Producer of the Year Award.

S.W.A.T., the Sony Pictures Television-produced drama that has aired on CBS for six seasons, will make its cable debut on WE tv on Sunday, November 12.

The basic-cable network has licensed all seven seasons of the show — with the shortened and final seventh season due to air on CBS later in 2023 or in 2024 — in a nonexclusive deal with AMC Networks, which owns WEtv.

“S.W.A.T. is one of those high-octane procedurals that continues to captivate audiences and grow its viewership,” SPT senior VP, U.S. distribution Monica Veiga said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with AMC Networks to bring this fan-favorite to their viewers.” 

Inspired by the classic television series and the follow-up feature film, S.W.A.T. stars Shemar Moore as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, a former Marine and locally born and raised S.W.A.T. sergeant, who is tasked with running a specialized tactical unit in Los Angeles. 

S.W.A.T. also airs on CBS, in syndication and is available to stream on Netflix and Hulu. The sixth season, which premiered in 2022 on CBS, averaged 6.76 million viewers per episode, according to Nielsen, a 6 percent increase from the previous season. The first five seasons of S.W.A.T. spent several weeks on Netflix’s Top 10 list as well as on Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10 list, according to SPT.

S.W.A.T. is produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with CBS Studios. The series was developed by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan.

As Wheel of Fortune premiered its 41st season — which will be Pat Sajak’s last — co-host Vanna White signed on for two more years, taking her through 2025-26. Ryan Seacrest will take over as Wheel of Fortune’s host in September 2024, it was announced in June.

Alex Van Wagner joins the show as director, replacing Robert Ennis, who retired. Wagner comes to Wheel of Fortune after working on such shows as Shark Tank, The Voice, Holey Moley, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Is It Cake? and Game of Games.

Sajak’s daughter, Maggie, is in her third year as Wheel of Fortune’s social media correspondent. In that role, Sajak offers ways for viewers to win cash, vacations, merchandise and more through the show’s weekly sweepstakes called “Fan Fridays.” As part of that, Sajak and Wheel of Fortune collaborator and guided-tour company Collette are on tour, stopping in Newport, Rhode Island; Portland, Maine; New York City and throughout Europe. Every Friday, Sajak showcases a prize while revealing a word of the day that Wheel Watchers Club members can enter at wheeloffortune.com to be eligible to win. 

While giving viewers more chances to win, Wheel of Fortune is changing its approach to revealing SPIN ID numbers and will no longer reference them during the show. Wheel Watchers Club members will instead have to log on to wheeloffortune.com to see if they are a winner.

Wheel of Fortune will continue to feature brand integrations including Secret Santa, HSN, and Collette, as well as theme weeks celebrating Halloween, veterans, teachers and more.

Wheel of Fortune, which is paired with sibling game Jeopardy! on ABC-owned stations in major markets, is produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Media Ventures domestically and by Paramount Global Content Distribution internationally. Bellamie Blackstone is executive producer. 

Ryan Seacrest will take over as host of Sony Pictures Television’s long-running Wheel of Fortune after Pat Sajak retires at the end of this upcoming season. 

By the time he retires, Sajak will have hosted Wheel of Fortune for all 41 years the syndicated version of the show has been on the air. Seacrest, who will also serve as consulting producer, will start his run in September 2024. 

Wheel of Fortune, together with top access game show Jeopardy!, airs on ABC-owned stations in top markets, including WABC New York, KABC Los Angeles and WLS Chicago. Seacrest, who hosts ABC’s American Idol and was Kelly Ripa’s co-host on ABC’s daytime syndicated talker Live with Kelly and Ryan for six years, already has a strong relationship with ABC viewers and executives. Seacrest also hosts — and co-produces — Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve with Ryan Seacrest, which has aired on ABC every New Year’s Eve since 2005. (Prior to that, Clark hosted the special in various incarnations from 1974 to 2003. Regis Philbin hosted in 2004 after Clark suffered a stroke.)

“I’m truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak. I can say, along with the rest of America, that it’s been a privilege and pure joy to watch Pat and Vanna on our television screens for an unprecedented 40 years, making us smile every night and feel right at home with them,” Seacrest said in a statement. “Pat, I love the way you’ve always celebrated the contestants and made viewers at home feel at ease. I look forward to learning everything I can from you during this transition.”

Seacrest also noted that coming to Sony to host Wheel of Fortune is a “full-circle moment” for him, having hosted a game show called Click for Merv Griffin 25 years ago. 

“I can’t wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White,” Seacrest said.  

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Pat and Vanna for many years, witnessing their effortless ability to bring joy and humor to Wheel of Fortune for decades! Pat has been an incredible host and helped build the show into the success it is today,” Suzanne Prete, executive VP of game shows at Sony Pictures Television, said, also in a statement. “While Ryan has some big shoes to fill, I’m confident he will connect with our loyal fanbase and excite a whole new audience as we expand upon the show’s great legacy. I couldn’t be more thrilled.” 

Besides his other hosting duties, Seacrest also hosts and produces iHeartMedia’s nationally syndicated morning drive-time radio show, On Air with Ryan Seacrest as well as weekly show, American Top  40 with Ryan Seacrest.

Wheel of Fortune is executive produced by Bellamie Blackstone. It's distributed in syndication by CBS Media Ventures. 

Great American Media, the family and faith-based company started by former Hallmark Channel head Bill Abbott, said it completed its merger with Sony Pictures Television’s Pure Flix.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Great American Media retains a majority interest in the merged company and Abbott will be CEO, reporting to a board of directors.

“The merger marks a significant milestone for our company, our employees, our business partners and our fans as we take an important step in our mission to become the leader in trusted faith-and-family entertainment for a large and under-served market,” Abbott said.  “We are extremely excited that Sony Pictures has chosen to partner with us, and we look forward to combining these two dynamic organizations to accelerate Great American Media’s growth strategy.”

Pure Flix is a streaming service providing faith and family-friendly movies and series. Great American Media’s flagship network Great American Family is available in 50 million pay TV homes. It has been the fastest-growing network for seven consecutive months, according to Nielsen.

Pat Sajak, who has hosted Wheel of Fortune since 1981, will retire after next season, the show’s 41st. Sajak, 76, posted the news on Twitter.

“Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last,” Sajak tweeted on Monday. “It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it’ll keep the clickbait sites busy!)”

Sajak has hosted Wheel of Fortune since 1981, winning three Emmys for outstanding game-show host along the way, and also receiving the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award. At one point, he was hosting the show both in syndication and in primetime. Co-host Vanna White, who started as the show’s fashion plate and letter turner and soon became Sajak’s partner, started the next year. In 2018, Sajak became the longest-running TV game show host in history, surpassing The Price Is Right’s Bob Barker.

“As the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat has entertained millions of viewers across America for 40 amazing years,” Suzanne Prete, executive VP of game shows at Sony Pictures Television, also said in a statement. “We are incredibly grateful and proud to have had Pat as our host for all these years, and we look forward to celebrating his outstanding career throughout the upcoming season. Pat has agreed to continue as a consultant on the show for three years following his last year hosting, so we’re thrilled to have him remaining close to the Wheel of Fortune family.” 

SPT earlier this year renewed Wheel of Fortune and its companion access game show, Jeopardy!, for five more years on the ABC Owned Stations at license fees upwards of $1.6 million per week, according to sources. Fox had been in the bidding mix but bowed out when Sony would not commit to giving the group the shows for six seasons or three political cycles. Both Wheel and Jeopardy! play well among news-watching audiences, who also tend to be voters. That deal keeps both game shows on the air through the 2027-28 season.

In the wake of the third year without a NATPE Market and Conference, syndicators and station groups gathered at the Fox lot in Los Angeles last week at an event initiated by Fox. 

The off-the-record two-day event, called The Summit, was supported by other major distributors, including Debmar-Mercury, CBS Media Ventures, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros. Discovery, and was attended by station group executives from such groups as Sinclair Broadcast Group, Fox Television Stations, CBS News & Stations, NBCUniversal Local, Weigel Broadcasting, Nexstar Media Group, Scripps, Tegna, Standard Media, Cox Media Group, Hearst Television and more. 

Unlike NATPE, the event was solely dedicated to issues faced by syndicators — who develop, produce and sell syndicated programming — and their TV-station buyers. In recent years, NATPE had expanded to include content producers and buyers both domestically and globally since the waning syndication business did not throw off enough revenue to support an entire conference. 

“For me, the event was narrow in a really good way,“ Mort Marcus, co-president, Debmar-Mercury, said. “The only people who were there were people we wanted to talk to. I was on a panel and the people in the audience were broadcasters who would stand up and ask questions. We had healthy and collaborative industry discussions on both days.”

During the course of the event, the executives in attendance had frank discussions about such topics as exclusivity, multiplatform distribution, programming costs and other factors.

“There’s a tension between the station groups and the syndicators,” said Stephen Brown, executive VP, programming and development, Fox Television Stations and Fox First Run. “The syndicators need to find revenue sources to cover the deficits in advertising revenues, while the stations are saying, ‘We are giving you valuable time and, in some cases, money, so we want to have some kind of exclusivity.’ There’s a natural tension there but that can be worked out. We had the beginnings of conversations in the open that we normally don’t have.”

Fox et al were so happy with the event and the frank conversations it encouraged that they hope to hold it again next year and expand it. 

“I think it went really well and I’d like to continue doing it,” Steve LoCascio, president, CBS Media Ventures, said. “We need to trust each other and we need to try something different. The half-hour format for Drew was really different and partnering with Fox on Pictionary was another example.” 

Whether syndicators and station group executives will attend such an event rather than a rebooted NATPE under new ownership remains to be seen. In January, Canadian company Brunico Communications, which produces such events as the Realscreen and Kidscreen Summits and the Banff World Media Festival, announced it had acquired the assets of the bankrupt association, reportedly for $150,000 plus outstanding debt. Brunico has said it plans to run NATPE Budapest in June and then bring NATPE back next January. ■

Hearst Television has picked up weekly political series Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, which is produced by its sister company Hearst Media Production Group, for two more seasons. Hearst also has reupped Sony Pictures Television to distribute the show for two more seasons.

Sony is now taking Matter of Fact out to the rest of the country to be renewed. Now in its eighth season, Matter of Fact is cleared on stations covering 95% of the U.S. The show has welcomed such guests as John Legend, Danny Trejo, Donal Logue, Roxanne Gay, Jemele Hill and many journalists, authors and political experts.

“Matter of Fact has been a solid performer, attracting a diverse and coveted younger audience, as well as political advertising dollars – a key revenue driver for local stations. We’re proud to work with Hearst Media Production Group and extend our longstanding agreement to distribute the show and are looking forward to taking it out to buyers later this month,” said Zack Hernandez, SVP, Syndication Sales, Sony Pictures Entertainment, in a statement.

According to Sony, Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien has grown by 5% in the 2022-23 TV season, averaging nearly 1.2 million total viewers each week. 

“Soledad and the team are at the top of their game in providing compelling, meaningful and relevant content,” said Frank Biancuzzo, president of Hearst Media Production Group, also in a statement. “Matter of Fact has an incredibly loyal following and that audience continues to grow.”

O’Brien will be inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in May. ■

New half-hour late-night strip Channel Surf with Craig Ferguson will mark the return of both Sony Pictures Television and Craig Ferguson to first-run syndication. The show, which is entering the market now, is intended to debut this fall.

Channel Surf with Craig Ferguson will see Ferguson and friends reviewing TV’s most shocking, surprising and hilarious moments.

Ferguson starred on CBS’s The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson from 2005-14. He hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by FremantleMedia and distributed by Debmar-Mercury, from 2014-17. Channel Surf will be produced by Whisper North, which is a division of Sony Pictures Television-backed production company, Whisper. SPT is distributing.

Channel Surf with Craig Ferguson will be executive produced by Ferguson and Whisper North managing director Tom McLennan. Richard Easter (America’s Got Talent and You’ve Been Framed) and Joe Bolter (The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson), both of whom have worked with Ferguson for almost 15 years, will serve as executive producers and writers on the show.

"With a shortage of sitcoms available for stations, viewers need a place to laugh," SPT senior VP, U.S. syndication sales Zack Hernandez said in a statement. "Channel Surf is that perfect show. Craig is an extraordinary talent who has excelled in late night, daytime and primetime and has incredibly high awareness. Viewers know and love him."

"Craig shot a hilarious pilot, and we can’t wait to reintroduce our buyers to him and look forward to giving audiences a chance to watch this very funny show," Hernandez added.

“I wanted to do Channel Surf because I think television is ready for the return of the silly/funny/occasional lip-synching puppet format," Ferguson said, also in a statement. "Also, it’s a TV show which contains clips of questionable moments from other TV shows, thus creating a spectacular visual turducken of stupid."

A pilot for Channel Surf with Craig Ferguson was shot in the U.K. this month, and SPT will take the show out to potential buyers this week in Los Angeles. Syndicated buyers and sellers are gathering at the Fox lot in L.A. this week for an off-the-record makeshift NATPE, in light of that conference going away for the time being.

Besides Channel Surf, other shows in circulation to debut in syndication this fall are PPI Releasing’s daytime talk show Michaela, starring former HLN and Good Day LA anchor Michaela Pereira; Debmar-Mercury’s off-GSN People Puzzler, hosted by Leah Remini; and a court show from Allen Media Group starring Eboni K. Williams, who currently hosts a two-hour newsblock on The Grio with Marc Lamont Hill as well as a podcast, Holding Court with Eboni K. Williams. ■

Peacock has a Community movie in the works. The show ran on NBC for six seasons, starting in 2009. Cast members Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong return. 

Dan Harmon created the show, and is an executive producer on the movie, as are McHale, Andrew Guest, Russ Krasnoff and Gary Foster. 

“ ‘Six seasons and a movie’ started out as a cheeky line from Community’s early seasons and quickly ignited a passionate fan movement for this iconic, hilarious and cool (cool, cool) NBC comedy,” said Susan Rovner, chairman, entertainment content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We’re incredibly grateful that 15 years later, we are able to deliver fans this promised movie and can’t wait to get to work with Dan Harmon, Andrew Guest, Joel McHale, Sony and our partners at UTV to continue this epic comedy for Peacock audiences.”

Community totaled 110 episodes. All are on Netflix and Hulu. Peacock said it is “acquiring the full series library (non-exclusively).”

Chevy Chase, Donald Glover and Yvette Nicole Brown were in the series but are not mentioned in the movie announcement. 

Sony Pictures Television and Universal Television produce the new project.

“Community was light years ahead of its time when it premiered on NBC in 2009 and we are thrilled to once again visit the brilliant minds of Dan Harmon, Andrew Guest and this impeccable cast,” said Jason Clodfelter, co-president, Sony Pictures Television Studios. “We are grateful to Peacock, our partners at UTV and to all the zealous fans who have cherished this iconic show.” ■

On the heels of CBS’s renewal of long-running drama S.W.A.T., Sony Pictures Television is taking the show to the syndication market for a second cycle, starting next fall, Sony said Wednesday. 

Cycle two would be for two years — from fall 2023 until fall 2025 — with a possibility of being renewed for a third cycle should the show continue to perform. The show’s first five seasons are currently in their first cycle on TV stations in weekend off-network syndication and the second cycle would incorporate season six. According to SPT, S.W.A.T. grew more than any other weekly off-network hour last season and was the only weekly to grow among men 18-49. 

“On network, S.W.A.T. has been one of the top shows in attracting a diverse audience, and we’ve seen that translate into syndication,“ SPT senior VP and general sales manager, U.S. syndication sales Zack Hernandez said in a statement. “Due to the action-oriented nature of the series, it has also been a natural fit for sports adjacencies. The show has done a great job of finding an audience wherever it is, and we look forward to taking it out for a second cycle.” 

“Between its season-six pickup and solid network performance, S.W.A.T. has a tremendous amount of momentum,“ said Flory Bramnick, EVP, U.S. distribution, SPT, also in a statement. “Now with a strong first cycle in syndication, we’re seeing a growing appetite for the show and believe it has a long, bright future in syndication.”  

The drama — which stars Shemar Moore, David Lim, Alex Russell, Jay Harrington and Lina Esco — is produced by Sony Pictures Television and CBS Studios. It is executive produced by Shawn Ryan, Andy Dettmann, Justin Lin, Neal Moritz, Marney Hochman, Pavun Shetty, Billy Gierhart and Paul Bernard. The show was developed for television by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Ryan. ▪️

Jeopardy! will officially be co-hosted by the tag team of Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings, executive producer Michael Davies confirmed Wednesday (July 27).

That the move was in progress was reported earlier this week but had not been officially confirmed by Davies, the show or producer Sony Pictures Television until now.

“I write today with the exciting news that we have closed and signed deals with Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings to be the hosts of Jeopardy! moving forward,” Davies wrote in a blog post on Jeopardy.com.

“The fact is, we have so much Jeopardy! to make, and so many plans for the future, that we always knew we would need multiple hosts for the franchise and we are just so grateful that Mayim and Ken stepped in and stepped up to put the show in a position to succeed. And succeed it has. With Mayim and Ken hosting, the show is considerably up in viewership year over year, with more than 27 [million] viewers tuning in each week this season. When you consider that almost every other show in broadcast television and syndication is declining, this has been a quite remarkable season: we’re the most-watched entertainment show on all of television. Yes, all of television.”

Jeopardy! had been looking for a new permanent host since the death of Alex Trebek in November 2020. Jennings and Bialik have been co-hosting the show on a temporary basis since last fall.

Beyond sharing hosting duties on the syndicated strip, Bialik and Jennings will also host special events and primetime specials.

Jennings, who is Jeopardy!’s winningest contestant ever and a consulting producer on the show, will kick off the show’s 39th season in September as well as the inaugural Second Chance competition and the popular Tournament of Champions, which this season will feature such players as Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach, Ryan Long and more. Jennings will host through December. 

In January, Bialik, who also stars in and executive produces Fox sitcom Call Me Kat, will take the reins. During her run, Bialik will also host “a couple of new tournaments,” according to Davies, as well as the Jeopardy! National College Championship.

In the final six weeks of summer, Jeopardy!, like most syndicated shows, airs repeats. This year, Davies said he and his fellow producers have “handpicked six weeks of some of our favorite episodes of the season, featuring our closest games, super-champions, and some of the people who will be announced as part of our inaugural Second Chance competition.”

Beyond the host announcement, Davies also made some news about what’s coming up for the long-running game show.

Starting Monday, Jeopardy! will release a daily three-minute highlight reel of the day’s episode on its website, across its social media and with its partner TV station affiliates. 

Finally, the show is launching a new weekly podcast titled, “Inside Jeopardy!”  that will be hosted by Davies and Jeopardy!’s producing team. Davies is an experienced podcaster, having co-hosted the soccer-focused “Men in Blazers” podcast since 2014. “Inside Jeopardy!” will kick off with an announcement of the returning players who will face off in the show’s inaugural Second Chance tournament. Davies will also “share my vision for Jeopardy!’s future, including new developments in the areas of pop culture and sports, plans for a Jeopardy! Honors awards show and my biggest and most passionately held idea: a Jeopardy! Masters league in primetime or on a streaming platform,” he wrote.

“Mayim and Ken are both extraordinarily talented and simply lovely humans. They support the staff and each other,” wrote Davies. “They love and respect this institution of a television program. In return, the staff and I are honored to work alongside them.” ■

Hosts for two of daytime and access’ most popular strips have been named, according to reports, but the production companies behind each aren’t confirming yet.

Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik are expected to continue to share hosting duties on the Sony Pictures Television-produced Jeopardy! through this coming season, while Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump staffer, is said to be joining ABC’s The View as the panel’s conservative co-host. Griffin served as Trump’s director of strategic communications. 

“We do not have a co-host announcement to make at this time. Stay tuned,” said a spokesperson for The View after reports of Griffin’s appointment emerged from Variety and other publications. Griffin was a regular visitor to The View last season after the departure of Meghan McCain.

Sony also was not confirming reports that Jennings and Bialik have re-signed for season 39 of the popular access game show.

Jennings, Jeopardy!’s most-winning contestant of all time, has been co-hosting Jeopardy! with Bialik since last September. Jennings first guest-hosted in January 2021 after the death of iconic host Alex Trebek of pancreatic cancer in November 2020. Bialik, star of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and Fox’s Call Me Kat, did her first guest-hosting stint later that year. 

In August 2021, Jeopardy! Executive Producer Mike Richards was named host, but that did not last long after reports emerged of Richards making statements considered to be misogynistic on a podcast he co-hosted. Richards also had been named a defendant in a discrimination lawsuit that was eventually settled against FremantleMedia North America and The Price Is Right while he was an executive producer on that show.

After Richards was dismissed from his hosting job as well as from his post as executive producer of both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, Jennings and Bialik stepped in. Michael Davies, who created and executive produced Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, also came on board as interim executive producer. 

Davies, whose production company, Embassy Row, was bought by Sony in 2009, was named permanent executive producer of Jeopardy! in April. Jennings and Bialik have switched back and forth as Jeopardy! hosts  -- and as Bialik’s production schedule on the just-renewed Call Me Kat allows -- ever since. 

Sony also plans to debut Celebrity Jeopardy! on ABC later this year, with Bialik as host.

The View generally operates with a rotating panel of hosts, but should Griffin be made official, she’ll be joining Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro for the show’s 26th season starting in September. ■

Sony Pictures Television said it has named veteran TV executive Katherine Pope as president of its Sony Pictures Television Studios, overseeing all domestic scripted productions. Pope, who has been head of original content for Charter Communications since 2018, starts her new position on August 22.

Pope will report to Ravi Ahuja, chairman, Global Television Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment Corporate Development.

“Katherine has proven herself as a dynamic leader with impeccable taste and the ability to successfully develop and produce content that resonates with audiences,“ Ahuja said in a statement. “She is an excellent fit for this role and I’m delighted that she has chosen to join us at SPT.

“Katherine brings vast experience that will help us build on the overall strength of our global production capabilities at the studio,” he continued. “With Katherine leading our scripted production business in the U.S. and Wayne Garvie leading our international production business, we have an incredible leadership team dedicated to working with the industry’s top talent to produce undeniable content around the world.”

Also: Five Spot Conversation With Katherine Pope 

Pope has more than two decades of experience in the TV business, including a 10-year run with NBC/NBCUniversal Television Studios in a number of leadership roles, including executive VP of the network and president of the studio. She developed such hit shows as Heroes, Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock, and The Office. Pope later launched the television division at Peter Chernin’s Twentieth Century Fox-based production company, Chernin Entertainment, overseeing all creative development and production. She also executive produced several series, including Fox comedy New Girl.

She was tapped to run Charter’s original content division, Spectrum Originals, in 2018, curating a slate of premium series such as the upcoming A Spy Among Friends, starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce, as well as Beacon 23, starring Lena Headey and Stephan James; Panhandle, starring Luke Kirby, and George & Tammy, starring Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon. She also greenlighted L.A.’s Finest, starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba, the limited series revival of Mad About You, and Joe Pickett, which became Spectrum Originals’ most-watched series.

Pope also served as executive producer, along with Elizabeth Meriwether, of the Emmy-nominated Hulu limited series The Dropout, based on the podcast of the same name and starring Amanda Seyfried.

In May, Pope was named one of Multichannel News's Wonder Women of Los Angeles.

“I am thrilled to be joining the incredibly talented team Tony and Ravi have assembled at SPT — a studio with the strength, expertise and independence to lead amidst the challenges of a rapidly evolving marketplace,” Pope said in a statement. “I have long admired the creativity and high-quality work SPT consistently produces and can’t wait to explore all the opportunities that lie ahead. I am excited to step onto the lot and get started!”

No word on who Charter will name as Pope’s replacement, but sources familiar with the operator said they are working on transition plans. ■ 

Jeopardy! continued to lead syndication and the games in the week ended May 1, even though many access shows were preempted on April 28 and 29 by ABC’s coverage of the 2022 NFL Draft. 

CBS’ top game managed to stay on top despite declining 5% to a 5.3 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen. That’s Jeopardy!’s lowest rating since the week ended March 27.

Jeopardy!’s ratings have been buoyed for the past several weeks by the winning performance of 23-year-old contestant Mattea Roach, who as of May 1 had won $560, 983 and 23 consecutive matches, putting her fifth on the show’s all-time highest regular season winning list in terms of victories and earnings before finally losing last Friday, May 6 by just $1.

Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud was the sole gainer among the games, inching up 2% to a three-week high 5.2, although that was not enough to dislodge Jeopardy! from the top slot. Per usual, Family Feud led all of syndication among the key women 25-54 demographic at a 2.0, although it was down 10% from last week’s season-to-date high 2.2.

Jeopardy! companion series, CBS’ Wheel of Fortune fell 12% to a 4.4, that show’s lowest rating since the Thanksgiving week ending November 28, 2021.

Fox’s 25 Words or Less, starring and executive produced by Meredith Vieira, and Fox’s You Bet Your Life with host Jay Leno both broke even at a 0.8. Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask replied with a steady 0.4. 

Also: 'You Bet Your Life' Drops the Standup, Ups the Chat

Disney’s internet video show RightThisMinute retreated 17% to a 0.5.

CBS’ magazine leader Inside Edition eroded 9% to a 2.1, while companion magazine Entertainment Tonight pulled back 10% to a 1.9. NBCUniversal’s Access Hollywood gave back 13% to a 0.7, tying Fox’s flat TMZ. Warner Bros.’ Extra stayed put at a 0.6 and the only magazine to hold steady for the week and year. CBS’ canceled DailyMailTV and Fox’s Dish Nation remained at a 0.5 and a 0.2, respectively.

Shows on CBS affiliates were bounced out of their time slots on April 26 and 27 for UEFA Champions League soccer. For a second week, CBS’ Dr. Phil and Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan remained deadlocked at the top of the talkers even though both shows slipped 6% to a 1.5.

Among women 25-54, Live led with a 0.6, followed by Dr. Phil at a 0.5 and NBCU’s nine-time Daytime Emmy nominee Kelly Clarkson at a 0.4. 

Warner Bros.’ concluding Ellen DeGeneres declined 10% in households to a 0.9, tying Clarkson, which was flat. 

Clarkson, DeGeneres and CBS’ Drew Barrymore and Rachael Ray were the best performing talkers in the top ten year to year, with all four shows holding 100% of their rating from the same week last year. 

Ray, NBCU’s Maury and Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams were all unchanged at a 0.7, with Wendy guest-hosted by Michael Rapaport. 

NBCU’s recently renewed Steve Wilkos stabilized at a 0.6 for the 10th straight week, tying Disney's Tamron Hall, which fell back 14%. Drew Barrymore, also a go for next season, garnered a steady 0.5. Sony Pictures Television’s short-ordered Good Dish carved out a 0.4 for the tenth straight weke, tying Debmar-Mercury’s also-canceled Nick Cannon, which recovered 33%. Warner Bros.’ The Real, which is also ending, rested at a 0.3 for the 16th consecutive week, tying repeats of NBCU’s conflict talker Jerry Springer. CBS’ The Doctors, which will not return next season, delivered a 0.2 for the 60th straight week.

The top court shows were all lower. Encore episodes of CBS’ Judge Judy eased 7% to a 4.3. CBS’ Hot Bench also backtracked 7% to a 1.4. Warner Bros.’ People’s Court cratered 13% to a 0.7. Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis sagged 17% to a 0.5, tying Fox’s Divorce Court, which rebounded 25% to a 0.5. NBCU’s canceled Judge Jerry registered a 0.4 for the 12th straight week. Wrigley Media’s rookie Relative Justice settled for a third straight 0.3. 

In off-net, sitcoms were little changed. Warner Bros.’ leader The Big Bang Theory faded 5% to a 1.9, its lowest rating since the week-ended November 28. Disney’s Last Man Standing, Warner Bros.’ rookie Young Sheldon and Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men were all on par with the prior week’s 1.2, 0.9 and 0.8, respectively. Sony’s The Goldbergs, Disney’s Family Guy and Disney’s Modern Family all remained at a 0.7. Sony’s Seinfeld was stable at a0.6 for a third week. Disney’s Black-ish and Warner Bros.’ Mom both managed a 0.5 for the 11th consecutive week. 

Michael Davies has been named permanent executive producer of Jeopardy!, he announced Thursday in a post on Jeopardy!’s website.

“Today, I am delighted to announce that I have accepted Sony’s offer to become the show’s full time Executive Producer,” Davies wrote. “I am both honored and humbled by the faith the studio and the staff have put in me. Over the next few months, the scope of our plans will become clear. But, for now I just want to thank everyone in the Jeopardy! community for your phenomenal support.” 

Davies is best known for creating and executive producing massive game show hit, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, which dominated ABC’s primetime in the early 2000s with Regis Philbin as host and then moved into syndication from 2002-2019. A celebrity version of the game currently airs on ABC primetime with Jimmy Kimmel as host.

In 1999, Davies launched his company Embassy Row, which Sony Pictures Television acquired in 2009. Embassy Row, where Davies remains president, produces such shows as Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live and AMC’s Talking Dead, among others. 

“My television journey … started in development: first at Merv Griffin, then Disney, then ABC, then Sony, where I have spent a career creating and finding new ideas for television,” Davies wrote. “After a while, I started producing those ideas as well. A few have been huge hits. Some have been critical hits. Others, less so (!) But I’ve only ever produced what I’ve developed. I’ve never been given a show to produce, let alone a legacy. And it’s one of the reasons why, after more than three decades in this business, the opportunity to step in and help out on Jeopardy! on an interim basis has been such an unexpected pleasure.” 

Last fall, Sony tapped Davies to take over Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune on an interim basis after Mike Richards was fired. In March, Bellamie Blackstone was named executive producer of Wheel of Fortune.

While Davies runs Jeopardy!, he will also work closely with Sony to develop more content in the game space via Embassy Row, he said.

“The studio’s strong commitment to game shows also allows me to bring Embassy Row’s game show development and production expertise to the new Sony Games area being run by my partner in all things Jeopardy!, Suzanne Prete. Suzanne and I are like the human embodiment of a Venn diagram, very different backgrounds and starting points, but a huge shaded area in the middle where we are completely aligned on the future of Jeopardy! and the game show business at large,” Davies wrote. 

“Honestly, without the strength of our working relationship and the trust we both have in each other, I would never have been able to succeed in the interim role, and I never would have taken, let alone been offered, the permanent role. We have so many plans to expand our working relationship in the future and already several Embassy Row creatives and producers have started work within the group. With the brilliant Bellamie Blackstone joining to lead Wheel of Fortune, the studio’s superb library, multiple shows in development, and a reinvigorated partnership with our colleagues over at GSN, Sony is truly positioned to become an even greater force  in the game-show space.” ■

Bellamie Blackstone has been named executive producer of syndicated game show Wheel of Fortune. Steve Schwartz, formerly supervising producer, has been promoted to co-executive producer.

"With Bellamie joining as executive producer and Steve stepping up as co-executive producer of Wheel of Fortune, we have a terrific team to shepherd this iconic show into the future,”  Suzanne Prete, executive VP, game shows, Sony Pictures Television, said in a statement. “Bellamie is a creative force with a fresh perspective that will help us extend and expand the Wheel of Fortune franchise in exciting new ways. Throughout Season 39, Steve has demonstrated remarkable leadership that is equaled only by his historical knowledge of the show and production. With Bellamie and Steve working in partnership, I am confident that Season 40 will be our best yet."

Blackstone has executive produced such programs as Netflix’s History of Swear Words, ABC’s and then CBS’ Kids Say the Darndest Things, and Hulu’s I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman. She’s also produced such game shows as Press Your Luck, Deal or No Deal and 1 vs. 100.

“It's incredibly exciting to be asked to join such an iconic show,” Blackstone said, also in a statement. “Wheel of Fortune is a classic and I'm thrilled to be working with Steve and the entire Wheel of Fortune team taking this beloved show into the next 40 years.”

Schwartz has been with Wheel of Fortune for 32 years in various roles. Over the last several months in the wake of former executive producer Mike Richard’s departure in September, Schwartz stepped up to oversee the production of the show’s 39th season.

“We have an incredible production group at Wheel of Fortune that I’m proud to be a part of,” said Schwartz. “We are gratified to have produced a show that has linked generations who have invited it into their homes each weeknight. I look forward to welcoming Bellamie and working with her to preserve that legacy and build on it for future generations.”

Wheel of Fortune continues to be hosted by Pat Sajak and Vanna White, who are contracted through the 2023-24 season. Production will wrap on the game show’s 39th season later this month, while new episodes will air until June. ■

The Good Dish, which took Dr. Oz’s time slots after host Dr. Mehmet Oz left to run for the U.S. Senate, will not get a second season in syndication, according to sources, while NBCUniversal’s Judge Jerry, starring Jerry Springer, will not return for season four, NBCU confirms.

The Good Dish’s distributor, Sony Pictures Television, still hopes to clear the show on a different platform. Prior to launching in syndication, Sony had expected to get a streaming deal for it.

Sony Pictures Television declined to comment. 

In order to bring The Good Dish back for a second season, Sony had to get it cleared on stations across the country. But over the course of its short run, it averaged a 0.4 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen, lower than its predecessor. Stations were paying the same license fees they had paid for Dr. Oz, which had declined along with the ratings over the years, and they were not willing to pay those same fees for an even lower-rated show, according to sources. Besides Fox, The Good Dish also aired on Hearst, Nexstar, Gray and Sinclair stations.

The Good Dish started as a segment in Dr. Oz hosted by his daughter, Daphne, as well as Top Chef’s Gail Simmons and Food Network’s Jamika Pessoa. When Oz announced in November that he was running for Senate, Fox immediately had to pull down the show on New York and Philadelphia TV stations in order to avoid running into the FCC’s equal time rules. Dr. Oz ended its run on Friday, January 14. The Good Dish debuted on Monday, January 17.

The Good Dish is distributed by Sony Pictures Television and executive produced by Amy Chiaro and Stacy Rader and Oz’s ZoCo Productions. 

Judge Jerry, which is executive produced by Kerry Shannon, stars Jerry Springer and is currently in its third season. That show also has been averaging a 0.4 in households. Springer remains on television, however, via repeats of his long-running conflict talker, Jerry Springer. 

Deadline first reported these two cancellations. ■

“What’s for dinner?” is the key question that Sony Pictures Television’s new first-run strip, The Good Dish, aims to answer for audiences.

Five days a week, hosts Daphne Oz, Top Chef’s Gail Simmons and Food Network’s Jamika Pessoa get together to share recipes, offer tips and interview celebrities. The one-hour show is an expanded version of a weekly segment that has aired during Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz for the past several years.

“Many people, if they cook at all, have three recipes they make all the time,” Oz said. “That is the first and foremost thing we’re going to answer: What’s for dinner? We’re going to provide viewers with a simple, elevated family supper that you are going to want to make and they are going to want to eat.”

As the mom of four young children, Oz knows of what she speaks. She began her cooking career early, having written The Dorm Room Diet while she was attending Princeton University. She went on a book tour and spoke on college campuses to promote that effort. In 2011, she began starring as a co-host on ABC’s The Chew, where she appeared for six years. She departed that show the year before ABC canceled it in 2018.

“The Dorm Room Diet came about because I was an overweight kid in a family full of health nuts,” said Oz, the oldest of Dr. Mehmet Oz’s four children. “I love cooking. I love the delicious product of that effort, how you can have an adventure in your kitchen and the conversations all of that fosters. I have always been intrigued by the idea of women gathering in the kitchen. The conversations that flow from gathering around a delicious meal are a beautiful way to connect.

“That love is what drew me to food initially,” Oz continued. “The continual ability to learn is what keeps me there.”

Those are the ideas that form the core of The Good Dish, which is taking The Dr. Oz Show’s time slots on TV stations across the country. Dr. Oz was spun off from The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009 and ran for nearly 13 seasons. Sony had been offering The Good Dish to stations as a first-run strip since 2019 but ran into challenges clearing it due to a lack of real estate, with the ABC- and NBC-owned stations instead picking up Tamron Hall and Kelly Clarkson, respectively. And then, of course, the onset of the pandemic in 2020 changed the picture for everyone.

A Show Finds Its Moment

“There’s a lot of pressure in the business for groups to take internal product, particularly on the affiliate side,” Flory Bramnick, executive VP, distribution, Sony Pictures Television, said. “It wasn’t like we couldn’t get the show sold, but we really thought we had something bigger than that. We wanted to wait for the right opportunity. We owed it to our stations, our viewers and our advertisers to really wait for the right moment and the right moment came along.”

When Dr. Oz decided to depart his eponymous show and run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, an immediate need opened up. Oz wrapped its run on Friday, January 14, and The Good Dish premiered on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 17. 

“As soon as we needed to go, there was this symphony,” Bramnick said. “Everybody pulled together and they pulled together immediately. That included the talent, [executive producers] Amy Chairo and Stacy Rader on the production side, Holly Jacobs in development, Zack Hernandez in distribution and business affairs, finance and marketing. It was hard and scary at times. We didn’t know exactly how things were going to turn out. But the station partners were fabulous, really fabulous, and the advertisers have been fabulous. Everyone had their oars in the water and they pulled it off.” 

Besides Oz, the show features Simmons, who comes from Top Chef and Food & Wine magazine and is classically trained, and Pessoa, who has appeared frequently on Food Network and focuses on Caribbean fare. Each of the three women comes from an entirely different food background, and the show draws from all three.

“Gail is our brain,” Oz said. “She always knows the classical way to make something or how to fix something that flopped. Jamika is a veteran of television and caterer by training. She has this incredible ability to make food fun and give it an entertaining spin, whether you’re cooking for a crowd, making something bite-sized or giving it a finishing touch.”

The Good Dish is executive-produced in New York City by Amy Chiaro and Stacy Rader, who seem to have glided smoothly from Dr. Oz to The Good Dish without skipping a beat.

“We had a few weeks to make the full turn,” Chiaro said. “Even before Sony knew 100% that we would launch, I knew I needed to start a production team. We started laying out segments because there was nothing to lose by us just getting started.”

Off to a Running Start

The Good Dish had a huge advantage in getting up and running quickly in that it already had everything it needed — talent, crew, stage, set — in place. 

“We already had the infrastructure,” said Rader, who previously served as a producer for Food Network. “It was all there waiting for us. We weren’t turning on the lights for the first time. I see great opportunities for extensions into home, lifestyle, beauty, fashion. [The hosts] bring a lot of varied interests.” 

The key to the show’s success, Chiaro said, is the chemistry of its hosts. “I think this is a show that will be fun to be with. They are all super warm and have amazing chemistry with each other. This is a nice break for people and a great opportunity for some ‘me time.’ ”

Stations are paying Sony the same cash license fee plus barter that they paid for Dr. Oz, according to station sources. Dr. Oz was due to air for one more season, through 2022-23, but Sony will need to renew The Good Dish if it’s going to stay on the air after this season. 

In its premiere week, The Good Dish averaged a 0.4 live-plus-same-day national household rating, according to Nielsen. All syndicated shows face preemptions due to sports, live news conferences and other reasons, but The Good Dish saw two days of preemptions in its premiere week, causing Nielsen to break its Monday premiere-day rating out of the show’s weekly average. ■

Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider’s winning streak finally snapped on Wednesday after 40 games and $1,382,800 in winnings. Schneider lost to Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, who took first place with $29,600 to Schneider’s $19,600. 

On the road to victory, Talsma hit and answered correctly a key Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy! round. Headed into Final Jeopardy!, Schneider was far ahead with $27,600, while Talsma had $17,600. However, Talsma’s Final Jeopardy! bet of $12,000 and the correct answer of “What is Bangladesh?” to the clue: “The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an H, it’s also one of the most populous,” put him over the top. Schneider did not fill in a response and her reign was ended.

“I had thought that Rhone was going to be tough going into it,” Schneider said in a statement. “I loved hanging out with him, we had great conversation before the taping, but I could tell that he was here to play and that he was going to be good. I still came very close to winning, but I did feel like maybe I was slipping a little bit. And once it was clear that he was fast on the buzzer, I knew it was going to be a battle all the way.”

Over the course of her run, Schneider broke several records. She is now second on Jeopardy!’s all-time consecutive wins list behind only Ken Jennings, with 74 wins in 2004. She’s fourth on the all-time regular-season cash winnings list, behind Matt Amodio at $1,518,601, James Holzhauer at $2,462,216 and Jennings at $2,520,700.

“It’s really been an honor,” Schneider said. “To know that I’m one of the most successful people at a game I’ve loved since I was a kid and to know that I’m a part of its history now, I just don’t know how to process it.”

Schneider will return to face Amodio and others for the Tournament of Champions this fall. Talsma, meanwhile, will face two new challengers on Thursday’s show as he tries to create a winning streak.

“I’m still in shock,” Talsma said, also in a statement. “This is my favorite show…I was so excited to be here and I just wanted to do my best. I did not expect to be facing a 40-day champion, and I was excited to maybe see someone else slay the giant. I just really didn’t think it was going to be me, so I’m thrilled.”

In the week ended January 16, Jeopardy! was syndication’s highest-rated show at a 6.0 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. Season to date, Jeopardy! also is the most-watched non-sports entertainment program on television, averaging 9.4 million viewers per episode, according to CBS Media Ventures.

Jeopardy! is produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Media Ventures. Michael Davies executive produces. ■

Jeopardy!’s latest champion, Amy Schneider, on Monday surpassed Yale Ph.D. candidate Matt Amodio to win 39 straight games and become second on the show’s all-time consecutive wins list. The engineering manager from Oakland, Calif.’s winnings now total $1,319,800. 

Only one contestant has won more games than Schneider – Ken Jennings, who has held the top spot with 74 since setting the record in 2004. Jennings has been hosting Jeopardy! throughout Schneider’s run. 

Jennings, who officially became Jeopardy!’s greatest player of all time when he won ABC’s primetime Jeopardy! tournament against James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter in January 2020, is now a consulting producer and ongoing guest host of Jeopardy! Jennings and Mayim Bialik are sharing guest-hosting duties in the wake of the death of longtime host Alex Trebek in November 2020 and the subsequent naming and then ouster of executive producer Mike Richards in August 2021. 

A new second-place record had just been set earlier this season by Amodio, who won 38 consecutive games. Amodio and Schneider will face off in this year’s Tournament of Champions.

“It’s going to be an honor playing against you, and it’s going to be a tight competition,” Schneider said in a message to Amodio.

Schneider’s run has helped propel Jeopardy! to the top of both the syndication and overall TV ratings charts. In the week ended January 9, Jeopardy! led all of syndication with a 6.6 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. Season to date through the week ended January 2, Jeopardy! was the most-viewed non-sports entertainment program on television, averaging 9.2 million daily viewers, also according to Nielsen.

Jeopardy! is produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Media Ventures. Michael Davies is executive producing. ■

Sam Buttrey, an associate professor of operations research at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, won Jeopardy!’s first-ever Professors Tournament on Friday, taking home the $100,000 grand prize and securing a spot in Jeopardy!’s Tournament of Champions at the end of the season. 

Ed Hashima, history professor at American River College in Sacramento, California, took second and won $50,000 and Alisa Hove, botany professor at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C., came in third and earned $25,000.

“This has been the greatest time, and to come out ahead of all these other great players is something I’ll remember forever,” Buttrey said in a statement. “The group was uniformly so smart, charming, and warm, and there’s been a real feeling of camaraderie from the very beginning.”

At Jeopardy!'s Tournament of Champions, Buttrey will face Yale PhD candidate Matt Amodio, who earlier this season won 38 games in a row and more than $1.5 million, and actor Jonathan Fisher, who defeated Amodio and went on to win 11 consecutive games. Current champion Amy Schneider, who so far has racked up 13 wins, also has secured a slot.

Also: Syndication Ratings:  'Jeopardy!' Jumps Back Into Lead

“I know there are some strong players, but I want to go up against them,” Buttrey said. “I would like to play against Matt Amodio, he’s a strong player and I’d like to see how I can do.”

Jeopardy!, which is produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Media Ventures, led all of syndication in households in the week ended Dec. 5 with a 5.7 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. ■

The Good Dish, a panel talker focused on food and cooking, will replace Sony Pictures Television’s The Dr. Oz Show as that show’s host exits to run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. The Good Dish, which Sony has been trying to sell into syndication for a couple of years, is hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz’s daughter, Daphne, who starred on ABC’s The Chew, as well as Top Chef’s Gail Simmons and Food Network’s Jamika Pessoa.

Station groups Fox, Hearst, Nexstar, Gray, Sinclair and others have picked up The Good Dish, which will launch nationwide in Dr. Oz’s time slots on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. Dr. Oz’s final episode will air Jan. 14. 

Dr. Oz had been renewed through next season, which would have been its 14th, on stations. However, due to Oz’s Senate run, the show must be pulled or else stations are in danger of triggering the FCC’s equal-time requirement, which mandates that stations give all candidates equal time on their stations. If Dr. Oz was airing for 44 or so minutes per day on stations, giving all other candidates that much daily time would be untenable. Fox-owned stations that aired Dr. Oz in New York and Pennsylvania pulled the show on Dec. 1 after Oz announced his run just after Thanksgiving. 

In the Thanksgiving week ended Nov 28, the last week national syndication ratings were available from Nielsen Media Research, Dr. Oz averaged a 0.6 live plus same day national household rating, up 20% from the prior week’s season low. 

Also: Syndication Ratings: Thanksgiving Serves Up Lower Ratings for Most Shows

Dr. Mehmet Oz first became known to daytime TV watchers as a regular guest and medical expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey and her production company, Harpo, spun the show off into its own syndicated talk show in 2009.

The Good Dish grew out of weekly segments on Dr. Oz and will discuss trends, recipes, shortcuts and tips while helping viewers figure out what’s for dinner. 

“Audiences have been loving what Daphne, Gail and Jamika have been serving up during their weekly segments on The Dr. Oz Show for years. We have long believed The Good Dish would make an excellent stand-alone series and are delighted to be able to deliver this fresh take on the cooking genre to our station partners and their viewers across the country,” Zack Hernandez,  senior VP and general sales manager, U.S. syndication sales, Sony Pictures Television, said in a statement.

“There is no better time for a show like The Good Dish,” Amy Chiaro, executive producer and Stacy Rader, co-executive producer, said in a co-statement. “Daphne, Gail and Jamika know how to make food accessible with the ability to seamlessly deliver home, lifestyle and trending content. These incredible women will make you laugh, enjoy cooking again and make your life just a little easier. It’s the most fun you can have in the kitchen without having to do the dishes.”

The Good Dish is produced by ZoCo Productions and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. 

Jeopardy! will continue to be hosted by Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings  through this season, the show’s 38th, Sony Pictures Television said Wednesday. Michael Davies, former executive producer of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, will remain interim executive producer. 

In September, Bialik and Jennings were named 's alternating guest hosts through 2021. After the death of Alex Trebek in November 2020, Jeopardy! was hosted by a series of guest hosts, including Bialik, Jennings and Mike Richards, who at the time was also executive producer. 

In August, Richards was named permanent host but backlash grew quickly after reports surfaced that he had been included in discrimination lawsuits, that were later settled, while serving as the executive producer of CBS’ daytime game The Price is Right. Website The Ringer also published a long story that uncovered derogatory comments Richards had made about women in a podcast he did in 2013. Jeopardy! producer Sony Pictures Television fired Richards as host and executive producer of Jeopardy! and as executive producer of Wheel of Fortune, roles he had assumed in September 2020 after the retirement of longtime executive producer Harry Friedman.

Bialik, who stars on Fox’s Call Me Kat and played Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, also will host the Jeopardy! National College Tournament on ABC primetime starting Feb. 8. At the time Richards was briefly named permanent host, Bialik was concurrently named host of all Jeopardy! primetime specials. 

Jennings, who has won the most money and the most consecutive Jeopardy! games in regular play, was the show’s first guest host after Trebek’s death and is also a consulting producer. 

Jeopardy! and its companion game, Wheel of Fortune, air in syndication on TV stations all over the country and on ABC-owned stations in top markets. It's distributed in syndication by CBS Media Ventures.

Ken Jennings re-took the podium as guest host of CBS Media Ventures’ Jeopardy! in the week ended Nov. 14, and kept the show in syndication’s top spot with a steady 5.6 live plus same national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik are sharing guest-hosting duties through the end of the year.

Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud leapfrogged over CBS’ Wheel of Fortune into second place with a 4% gain to a 5.4, while Wheel skidded 4% to a 5.1.

Fox’s 25 Words or Less improved 14% to a new season-high 0.8 after eight weeks at a 0.7. Fox’s rookie You Bet Your Life, starring Jay Leno, stayed at a 0.7 for the seventh straight week.

Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask remained at a 0.4 for the third week in a row. 

Disney’s internet video show RightThisMinute mustered a 0.6 for a 13th consecutive week.

CBS Media Ventures’ Dr. Phil hit a new season high and held on to sole possession of first place in talk for a second straight week with a 6% spike to a 1.9, the show’s best rating since the week ended Feb. 28. Dr. Phil has now been first or tied for first for the past nine weeks. 

Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan, which has topped talk 22 times in the past 27 weeks, including five ties with Dr. Phil, rose 6% to a second place 1.7.

Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Live led with a 0.7, followed by Phil at a 0.6.

Back in households, Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres in its 19th and final season had the biggest percentage improvement in talk, elevating 11% to a 1.0 and matching its season high. Over the past three months, Ellen has advanced 150%, jumping from eighth place, set during NBC’s airing of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, to third.

National ratings for Ellen’s Nov. 18 exclusive interview with Meghan Markle will not be available until next week, however, the Duchess of Sussex boosted Ellen’s overnights in the nation’s two biggest markets, taking them up 50% in New York and 133% in Los Angeles compared to the prior Thursday.

NBCUniversal’s Kelly Clarkson held its ground at a season-best 0.9.

NBCU’s conflict talker Maury maintained a 0.8 for a third straight week. Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams fell back 22% to a new season-low 0.7 with guest host Michael Rapaport, tying CBS’ steady Rachael Ray.

Also: Sherri Shepherd Returns to Guest Host ‘Wendy Williams’

Disney’s Tamron Hall, NBCU’s Steve Wilkos and Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz all were steady at a 0.6. 

CBS’ sophomore Drew Barrymore stayed put at a 0.5, while Fox’s rookie Nick Cannon fell back 20% to a 0.4.

NBCU’s out-of-production Jerry Springer stayed at a 0.3 for the ninth straight week, tying Warner Bros.’ The Real, which registered a 0.3 for the ninth time in ten weeks. 

Trailing the field was CBS’ The Doctors, which stalled at a 0.2 for the 37th straight week. 

In repeats, CBS’ out-of-production Judge Judy jumped for the third consecutive week, adding 2% to a new season-high 4.9, the show’s strongest rating since the week ended July 18. 

CBS’ Hot Bench, Warner Bros.’ People’s Court, Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis and Fox’s Divorce Court all stayed at a 1.5, 0.8, 0.6 and 0.5, respectively. NBCU’s Judge Jerry stayed at a series- low 0.4 for a ninth straight week.

Wrigley Media’s rookie Relative Justice remained at a 0.3 for a second week.

CBS’ Inside Edition and Entertainment Tonight, NBCU’s Access Hollywood, Fox’s TMZ, Warner Bros.’ Extra, which lost its primary run in the top seven markets due to Thursday Night Football on Nov. 11, and CBS’ DailyMailTV all were on par with the prior week’s 2.3, 2.1, 0.8, 0.7, 0.6 and 0.5, respectively. Fox’s Dish Nation slipped 33% to a 0.2.

Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory held at a 2.0 to lead the off-network sitcoms. Disney’s Last Man Standing stumbled 8% to a 1.2. SPT’s The Goldbergs and Warner Bros.’ rookie Young Sheldon both rose 13% to a 0.9, a new season-high for Sheldon. Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men and Disney’s Modern Family each forged ahead 14% to a 0.8. Disney’s Family Guy garnered a 0.7 for the third time in four weeks, tying SPT’s Seinfeld, which held steady for a seventh straight week. Warner Bros.’ 2 Broke Girls appreciated 20% to a 0.6 and Disney’s Black-ish broke even at a 0.5 for the fifth straight week. 

Starz has named TriStar programming executive Kathryn Busby as its president of original programming.

Busby, who replaces Christina Davis in the position, will lead the programming and development team as it looks to deliver on its programming mandate to deliver narratives by, about and for women and underrepresented audiences, said the premium service. 

“Kathryn is an incredible well-seasoned executive who has a long-running track record of developing series with unique voices,” said Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch in a statement. “We are excited to welcome her to the Starz team where I know she’ll be instrumental in furthering the company’s commitment to deliver programming for women and underrepresented audiences.”

Also: Starz Launches #TakeTheLead Diversity Initiative

Busby most recently served as EVP for TriStarTelevision where she worked on such projects as The Afterparty starring Tiffany Haddish and Sam Richardson; a Malcolm X series based on the novels X: A Novel and The Awakening of Malcolm X and a series based on Kirsten Chen’s upcoming novel Counterfeit, said Starz.

Prior to that, Busby served as SVP of Development at Sony Pictures Networks. She also held leadership roles at Turner Broadcasting, New Line Cinema, The Carsey-Werner Company and Universal Television.

“I am inspired by Starz’s dedication and commitment to fearless, unapologetic stories and characters, and I am beyond thrilled to work with the extraordinary team there,” Busby said. “The time is now for storytelling that celebrates the full spectrum of humanity, and the place to do it is Starz. This is an amazing opportunity, and I can’t wait to get started.” ■ 

Jeopardy! will host its first-ever professors tournament starting Monday, Dec. 6 and running through Friday, Dec. 17, with Mayim Bialik hosting. 

Instructors from 15 colleges and universities will face off on the quiz show, produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Media Ventures, until a champion finally emerges on Dec. 17. 

“It was an unbelievable thrill to see so many brilliant professors from all kinds of schools and backgrounds come together on the Jeopardy! stage,” said Bialik in a statement. “There was a sense of kinship and academic camaraderie among the group, along with a healthy dose of competitiveness. That energy made this inaugural Professors Tournament incredibly special.”

The following educators will compete for a $100,000 grand prize and a spot in Jeopardy!’s upcoming Tournament of Champions: 

— J.P. Allen, professor of business, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif.

— Hester Blum, professor of English, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.

— Sam Buttrey, professor of operations research, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif.

— Marti Canipe, professor of elementary science, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Ariz.

— Lisa Dresner, associate professor of writing, Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.

— Ramón Guerra, professor of English, literature and Latino studies, University of Nebraska-Omaha in Omaha, Neb.

— Gautam Hans, associate clinical professor of law, Vanderbilt Law School, Nashville, Tenn.

— John Harkless, associate professor of chemistry, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

— Ed Hashima, professor of history, American River College, Sacramento, Calif.

— Gary Hollis, professor of chemistry, Roanoke College, Salem, Va.

— Alisa Hove, professor of botany, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, N.C.

— Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders, assistant professor of U.S. and African-American history, University of Colorado-Boulder in Boulder, Colo.

— Katie Reed, associate professor of musicology, California State University Fullerton in Fullerton, Calif.

— Deborah Steinberger, professor of French literature, University of Delaware in Newark, Del.

— Julia Williams, professor of English, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.

Bialik was named host of Jeopardy! primetime specials in August. The Call Me Kat and Big Bang Theory actress moved into a guest-hosting position, along with Greatest of All Time player and consulting producer Ken Jennings, for Jeopardy!’s syndicated version after executive oroducer Mike Richards had to exit the show. Richards was briefly named the show’s permanent host but departed due to fan outcry when reports surfaced of him making offensive comments towards women in a podcast and being named in discrimination lawsuits, that were ultimately settled, when he was the executive producer of CBS’s The Price is Right. 

Also: Mike Richards Out as EP of 'Jeopardy!,' 'Wheel of Fortune'

Jeopardy! has been without a permanent host since Alex Trebek died of pancreatic cancer in November 2020.

Also: Remembering 'Jeopardy!' Host Alex Trebek

Sony Pictures Entertainment said it agreed to sell GSN Games, a division of Game Show Network, for $1 billion.

The buyers, Scopely, a privately held video game company, is acquiring free-to-play mobile games and online games including Solitaire TriPeaks and Bingo Bash.

“GSN Games has been a great business for Sony the last 14 years, and we are proud of the experiences the team continues to deliver for players around the world,” said Ravi Ahuja, chairman, global television studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment corporate development. “In meeting the Scopely team, we knew we found the right organization to support and accelerate the business. We are confident they will take GSN Games to new heights and SPE is pleased to be a minority shareholder in Scopely as a result of this transaction.”

Sony will be paid half in cash and the remainder in preferred equity, giving Sony a stake on Scopely. 

GSN expanded into online games in 2007. Bingo Bash was launched in 2011 and acquired by GSN Games in 2014. Bingo Bash has been played by more than 70 million people, with players spending more than 60,000 years in the game.

Matt Amodio, a PhD candidate at Yale University, saw his 38-game Jeopardy! winning streak snapped on Monday after finishing third to actor Jonathan Fisher and researcher Jessica Stephens. 

Amodio won $1,518,601 in prize money during his run, becoming the game’s third-highest regular-season money winner behind Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer. Amodio also now holds the record for second-longest winning streak, behind only Jennings at 74. 

Amodio lost in Final Jeopardy! when he failed to answer the final clue correctly, while Fisher and Stephens both got it right. Fisher, who landed on both Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy! round, ended up winning the game with $29,200, with Stephens close on his heels with $28,799. Amodio came in third with $5,600 after missing the clue “Nazi Germany annexed this nation and divided it into regions of the Alps and the Danube; the Allies later divided it into four sectors.” The correct response was: “What is Austria?”

“Everybody's so smart and so competent that this could happen in any game. And this time it did,” said Amodio in a statement. “I always wanted to be a Jeopardy! champion, and I accomplished that. l know going into every bar trivia game that I play that I'm going to come in with a little intimidation factor. But also, I just like the badge that it represents. As somebody who prioritizes knowledge and knowing things, this is really a good one to have following me everywhere.”

Amodio will return to play Jeopardy! during the 2022 Tournament of Champions.

Jeopardy! is produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Media Ventures. 

Matt Amodio has surpassed $1 million in winnings with his 28th victory on Jeopardy!, in which he won $48,800. The win makes him the third-highest money winner in regular-season play in the game show’s history, behind only Greatest of All Time Ken Jennings and professional gambler James Holzhauer. 

In total, Amodio has won $1,004,001 and will return Monday to continue playing.

“This was beyond my wildest dreams going in,” Amodio, a Ph.D. candidate at Yale University in New Haven, Conn,, said in a statement. “I knew it was a possibility, but I thought it was a very remote possibility, and to have it actually happen is unbelievable.”

Over the course of his history-making 74-game run, Jennings won $2,520,700. Holzhauer won $2,462,216 over the course of 32 victories. Jennings later went on to become the Greatest of All Time in a primetime tournament on ABC in January 2020, where he faced Holzhauer and the game's biggest money winner, Brad Rutter, who in total has won nearly $5 million playing Jeopardy!, mostly in tournaments. Rutter first appeared on Jeopardy! in 2000, before the rules changed to allow players to continue past five days. 

With Amodio’s streak, Jeopardy! continues to be in the news. After longtime host Alex Trebek died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 80 last November, the show has been hosted by a series of guest hosts. 

Executive producer Mike Richards had been named permanent host in August but had to step back after reports surfaced showing that he had been named a defendant in discrimination lawsuits that were later settled while he was executive producing CBS’s daytime game show The Price Is Right. Website The Ringer also dug up old podcasts in which Richards made negative comments about women. Jeopardy! producer Sony Pictures Television ultimately fired Richards from executive producing both Jeopardy! and sister show Wheel of Fortune.

Also Read: Mike Richards Out as Executive Producer on 'Jeopardy!,' 'Wheel of Fortune'

Jeopardy! is now being executive produced by interim EP Michael Davies, who executive produced Who Wants to be a Millionaire for many years. It’s being alternatively hosted by Jennings, who also serves as consulting producer, and Call Me Kat’s Mayim Bialik, who also has been named the host of the show’s primetime specials and spinoffs. 

Also Read: Mayim Bialik, Ken Jennings to Share 'Jeopardy!' Hosting Duties

In the week ended Sept. 12, Jeopardy! averaged a 4.1 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, tying Wheel of Fortune for third place in the overall syndication household ratings.

Jeopardy! is produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed in domestic syndication by CBS Media Ventures.

Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings will split hosting duties on access game show Jeopardy! through the end of the year, producer Sony Pictures Television said Thursday. 

Bialik’s run will start Monday, Sept. 20 and run through Nov. 5. After that, Bialik and Jennings will split hosting duties as their schedules allow, Sony said. Bialik, who stars on Fox’s Call Me Kat and played Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS’ top-rated The Big Bang Theory, also has been tapped by Sony to host all Jeopardy! primetime specials and spinoffs. Jennings, who won 74 consecutive games of Jeopardy! and won $2.5 million in 2004, was named the greatest Jeopardy! player of all time in January 2020 after he won ABC’s Greatest of All Time (GOAT) tournament against Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer. Jennings serves as a consulting producer on the show.

Guest hosts began emceeing the iconic game show after the death of Alex Trebek in November 2020 of pancreatic cancer. Jennings was the first of these, followed by executive producer Mike Richards. 

Over the summer, Richards emerged as the leading candidate for the permanent host job, which he was then given in August. Backlash against the selection grew quickly after reports surfaced that Richards had been included in discrimination lawsuits, that were later settled, while serving as the executive producer of CBS’ daytime game The Price is Right. Website The Ringer also published a long story that uncovered derogatory comments Richards had made about women in a podcast he did in 2013. 

Richards stepped back from the hosting job earlier this month, and Sony ultimately fired him as executive producer of both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. He had assumed those roles in September 2020 after longtime executive producer Harry Friedman retired. 

Jeopardy!, which is entering its 38th season in syndication, averaged a 4.1 live plus same day household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, in the week ended Sept. 5. It tied CBS’ Judge Judy to come in second overall for the season at a 5.2 live plus same day season to date household rating. 

Jeopardy! and its companion game, Wheel of Fortune, air in syndication on TV stations all over the country and on ABC-owned stations in top markets. It's distributed in domestic syndication by CBS Media Ventures.

John Weiser, president of first-run television at Sony Pictures Television, is departing the studio after 33 years, Ravi Ahuja, chairman, global television studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment Corporate Development, said Wednesday.

Weiser, who had served as president of U.S. distribution for SPT, was named president of first-run television in 2018 after a major reorganization. Over the last three years, he has spearheaded the television division's location-based entertainment efforts and helped to lead the studio's efforts around turning some of the studio's intellectual property into non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

During his time as president of U.S. distribution, Weiser led negotiations on several cycles of Seinfeld in off-network syndication, as well as oversaw the effort to sell such shows as Dr. Oz, Queen Latfiah, Nate Berkus and The Goldbergs into syndication. He also oversaw sales of feature films produced by Sony Pictures.

Weiser joined Columbia TriStar Television, which was later absorbed by Sony, in 1990 as an account executive. He was promoted to division manager in 1992. Three years later, he was named VP, West Coast, overseeing the regional office. In 1999, he was named senior VP, sales, and he expanded his duties to include sales of Sony Pictures Entertainment's film and television library. He became executive VP, SPT, in 2002.

Prior to joining Columbia TriStar, Weiser was senior VP at Guber-Peters Entertainment and head of sales for Chuck Barris Entertainment. He began his career at Tribune Broadcast where he oversaw the company's Northeast and Midwest sales offices. 

Weiser will remain at SPT through the end of September "to help ensure a smooth transition of his responsibilities," Ahuja told staff in the memo. He is not expected to be replaced. 

The full text of the memo is  below:

Dear team,

I’m writing to let you know that John Weiser, President of First Run Television at SPT, is leaving the studio after an incredible 33 years. While I’ve only had the pleasure of working with John for the past few months, his track record and tenure speak for themselves. He has been a valuable member of the SPT leadership team, and we wish him all the best.

Over the last three years, John has been responsible for reenergizing the studio’s first run division, spearheading the television division’s Location Based Entertainment efforts and helping to lead the NFT (nonfungible token) process for the studio's IP. John formerly served as President of U.S. Distribution for SPT, distributing the studio’s movies and TV series, and played a key role in successfully negotiating multiple cycles of Seinfeld syndicated sales in the U.S.

John will be with us until the end of September to help ensure a smooth transition of his responsibilities. Please join me in thanking John for his many contributions to Sony Pictures over the years and wishing him well in his next adventure!

-Ravi

Jeopardy!’s ratings plunged in the week ended Aug. 22 with five days of shows pulled from the archives in the season’s penultimate session.

CBS Media Ventures’ Jeopardy! sank 23% to a season-low 4.0 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. That marked the steepest decline of any show in syndication. Year to year, however, Jeopardy! was actually up 3%. Jeopardy! fell to a 3.9 in the same week last year, also with a week of repeats. 

Also swirling around the show was the ongoing scandal of naming Executive Producer Mike Richards as Jeopardy!’s new host and permanent successor to the iconic Alex Trebek, a move that only survived nine days before fan outrage and negative media coverage forced Richards out. On Tuesday, Richards exited his post as executive producer of both Jeopardy! and its sibling game show Wheel of Fortune, with former Who Wants to be a Millionaire Executive Producer Michael Davies stepping in as interim EP.

Also Read: Mike Richards Out as EP of ‘Jeopardy!,’ ‘Wheel of Fortune’

Meanwhile, Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud grew 6% to a syndication-leading 5.7, while Wheel of Fortune stayed put at a 4.5 for a third straight week.

Fox’s 25 Words or Less logged an unchanged 0.8. Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask advanced 25% to a 0.5. 

Disney’s internet video show RightThisMinute maintained a 0.6. 

CBS’ Inside Edition stayed at a 2.2, while sibling magazine Entertainment Tonight eased 5% to a 2.0. NBCUniversal’s Access Hollywood held steady at a 0.8, tying Warner Bros.’ TMZ, which forged ahead 14%. Warner Bros.’ Extra preserved a 0.6 for a second straight week, breaking a tie with CBS’ DailyMailTV, which dropped 17% to a 0.5. Fox’s Dish Nation nabbed a 0.3 for the 49th time in the past 51 weeks. 

In daytime and early fringe, there were numerous preemptions on Aug. 16 and 20 for coverage of President Joe Biden’s remarks on the withdrawal and evacuation from Afghanistan. NBC affiliates also preempted shows on Aug. 18 for coverage of the president’s remarks on COVID-19 booster shots. 

Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan receded 6% to a 1.6 as it began its summer hiatus with repackaged episodes all week. Even so, Live led the talkers for the 15th straight week, including one tie with CBS’ Dr. Phil. Live has now been first or tied for first in talk 44 times in the last 50 weeks. Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Live led with a 0.7, followed by Phil at a 0.5. 

Back in households, Dr. Phil pulled back 7% to a new season-low 1.3 with a week of repeats.

NBCU’s Maury moved up 13% to a 0.9. Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres and Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams each secured a 0.8 for the second straight week. 

NBCU’s Kelly Clarkson, with five days of repeats, gave back 13% to a 0.7, tying CBS’ Rachael Ray and NBCU’s Steve Wilkos, both of which were flat. Disney’s Tamron Hall eased 14% to a 0.6 with encore episodes on four of the five days. Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz suffered a 17% ratings loss to a 0.5. 

Repeats of CBS’ Drew Barrymore broke even at a 0.4. Warner Bros.’ The Real recorded a 0.3 for the 14th straight week. CBS’ The Doctors delivered a 0.2 for the 26th consecutive week, tying NBCU’s out-of-production syndicated run of Jerry Springer, which stayed put for the 50th straight week.

CBS’ Judge Judy, which is about to have a change of venue after 25 years in first-run, dipped 2% to a 4.5 with five days of repeats and led the court shows for the 1300th straight week. 

CBS’ Hot Bench backtracked 7% for the week to a 1.4 but was the third-highest daytime show after Judy and Live. Warner Bros.’ People’s Court and Judge Mathis were both unmoved at a 0.8 and 0.6, respectively. NBCU’s Judge Jerry recovered 20% from a series low to a 0.6, tying Mathis. Fox’s Divorce Court stayed at a 0.5 for a fourth week. Repeats of Trifecta’s Protection Court clocked a 0.2 for an eighth consecutive week. 

Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory notched a 10% increase to a 2.3. Disney’s Last Man Standing jumped 7% to a 1.6. Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men, Disney’s Modern Family, SPT’s The Goldbergs and Seinfeld, Disney’s Family Guy and Warner Bros.’ 2 Broke Girls all stayed put at a 1.0, 0.9, 0.8, 0.8, 0.8 and 0.7, respectively. Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly was minus 14% to a 0.6, tying Warner Bros.’ Mom, Disney’s Black-ish and Debmar-Mercury’s rookie Schitt’s Creek, all of which held steady with the prior week.

Jeopardy! ratings leaped 16% in the week ending August 15, the first week after the conclusion of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. 

With sportscaster Joe Buck at the podium, CBS Media Ventures’ Jeopardy! improved from the prior week, which featured CNBC’s David Faber as guest host, to a 13-week high 5.2 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen. 

That marked Jeopardy!’s strongest performance since the week of May 10, when CBS News’ Bill Whitaker was guest hosting, and an 18% improvement over the same week last year, when the late Alex Trebek was still leading the show. Jeopardy!, which is produced by Sony Pictures Television, showed the biggest year-to-year increase of any strip of any kind.

Also Read: Mayim Bialik to be First 'Jeopardy!' Guest Host Post Mike Richards

Syndication ratings surged across the board, despite the continuation of low summer levels of people using television; numerous preemptions on Fox stations for the “Field of Dreams” baseball game on August 12; and preemptions on network affiliates for coverage of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation on Aug. 10. 

Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud forged ahead 6% to a 5.4 to lead the games and all of syndication. Feud is on track to be syndication’s season leader in households when the Nielsen-designated TV season ends on Aug. 29. CBS’s Wheel of Fortune recovered 15% to a 4.5, which was that show’s season low prior to the Summer Games.

Fox’s 25 Words or Less added 14% to a 0.8. Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask answered with a 0.4 for a third consecutive week.

Disney’s internet video show RightThis Minute moved up 20% to a 0.6.

CBS’ Inside Edition rebounded 22% to a 2.2 to lead the magazines, followed by sister show Entertainment Tonight, which expanded 24% to an 11-week high 2.1. 

Without Olympics preemptions, NBCU’s Access Hollywood leaped over three shows to reclaim its customary third-place slot in the genre, surging 100% to a 0.8. Access Hollywood, which has numerous clearances on NBC stations, had been decimated by Olympic programming in the prior two weeks. 

Warner Bros.’ TMZ stood pat at a 0.7. Warner Bros.’ Extra, which lost its time slot in many markets due to Fox’s airing of the Field of Dreams baseball game on August 12, still strengthened 20% to a 0.6, tying CBS’ DailyMailTV, which stayed put for a second straight week.

Fox’s Dish Nation increased 50% to land at a 0.3 for the 48th time in the past 50 weeks. 

Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan rose 6% to a 1.7 and scored its 14th straight first-place finish in the talk-show race, including one tie with CBS’ Dr. Phil. Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Live led with a 0.7, followed by Phil at a 0.5.

Phil stayed in second place with an all-repeat week, gaining 8% for the week and 17% over the past two weeks to a 1.4 in households.

Without facing Olympics competition, repeats of NBCU’s Kelly Clarkson and Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres both exploded 100% to a 0.8, tying NBCU’s Maury, which was flat, and Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams, which climbed 14% even though the show is in repeats due to being in its summer production hiatus.

Also Read: 'Kelly Clarkson' to Open Season 3 in New York City

Disney’s Tamron Hall added 17% to a 0.7, tying NBCU’s Steve Wilkos and CBS’ Rachael Ray, both of which also rose 17%. Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz revived 50% to a 0.6. 

Encore episodes of CBS’s Drew Barrymore retained a 0.4. Warner Bros.‘ The Real registered a 0.3 for the 13th consecutive week. CBS’s The Doctors operated at a 0.2 for the 25th week in a row, tying NBCU’s out-of-production syndicated run of Jerry Springer, which stayed at a 0.2 for the 49th straight week. 

CBS’s Judge Judy, nearing the end of its last season in first-run production at CBS, jumped 7% to a 4.6 to lead the courts. Judy also was syndication’s third-highest rated show overall, despite being mostly in repeats.

CBS’s Hot Bench also spiked 7%, clocking a 1.5, making it daytime’s third highest-rated daytime show after Judy and Live.

Warner Bros.’ People’s Court and Judge Mathis both maintained a 0.8 and 0.6, respectively. NBCU’s Judge Jerry declined 17% to a 0.5, tying Fox’s Divorce Court, which stayed put for a third consecutive week. Repeats of Trifecta’s Protection Court stayed at a 0.2 for a seventh straight week.

Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory softened 5% to a 2.1, equalling its series low but still leading the off-network sitcoms. Disney’s Last Man Standing stepped up 7% to a 1.5. Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men improved 11% to a 1.0. Disney’s Modern Family finished 13% higher at a 0.9. Disney’s Family Guy grew 14% to a 0.8, tying SPT’s The Goldbergs and Seinfeld, both of which stayed put. Warner Bros.’ 2 Broke Girls accrued 17% to a 0.7, tying Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly, which held steady. Debmar-Mercury’s newcomer Schitt’s Creek climbed 20% to a 0.6, tying Disney’s Black-ish and Warner Bros.’ Mom, both of which were on par with the prior week.

Matt Amodio, a Yale Ph.D. student from Medina, Ohio, continued his Jeopardy! winning streak, winning his 17th straight game to bring his total winnings to $547,600. 

That makes him the third-highest money winner in regular games in Jeopardy! history, behind Ken Jennings, now a consulting producer on the show, and professional gambler James Holzhauer. Jennings won a total of $2,520,700 across 74 consecutive games while Holzhauer won $2,462,216 across 32 consecutive games.

Also Read: Matt Amodio Rises to Become Fifth-Highest 'Jeopardy!' Money Winner

“The show has had so many brilliant people [on it],” Amodio said of contestants like Holzhauer and Jennings in a statement. “I’m honored to be thought of as even close to them.”

Amodio returns Friday (Aug. 13) for the final episode of Jeopardy!’s 37th season. He’ll compete against Nicolle Neulist from Chicago and Eric Shi from Houston.

Also Read: Mike Richards is New 'Jeopardy!' Host

Jeopardy!’s 38th season begins Monday, Sept. 13, when Mike Richards takes the reins as the syndicated show’s host. Richards also executive produces Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. He was one of the many guest hosts who hosted the show this year after long-time host Alex Trebek died of pancreatic cancer last November. 

Sony Pictures Television, which produces Jeopardy!, also announced on Wednesday that Mayim Bialik would host Jeopardy! primetime specials and spinoffs, including the upcoming National College Championship that will air on ABC.

Mike Richards officially has been named host of the day-to-day syndicated version of Sony Pictures Television’s Jeopardy! with Mayim Bialik taking on primetime and spinoff series, including the upcoming Jeopardy! National College Championship that will air in primetime on ABC next year. While serving as host, Richards will also continue to executive produce both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.

Ken Jennings, who was the show’s first guest host after Alex Trebek died in November 2020, will remain with Jeopardy! as consulting producer. 

“We are thrilled to begin the next chapter of America’s Favorite Quiz Show with Mike hosting our daily show and Mayim hosting new versions of Jeopardy!,” said Ravi Ahuja, chairman of global television studios and corporate development for Sony Pictures, in a statement. “We took this decision incredibly seriously. A tremendous amount of work and deliberation has gone into it, perhaps more than has ever gone into the selection of hosts for a show — deservedly so because it’s Jeopardy! and we are following the incomparable Alex Trebek. A senior group of Sony Pictures Television executives pored over footage from every episode, reviewed research from multiple panels and focus groups, and got valuable input from our key partners and Jeopardy! viewers.”

Variety first reported that Richards, who joined the program in September 2020, was in advanced talks to host the show. 

Also Read: Mike Richards, 'Jeopardy!' EP, Might be Show's Next Host

After that story broke, stories surfaced on social media that Richards had been named in pregnancy discrimination lawsuits filed while he was executive producing Fremantle’s The Price Is Right, which airs in daytime on CBS. On Monday, Richards addressed those issues in a memo to staff.

“I want to address the complicated employment issues raised in the press during my time at The Price Is Right 10 years ago,” he wrote. “These were allegations made in employment disputes against the show. I want you all to know that the way in which my comments and actions have been characterized in these complaints does not reflect the reality of who I am or how we worked together on The Price Is Right. I know firsthand how special it is to be a parent. It is the most important thing in the world to me. I would not say anything to disrespect anyone’s pregnancy and have always supported my colleagues on their parenting journeys.”

Also Read: Mike Richards, ‘Jeopardy!’ EP, Addresses Host Conversations, Discrimination Lawsuits

In an interview with B&C in May, Richards said the decision on who would become the permanent host would be made by higher-ups at Sony and that while he had input into the decision, the final choice was not his.

“We knew early on that we wanted to divide the hosting responsibilities and it became very clear that Mike and Mayim were the undeniable choices. They were both at the top of our research and analysis,” Ahuja said. “Mike is a unique talent, at ease behind the podium and a double threat as producer and host. Mayim has a wonderful energy, an innate sense of the game, and an authentic curiosity that naturally represents the Jeopardy! brand. We are excited to get to work with them both and are confident that they will carry on the legacy of this iconic show.” 

“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to host the syndicated version of Jeopardy!,” said Richards in a statement. “Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being chosen to step into a role of this magnitude. I am incredibly humbled to step behind the lectern and will work tirelessly to make sure our brilliant contestants shine in each and every episode. Alex believed the game itself and the contestants are the most important aspects of the show. I was fortunate to witness his professionalism, intensity and kindness up close and that will serve as the ultimate blueprint as we continue to produce the show we love. I am thrilled that Mayim is joining the Jeopardy! team. Her academic track record and enthusiasm for the game made her a terrific guest host. It will be a privilege to produce the primetime series with her as host.” 

Bialik’s role is a new one for the show, which is looking to expand its brand on to new platforms, including ABC primetime where it had success with its Greatest of All Time tournament that was ultimately won by Jennings. The National College Championship is an all-new Jeopardy! Tournament that features players from 15 colleges going head-to-head across two weeks of competition. 

Also Read: ABC Picks Up 'Jeopardy!' National College Championship Hosted by Mayim Bialik

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to join the Jeopardy! family,” Bialik said, also in a statement. Bialik is the star of such TV shows as Blossom, The Big Bang Theory and Call Me Kat. “What started out with my 15-year-old repeating a rumor from Instagram that I should guest host the show has turned into one of the most exciting and surreal opportunities of my life! I’m so grateful and excited to continue to work with Mike Richards, and I’m just over the moon to join forces with him and Sony. After all the conversations we’ve had about this partnership, I am just so ready to get started!”

Besides Richards, Bialik and Jennings, a series of guest hosts have taken turns at the Jeopardy! podium in 2021, including Katie Couric, Aaron Rodgers, Bill Whitaker, Anderson Cooper, Savannah Guthrie, Sanjay Gupta, LeVar Burton, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, Joe Buck, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Buzzy Cohen and David Faber. Richards’ guest hosting appearances aired February 22-March 5 and Bialik served as guest host from May 31- June 11.

As part of each host’s appearance, a donation was made to a charity of their choice, with the amount donated equaling the cumulative winnings of the contestants that competed during the weeks they served as guest host. In total, Jeopardy! donated nearly $3 million to various charities this past season.  

Prior to joining Sony Pictures in 2019, Richards executive produced CBS's The Price Is Right for 11 years. He also served as executive producer of CBS's Let’s Make a Deal. He’s also hosted five series, including Beauty and the Geek, Game Show Network's 2016–17 version of Divided and the 2012 revival of The Pyramid. Game Show Network is owned by Sony Pictures.

Besides starring on TV shows, Bialik is a neuroscientist who hosts mental health podcast, “Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown.” She also recently wrote and directed her first feature film, As Sick As They Made Us, starring Dustin Hoffman and Candice Bergen.   

Richards takes the podium permanently when Jeopardy! returns for season 38 on Sept. 13.

Mike Richards, executive producer of Jeopardy!, is under consideration to become the show's permanent host, he acknowledged to show staff in a Monday morning memo. 

After Variety broke the news last week that Richards was in advanced talks to become the show’s next permanent host, conversation almost equally quickly surfaced on social media that Richards had been involved in lawsuits accusing him of discriminating against former The Price Is Right models when they became pregnant while Richards was executive producing that show. Those lawsuits have since been dismissed or settled.

On Monday morning, Richards addressed these reports with his staff at Sony Pictures Television, which produces Jeopardy!.

He confirmed that he has been asked to consider becoming the show’s permanent host about which he “was humbled and deeply honored. No final decisions have been made and discussions with me and other potential hosts are still ongoing. I  know I have mentioned this to you all before, but the choice on this is not my decision and never has been.”

Also Read: ‘Jeopardy!’ EP Mike Richards: Guest Hosts Were Part of Fans’ Grieving Process

As for the lawsuits, Richards wrote: “I want to address the complicated employment issues raised in the press during my time at The Price is Right ten years ago. These were allegations made in employment disputes against the show. I want you all to know that the way in which my comments and actions have been characterized in these complaints does not reflect the reality of who I am or how we worked together on The Price is Right. I know firsthand how special it is to be a parent. It is the most important thing in the world to me. I would not say anything to disrespect anyone’s pregnancy and have always supported my colleagues on their parenting journeys.”

In the meantime, Richards and Jeopardy! are gearing up for the show’s 38th season and Richards encouraged the show’s staff to keep their focus on that. Richards told B&C in May that the show would name a permanent host before the new season premieres on Sept. 13. 

“Throughout this search, Sony’s top priority has always been to continue the incredible legacy you and Alex built,” Richards wrote. “As you know, Alex always believed the game itself and the contestants are the most important aspects of the show, and that will continue to be the guiding principle as the decision is finalized.”

Matt Amodio continued his winning streak on Jeopardy! to become the show’s fifth-highest-ever money winner in regular game play, with a total of $430,200 so far, and the show’s fifth-highest number of consecutive wins with 13. Amodio is a graduate student from New Haven, Conn.

Ken Jennings is Jeopardy!’s highest-ever money winner in regular game play, having won $2,520,700 and the consecutive-game leader at 74. Jennings accomplished both feats in 2004. Las Vegas-based professional gambler James Holzhauer is second on both lists, having won a total of $2,462,216 across 32 consecutive games.

CNBC’s David Faber was Jeopardy!'s guest host from Monday, Aug. 2 through Friday, Aug. 6, and the show is making a $154,000 donation to the Robin Hood Foundation, New York City’s largest poverty-fighting organization. Next week, Fox Sports’ Joe Buck spends the week behind the podium. Buck has chosen St Louis, Mo.-based children’s educational organization KidSmart as his charity.

The show has been hosted by guest hosts all year after the death of host Alex Trebek in November 2020. Jennings kicked off the guest-host run with a six-week stint in January and February. That was followed by two weeks with Mike Richards, who replaced the retired Harry Friedman as executive producer of both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune in September 2020, and then a slew of other guests, including Today's Savannah Guthrie, the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers, CNN's Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and many more. 

When the Sony Pictures Television-produced show starts season 39 in September, it is expected to have named a permanent host. Richards, who has extensive game-show experience in his background, is a leading candidate to get the job, according to reports that surfaced this week.

Also Read: Mike Richards Might Be ‘Jeopardy!’’s Permanent Host

Mike Richards, executive producer of Jeopardy!, is a leading candidate to become the next permanent host of the long-running syndicated game show, Variety reported Wednesday, although conversations with several potential permanent hosts are ongoing.

A spokeswoman for Sony Pictures Television declined comment.

Richards joined the show in September 2020 when Harry Friedman retired from running both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune after 11 years of doing both jobs. Just two months later, Alex Trebek, who had hosted the show since its entrance into syndication in 1984, died at the age of 80 after a bout with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. 

Richards, who has extensive game and reality hosting experience, was the second guest host to fill Trebek's shoes after Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time Ken Jennings spent six weeks in the role from Jan. 11 to Feb. 19. 

Richards has had a long relationship with Jeopardy!’s production company, Sony Pictures Television, for whom he hosted game shows Divided and The Pyramid for SPT-owned cable network GSN. He also executive produced the celebrity edition of ABC’s Who Wants To Be a Millionaire for SPT.

Richards has also served as host of The WB’s High School Reunion and The CW’s Beauty and the Geek. In 2008, he became co-executive producer of CBS’ The Price Is Right, which is hosted by Drew Carey and produced by Fremantle. In 2009, he became that show’s executive producer and also sold a revival of Let’s Make a Deal, also produced by Fremantle and hosted by Wayne Brady, to CBS. 

Many guest hosts have taken a turn at the podium this year, including current host LeVar Burton, who has been actively campaigning for the job for years. Other guest hosts have included The Big Bang Theory and Call Me Kat’s Mayim Bialik, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts and many more.

In an interview with B&C/Multichannel News in May, Richards waved away the question of his taking over as host.

“We are going to look at everyone and consider the data and analytics, testing and focus groups and ultimately who we think the correct person is in the long term. My role is not to choose the person, my role is to make everyone as great as they can be in the role," said Richards. "Look at how Aaron was received or how [CNN’s] Anderson [Cooper] has been received — our production and producers are doing a very good job of giving them great looks. That’s the goal: Make everyone look great. Ultimately, the team at Sony will decide what they think is the right thing for the show.

"We aren’t looking for a three-year host, we’re looking for a 10-year or a 20-year host. Stability is one of the show’s strengths, so we need to consider who’s got a 20-year horizon and who can focus on the show and make it great over that time. 

"As for me hosting, I was never meant to be a part of that process — I was just meant to manage — but COVID had other plans. Sony will ask me how people are in the studio and how their days on set went so I will be part of that conversation but there’s a bigger group of stakeholders who will weigh in. My job is really to make everyone really good at this. The shoot days are brutal, because teaching someone the show is intense. We give everything we can to them to let them shine and then we serve it up."

In that interview, Richards also said a new host would be chosen by the end of July or early August.

“By the end of July or early August, we will have a permanent host in place. Some of the episodes won’t have aired before we make this decision, but we’ve already been doing lots of research on all of the guest hosts,” he said. 

Amazon’s streaming services, the subscription Prime Video and the free IMDb TV, are adding classic series from producer Norman Lear in a licensing deal with Sony Pictures Television.

“Norman Lear is a national treasure and his impact on television and popular culture is immeasurable,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “We are so honored to bring his classic television series to Prime Video and IMDb TV so new audiences and a new generation can laugh, enjoy and be inspired, like so many of us have been throughout the years.”

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers will be able to start streaming 227 and Diff’rent Strokes on July 15 as part of their membership. Titles including The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son and Sanford will launch on Prime Video later in 2021.

All in the Family, Good Times, Maude and One Day at a Time will come to IMDb TV on July. Amazon said this is the first time all episodes of Maude and all seasons of All in the Family will be available to stream.

“Life is a collaboration. Writing, directing and producing films and television is perhaps the most collaborative work of all. In 2018, our Act III Productions sat with the team at Sony Pictures Television and formed a partnership to not only produce new content, but to bring a new awareness to my former Embassy library,” said Lear. “That Sony found a home for that library with Prime Video/IMDb TV where new generations could find it, is the best present a man entering his 100th year can have.”

At the ripe age of 99, Lear continues to work. He has been executive producing and co-hosting Live in Front of a Studio Audience alongside Jimmy Kimmel. The show features top actors recreating episodes from Lear’s series life.

He’s also executive producer of two films now in theaters, I Carry You With Me and Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It.

NBCUniversal’s Xumo streaming platform, working with Sony Pictures Television and its Game Show Network is launching new ad-supported channels.

Game Show Central launched Wednesday and Sony Canal Competencias was scheduled to debut later this week.

Also launching is BBC’s Impossible game show network.

All of the channels will be up and running in time for Game Show Week, which runs May 17-23 on Xumo, which also carries channels for Family Feud and Deal or No Deal.

Game Show Central programs include trivia, work puzzle, physical games and competitions from the Game Show Network library. Titles including Winsanity, Idiotest and Baggage.

Sony Canal Competencias show challenge contestants’ knowledge and skills. Programs include Escape Perfecto, the Mexican adaptation of the SPT format Raid the Cage.

Also Read: Crown Media Launches Hallmark’s First AVOD Channel on Xumo

“This partnership is pivotal for Xumo and brings even more great entertainment options to millions of users across a multitude of devices,” said Stefan Van Engen, senior VP of programming and partnerships at Xumo. “We are looking forward to further partnering with Sony to highlight these marquee channels on Sony Bravia devices while aligning with Xumo’s own ‘Game Show Week’.”

Jeopardy! great Ken Jennings’ first week of guest-hosting drove CBS Media Venture’s Jeopardy! to a weekly overall syndicated win in the week ending Jan. 17.

Although the show declined by 6% from the prior week, when Alex Trebek’s last five episodes aired, Jeopardy! still topped syndication and the games with a 6.2 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Also Read: ‘Jeopardy! Jumps as Final Trebek Episodes Air

Jeopardy! stablemate Wheel of Fortune eased 3% to a 5.8, but took second place among the games and all of syndication, edging out frequent leader Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud even though that strengthened 6% to a 5.4 and tied CMV’s court leader Judge Judy for third in overall syndication.

Fox’s sophomore 25 Words or Less, starring and executive produced by Meredith Vieira, remained at its series-low 0.8 for the fourth time in five weeks, while Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask stayed at a 0.4 for the fifth time in six weeks.

Disney’s internet video show RightThisMinute recovered 17% from its series low to a 0.7 for the fifth time in seven weeks. 

CMV’s Inside Edition eroded 4% to a 2.4 but remained the magazine leader, while sister show Entertainment Tonight fell 4% to a 2.2. NBCU’s Access Hollywood; Warner Bros.’ TMZ; Warner Bros.’ Extra, at its season high; CMV’s DailyMailTV and Fox’s Dish Nation all held steady at a 1.0, 0.8, 0.7, 0.6 and 0.3, respectively. 

Daytime saw heavy preemptions for news coverage, with Congress debating President Trump’s second impeachment on Jan. 13 and President-elect Joe Biden sharing details of his COVID-19 relief proposal on Jan. 14. 

Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan, which had to include the low-rated Jan. 13 in its weekly ratings average, relinquished 10% to a 1.8 but still tied CMV’s Dr. Phil, which was steady, for first place in talk. Live has now been first or tied for first in talk for 15 of the past 19 weeks. 

Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Live led with a 0.7.

NBCU’s sophomore Kelly Clarkson, which has been either third or tied for third in talk five times in the past six weeks, hung tough at a 1.0, tying veterans NBCU’s Maury, which was unchanged, and Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres, which added 11%. Ellen returned to originals for at least part of the week after a long production layoff due to DeGeneres contracting COVID-19.

Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams and CTD’s Rachael Ray each remained at a 0.9, which was the second straight week for Wendy at that level and the 10th straight week for Rachael.

Disney’s sophomore Tamron Hall also couldn’t exclude the heavily preempted Jan. 13 from its weekly ratings average and stayed at a 0.8, tying NBCU’s Steve Wilkos, which rebounded 14% from its series low.

SPT’s Dr. Oz held at a 0.7 for the eighth time in ten weeks. 

CTD’s rookie talker Drew Barrymore held steady at a 0.5 for the third straight week.

Warner Bros.’ The Real, CMV’s The Doctors and NBCU’s out-of-production syndicated version of Jerry Springer all were in line with their previous week’s 0.4, 0.2 and 0.2, respectively. CMV’s The Doctors stayed its series low for the fifth straight week, while Springer has been at its series low for 19 weeks. 

Court leader Judge Judy was preempted by the Jan. 13 impeachment debate in numerous markets, including top market New York, and gave back 4% to a 5.4. 

CMV’s Hot Bench was steady at a 1.6. Warner Bros.’ People’s Court declined 10% to a 0.9, equalling its series low. Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis sustained a 0.7 for a second week and the third time in four weeks, tying NBCU’s Judge Jerry, which recovered 17% to hit a 0.7 for the fourth time in six week. Fox’s Divorce Court settled for unchanged 0.6 for the seventh time in eight weeks. Trifecta’s Protection Court sagged 33% to a new season low 0.2.

Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory led the off-network sitcoms even though it backed off 4% to a 2.6. Disney’s Last Man Standing jumped 12% to a 1.9. Disney’s Modern Family faded 8% to a 1.2.

Also Read: ‘Modern Family’ Streaming Rights to be Shared by Peacock, Hulu

Warner Bros.’ Two and Half Men dropped 9% to a 1.0, tying SPT’s The Goldbergs and Disney’s Family Guy, both of which were steady. SPT’s Seinfeld improved 13% to a 0.9. Warner Bros.’ trio of 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly and Mom all were on par with their prior week’s 0.8, 0.8 and 0.7, respectively.