‘Jeopardy!’ Bosses Rocked by Ratings Disaster as Viewership Hits New Low

Disney/Christopher Willard

Jeopardy! bosses have been hit by a ratings crash for Celebrity Jeopardy! which hit a new low for last Wednesday’s (January 29) episode on ABC which was watched by fewer than 2 million viewers.

According to Nielsen ratings, the latest episode of the Celeb spinoff, featuring Roy Wood Jr., Brian Jordan Alvarez, and Phoebe Robinson, dropped to 1.84 million viewers and 0.20 in the key 18-49 demo, marking the show’s lowest rating since it debuted in 2022.

Wednesday’s episode was beaten in a head-to-head with CBS’ The Price Is Right At Night, which landed 2.95 million viewers and 0.27 in the 18-49 demo.

The latest Celebrity Jeopardy! numbers were down 40% from the previous week, which did 2.52 million viewers and 0.30 in the key demo, and were also over 40% off the show’s lead-in, Abbott Elementary, which reached a 0.34 demo (and 2.63 million viewers).

Overall, Celebrity Jeopardy! ranked in ninth place on the broadcast networks for the night, tied with Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. In also ranked the lowest of the four game shows on that night, including Hollywood Squares (.30), The Price is Right at Night (.27), and Raid the Cage (.20).

Viewers have taken to the Jeopardy! Reddit forum to discuss the falling ratings, with many offering their opinions on why the Celebrity edition of the long-running game show appears to be struggling.

Roy Wood Jr., Brian Jordan Alvarez, and Phoebe Robinson on Celebrity Jeopardy!; Disney/Christopher Willard

“The questions on CJ are insufferably easy. Sucks the fun out of it,” said one commenter.

“That’s the thing. For me, trying to answer the questions is 80% of the pleasure of watching. If the questions are “This city is the capital of France” then what’s the freaking point?” agreed another.

“No offense to them, but I didn’t know any of the CJ celebrities this week. That definitely doesn’t help,” added another fan.

“My wife and I call it “Unknown Celebrity Jeopardy,”” another quipped. “It is very likely that the pool of actual celebrities that would feel confident on Jeopardy is probably small.”

Celebrities that have appeared so far this season include the likes of Neil deGrasse Tyson, Seth Green, Rachel Brosnahan, Camilla Luddington, Margaret Cho, and Max Greenfield.

Another said, “I think yearly is too frequent for CJ. It should be an event.”

Celebrity Jeopardy! debuted on September 25, 2022, with Mayim Bialik serving as host. Season 2 premiered on September 27, 2023, with Ken Jennings taking over as host after Bialik stepped away in solidarity with the writers’ strike. Bialik was later let go as Jeopardy! host in December 2023, with Jennings becoming the permanent host for both the syndicated edition and specials.

Another Reddit user shared their thoughts, writing, “I may be in the minority here but I hate all the extra banter. Every now and then ok cool. But literally after everything nahhhh I’ll pass on watching it.”

“I am in this same group,” another responded. “I don’t idolize nor care about most celebrities. I don’t want to hear them make jokes and talk about their causes and achievements. I don’t care to see them play Jeopardy, poorly for the most part.”

“Well. Yeah. It sucks. The questions are insanely easy. The contestants are deathly afraid of Daily Doubles. And all they do is go one category at a time, in order. It’s painful to watch,” said one commenter.

Another added, “I think we have reached over saturation of the Jeopardy brand.”

“It was dumb to release Celebrity Jeopardy! and Pop Culture Jeopardy! at the same time. Save one or the other for summer when nothing else is going on,” said another.

Pop Culture! Jeopardy is currently airing on Prime Video, and fans seem to be enjoying it.

“That is what I enjoy about pop culture jeopardy. It feels that the questions are of similar difficulty as regular jeopardy just a different genre of questions,” wrote one Reddit user.

“I’m really enjoying pop culture jeopardy as well. Still some challenging questions,” added another.

Have you been watching Celebrity Jeopardy!? Is there too much Jeopardy!? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Celebrity Jeopardy!, Wednesdays, 9/8c, ABC