GAME SHOW SHAKEUP Jeopardy! & Wheel of Fortune announces major changes

Both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are headed for a streaming deal for the first time.

The owner, Sony Pictures Entertainment, will be looking to attract a larger and younger audience to the long-running formats.

Yesterday, the parent company confirmed that it was soliciting bids from major companies in the media and tech sectors.

An executive from the company confirmed that it expects to clinch a deal by early April as it is in talks with several streaming services.

According to The New York Times, these deals would be for the streaming rights to new episodes of the programs.

The company has also revealed that the rights for the popular game shows could last for three years and will be active starting in September.

Keith Le Goy is the chairman of Sony’s TV division and he told the outlet: “The world is changing around us.

“Consumption on streaming is now overtaking consumption of other forms of delivery of television.”

Jeopardy! first premiered on TV screens in 1964, before Wheel Of Fortune was launched a year later.

According to Nielsen ratings, both shows attracted a huge audience with seven million Americans watching each night.

But decades later in the streaming age, the audiences are growing older and getting smaller like other classic shows.

This tactic is quickly becoming a growing trend in TV as other huge companies are moving in the same way.

WWE signed a deal last year as it agreed to air its flagship program, WWE Raw, exclusively on Netflix.

The NFL streams Thursday night games on Amazon Prime, and for the very first time, The Oscars was streamed live on Hulu this year.

The Super Bowl was also streamed on free service Tubi for the first time in 2024.

Jeopardy has been hosted by Ken Jennings since 2023 whilst Ryan Seacrestand Vanna White are the main faces of Wheel Of Fortune.