Looks like Sony Pictures Television won’t be asking Anderson Cooper to permanently take up the Jeopardy mantle any time soon. The silver-haired CNN anchor pulled the least viewers of any guest host since Alex Trebek died of pancreatic cancer last November at age 80. In fact, Cooper scored the smallest audience of any guest host in the show’s history.
According to ratings information obtained by The Wrap, with the 53-year-old Cooper at the helm, the long-running series dropped 7% from the week before when Green Bay Packers’ QB Aaron Rogers stood behind the iconic podium. Even Dr. Oz, who Variety columnist Daniel D’Addario accused of giving the show a black eye, attracted a bigger audience — putting up a 5.2 share in his first week to Cooper’s 5.1.
Worse for Sony, Cooper’s stint cost the syndicated show its position at the top of the game show heap, causing it to fall behind Family Feud.
Former champion Ken Jennings, who holds the record for longest Jeopardy winning streak and highest-earning contestant, has been the most popular guest host since the show had to soldier on without the legendary Trebek, pulling 6.2 and 5.9 in the ratings in his first and second weeks, respectively. There seems to be a lesson in that for TV executives — they can largely disregard social media complaints when making hiring decisions.- READ MORE
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