JEOPARDY! is at the top of the ratings for syndicated programs, as rival Wheel of Fortune continues to struggle to return to the number one spot.

Jeopardy! hosted by Ken Jennings and Wheel of Fortune with Ryan Seacrest both air on ABC, as the rival game shows have taken turns leading in viewership.

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Jeopardy! continues to lead in ratingsCredit: Getty

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Wheel of Fortune has fallen behind by 500,000 viewersCredit: Wheel of Fortune
The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal Jeopardy! continues to be the preferred favorite among viewers.

For the week of March 3 to March 9, Jeopardy! had a solid 8,902,000 viewers tune in, according to Nielsen.

Wheel of Fortune trailed behind in the number two spot with 8,477,000 viewers.

In third came Family Feud with 7,218,000 fans.

Jeopardy! aired the Invitational Tournament finals for the week of March 3 to 9, as Matt Amodio took home the win.

RATINGS THIS SEASON

But regardless of the tournament, Jeopardy! has beaten Wheel of Fortune in ratings this season.

The U.S. Sun previously reported 8,430,000 viewers tuned in to watch Jeopardy! for the week of January 20 to 26.

Wheel of Fortune came in second place with 8,111,000 viewers.

Jeopardy! knocked Wheel of Fortune out of the top spot for syndicated programs.

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The U.S. Sun previously reported 8,310,000 viewers watched Wheel of Fortune for the premiere week of September 9 to September 15.

As for Jeopardy!, 7,113,000 viewers tuned in for the episodes.

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Matt Amodio won the Invitational tournament the week of the high ratingsCredit: Getty

OVER RYAN?

The high ratings at the beginning of the season for Wheel of Fortune could’ve been because of interest over new host Ryan, 50, taking over for Pat Sajak.

Wheel of Fortune kicked off Season 42 on September 9 with the new host.

Ryan had trouble adjusting to his role as host during the first few episodes.

On the premiere episode, a contestant mispronounced the word “ripened” while solving a puzzle.

Ryan ignored the mishap and granted the player the win.

For his second night as host, he failed to explain the rules to a contestant, causing her to lose a million-dollar prize.

And just last week, Ryan faced backlash again when he didn’t explain to contestants how to properly solve the crossword puzzle.

One fan fired, “Ryan should remind them every time. It’s only fair.”

A second said, “Yeah, but if you watch this so regularly, you know that Ryan reminds you. He didn’t do that here. It was a screw up.”

A third complained, “Pat ALWAYS made sure to list the rules for these more meta puzzles!”

Jeopardy! Universe

Jeopardy! first aired in 1964 until 1975. Then the nighttime version began in 1974. Since then, many spinoffs of the game show have emerged. Here they all are:

Jeopardy! – (syndicated) 1974 to present, weekdays on ABC at 7 pm ET.

Tournament of Champions – 1984 to present, features the top champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament.

Second Chance Tournament – 2022 to present features hand-selected non-winners from the season prior, where the prize is entry into Champions Wildcard.

Champions Wildcard – 2023 to present, features all one, two and three-day champions from the season prior worth entry into the Tournament of Champions.

Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (syndication) – 2023 to present, features past greats invited by producers to vie for a slot in Masters.

Jeopardy! Masters (primetime) – 2023 to present, features the six highest-ranked Jeopardy! champions competing against each other.

Celebrity Jeopardy! (primetime) – 1992 to present, has celebrities compete against each other to raise money for charity.

Pop Culture Jeopardy (streaming) – 2024 to present, will feature teams of three tasked with pop culture trivia on Amazon Prime, hosted by Colin Jost, airdate TBD

Jeopardy! has done away with specialized tournaments like its College Tournaments, Kids Week, and Professor’s Tournament to gear towards a more sports-like model, with Masters being the top of the Jeopardy pyramid.

Other versions of Jeopardy! have fizzled out throughout the years as well, like Sports Jeopardy!.

MASTERS TOURNAMENT

Jeopardy! is gearing up for its highly-anticipated Masters tournament.

Jeopardy! released the cast of Masters, as the spinoff is set to premiere on ABC on Wednesday, April 30.

The participants competing for $500,000 include Neilesh Vinjamuri, who is the 2025 Tournament of Champions winner, Victoria Groce, Yogesh Raut, Isaac Hirsch, Adriana Harmeyer, Roger Craig, Juveria Zaheer and 2025 Invitational Tournament champion Matt.

Also appearing in the tournament is the show’s biggest winner with $4,938,436 in earnings, Brad Rutter, as it will be the first time since the 2020 he will compete on the game show.

But missing from the tournament is fan-favorite and legend James Holzhauer, leaving fans upset over the casting.

One fan wrote, “I’m sure we’ll find out either from James on Twitter or through the podcast, but I’d have to assume that either James decided to pass on Masters this time or the taping schedule didn’t work for him.

“I can’t imagine the Jeopardy producers would just actively choose to pass him over.”

A second commented, “Yeah no James is really unfortunate especially considering Brad is back.”

A third argued, “Masters are supposed to be legends. I think they overcompensated due to last year’s producer pick issue. Victoria and Yogesh earned their spots as did JIT and TOC winners, glad Brad got his due; sad James isn’t in the lineup, he’s the most established master.”

James is a professional sports gambler and is the third-highest winner on Jeopardy!, as he has won $2,462,216 in 32 games.

He also won Masters in 2023.

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Ryan has come under fire by fans for mistakes this seasonCredit: Instagram/wheeloffortune

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Jeopardy! is gearing up for its Masters tournament later this monthCredit: Getty