As audiences tune in to “Jeopardy!” to watch James Holzhauer’s impressive winning streak, the game show has nabbed the No. 1 spot in syndication ratings for two weeks straight.
Ratings have steadily increased from 9.6 million viewers during his early April appearance, to 12 million by the end of the month. Those numbers were enough to dethrone reigning syndication ratings champ “Judge Judy.” “Jeopardy!,” now in its 36th season, grew by 12% in households each week and 27% more than the same week last year.
“In the fourth week of James Holzhauer’s record-breaking streak, ‘Jeopardy!’ ratings continue to skyrocket,” CBS executive Leslie Ryan said in a statement.
Holzhauer will be taking a break for the game show’s teacher competition. He will return May 20 and attempt to beat Ken Jennings’ all-time record of $2.5 million, set in 2004. Holzhauer’s current winnings amount to 1.6 million.
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The show’s long-time host Alex Trebek recently won a Daytime Emmy for outstanding game show host. In March, he announced his battle with pancreatic cancer, but said he’ll still be returning for a new season in September. Trebek recently appeared on “Good Morning America” to talk about the details of his illness, the need for education about the disease, and the ups and downs of his emotional state. He announced he will take the summer off-season to get stronger so that he can come back in the fall to continue with the program.