What is a brand extension? 'Jeopardy!' attempts to answer TV's questionable future

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As the TV scenery continues to signifier shift, determination are fewer programs that person remained existent to their archetypal conception aft decades connected the air.

Sony Pictures Television’s crippled amusement “Jeopardy!” has not lone survived but thrived implicit its 42-year run. The regular mentation is ranked arsenic the most-watched amusement programme connected TV successful the 2025-26 TV play with an mean assemblage of 8.3 cardinal viewers, according to Nielsen, with 20 cardinal viewers tuning successful implicit the people of a week. The amusement adjacent weathered a large uproar implicit the botched big modulation that followed the decease of its beloved emcee Alex Trebek successful 2020.

In caller years, Sony has sought to grow the “Jeopardy!” marque beyond the loyal halfway of viewers who inactive marque a nightly assignment to ticker the syndicated variation connected section TV stations crossed the country, including KABC successful Los Angeles, and “Celebrity Jeopardy!” which returns connected ABC’s premier clip line-up adjacent year.

A caller sports-focused iteration, “ESPN Jeopardy!” launches Friday connected Disney+, Hulu and the ESPN app, with sportscaster Joe Buck arsenic big for 10 hour-long episodes that diagnostic celebrities and ESPN personalities arsenic contestants. “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” with Colin Jost of “Saturday Night Live” arsenic host, precocious launched its 2nd season, moving from Amazon Prime to Netflix.

Sony unveiled a “Jeopardy!” YouTube leafage successful March featuring a peculiar variation wherever resistance queen Monét X Change, vocalist Rebecca Black and comedian Brennan Lee Mulligan competed. “This assemblage is simply a small younger than I’m utilized to,” big Ken Jennings said aft eliciting a laughter erstwhile helium noted the charities selected by the contestants “are eating.”

Getting younger radical into the “Jeopardy!” structure is simply a ngo that began 4 years agone nether Suzanne Prete, president of crippled shows astatine Sony Pictures Television and Michael Davies, the show’s enforcement producer. While “Jeopardy!” stands taller than astir of the contention connected accepted TV, it’s portion of a wont that is dilatory fading distant arsenic streaming platforms are the video destination of prime for viewers nether 50. The median property of the “Jeopardy!” assemblage is 70, according to Nielsen.

“Like each different broadcast shows, it’s up against the stark world that the assemblage is shrinking and not coming back,” said Claire McNear, writer of “Answers successful the Form of Questions: A Definitive History and Insider’s Guide to Jeopardy!”

There person been “Jeopardy!” spinoffs before. A sports mentation appeared connected Sony’s present defunct streaming level Crackle successful 2014. “Rock & Roll Jeopardy” ran for respective years connected VH-1 during cable’s heyday successful the precocious 1990s. But the caller propulsion of marque extensions is aimed astatine ensuring the crippled remains a taste staple for aboriginal generations.

“About 4 years agone I thought it was the close clip to look astatine it arsenic a franchise,” Prete said successful a caller interview. “How could we find different audiences who whitethorn not beryllium watching connected linear TV anymore? How tin we scope those folks and supply them with a mentation of Jeopardy that spoke to them, but ever being respectful of ‘Jeopardy’ itself?”

The YouTube peculiar demonstrated the imaginable to scope caller fans. The occurrence and related video contented scored 8.7 cardinal views, with 86% of viewers nether aged 34. The aforesaid percent had ne'er watched “Jeopardy!” before. A 2nd peculiar occurrence for the level volition beryllium released successful the fall. The YouTube transmission besides offers selected vintage episodes of the amusement featuring aboriginal appearances by contestants who vie successful “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.”

NBCUniversal’s streaming level Peacock, which offers “Jeopardy!” episodes 1 time aft they aerial connected TV, launched “Jeopardy! TODAY” a regular interactive crippled for subscribers developed by the Los Angeles-based popular civilization gaming institution Lil Snack.

Colin Jost arsenic big of "Pop Culture Jeopardy!"

Only 1% of the Netflix streaming assemblage for “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” overlaps with those watching the accepted flagship broadcast edition. Davies expects the ESPN variation to besides bring successful a younger antheral assemblage done the promotion it volition person crossed the sports media behemoth’s channels and integer properties.

“The assemblage mostly matches the level that it’s on,” said Davies. The communal denominator for each of the editions are audiences who are much upscale and amended educated than the mean TV viewer, helium added.

While the look appears to beryllium working, Sony executives accidental they person to proceed cautiously with 1 of the fewer crown jewels near connected broadcast television. In 2025, the syndicated and ABC versions brought successful a full of $93 cardinal successful advertisement gross according to iSpot. They learned astir passionateness of “Jeopardy!” fans erstwhile Sony tried to regenerate Trebek with Mike Richards, the program’s enforcement shaper astatine the time.

Richards lasted 1 time arsenic host, exiting aft a communicative by McNear revealed helium had made demeaning remarks astir women and utilized violative taste tropes connected a podcast successful 2014. Richards already had a shaky narration with the “Jeopardy!” assemblage arsenic helium was fixed the occupation aft overseeing the hunt and audition process to regenerate Trebek, creating the quality of self-dealing.

“I deliberation the biggest acquisition determination was to perceive to our fans and enactment adjacent to them,” Prete said. “They’re the biggest critics and they’re the experts.”

Prete asked Davies, a seasoned crippled amusement shaper who helped marque “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” a hit, to oversee “Jeopardy!” connected an interim ground aft Richards departed. But helium has remained successful the presumption and helped usher the marque expansion, afloat alert of the peculiar attraction and handling required.

Davies’ archetypal occupation successful the amusement concern was moving for Merv Griffin, the large set singer, speech amusement big and impresario who created “Jeopardy!” for NBC successful 1964, and revived it for syndication 2 decades later. He recalled however web executives implicit the years implored Griffin to marque the crippled easier arsenic they believed the questions astir science, past and geography were implicit the heads of astir of the audience. Griffin told them helium would, but ne'er did.

“He would spell backmost to the penning unit and accidental ‘make it harder,’” Davies said. “Merv ever believed that the toughness of ‘Jeopardy!’ is what made it good. We person 110,000 radical use to beryllium connected the amusement each year. We instrumentality 400. That’s an acceptance complaint of .36%. Harvard’s is astir 3.6%.”

While the taxable substance connected the spin-offs is lighter than the flagship show, Davies said they usage the aforesaid seasoned penning unit that creates the cleverly constructed clues. He has added writers with expertise successful sports and popular civilization for the streaming shows.

Davies has made accumulation changes to “Jeopardy!” implicit his tenure, updating the acceptable and the crippled board. But helium knows the signature elements specified arsenic the “thinking music” played during last “Jeopardy!” and off-camera announcer — 98 year-old Johnny Gilbert who has been with the amusement since 1984 — are indispensable to each mentation of the program.

Davies does not expect to crook retired much niche versions of “Jeopardy!” But helium would similar to bring backmost the precocious schoolhouse and assemblage competitions the amusement has held successful the past. Sony is besides readying a unrecorded “Jeopardy!” competition, a throwback to the aboriginal days of TV quiz shows.

“I deliberation ‘Jeopardy!’ has to person a unrecorded version,” Davies said. “Live quizzes are truly terrifying.”

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