Alex Trebek’s final Jeopardy! episode scores huge ratings

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Alex Trebek's passing last year was felt by anyone that had grown up with the likable host as their favorite trivia master on the hit game show, Jeopardy! Before Trebek passed on November 8, 2021, he taped a handful of episodes in late October that ran into the new year. Well, the numbers are finally in for the final episode that featured Trebek as host, and given how much he was loved, it should come as no surprise that his final episode scored huge ratings.

Trebek's last episode, which aired on January 8, 2021, brought in 14 million viewers, representing its largest audience in more than a year and a half. The last ratings high in that range occurred on June 9, 2019, when the final episode of James Holzhauer's 32-game winning streak aired. The week that Trebek's final episodes aired, beginning on January 4, 2021, also saw significant gains. The show averaged 11.12 million daily viewers for the week which were its largest daily ratings since late April. 

Jeopardy! has always been one of the highest-rating game shows in syndication but the numbers greatly improved immediately following his death. Eventually, the ratings returning to their usual levels as 2020 came to a close but the ratings bump to celebrate the final week we would see him on-air is a testament to how much Trebek was loved by many.

Jeopardy! has not made a decision on a permanent new host but, in the interim, guest hosts will fill in until a final choice is made. The game's all-time champion, Ken Jennings, was the first to step into Trebek's shoes and it was announced that Katie Couric, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whittaker, and Big Bang Theory actress Mayim Bialik, would also be on deck.

Did YOU watch Alex Trebek's final Jeopardy! episode?