"Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" Reupped Through 2016 by ABC Owned Television Stations Group
Syndication's #1 and #2 Game Shows Renewed
For Two Years Beyond Current Run
LOS ANGELES - October 29, 2012 - Syndication's top-rated game shows WHEEL OF FORTUNE and JEOPARDY! were renewed by the ABC Owned Television Stations Group through the 2015-2016 season, it was announced today by Joe DiSalvo, President of Sales for CBS Television Distribution.
Both shows were renewed for two more years beyond stations' current contracts by the ABC-owned stations that currently air the shows: New York (WABC-TV); Los Angeles (KABC-TV); Chicago (WLS-TV); Philadelphia (WPVI-TV); San Francisco (KGO-TV); Raleigh-Durham, N.C. (WTVD-TV); and Fresno, Calif. (KFSN-TV). This group represents 21% of U.S. households.
The new deal will take WHEEL OF FORTUNE through its 33rd season and JEOPARDY! through its 32nd season. Pat Sajak and Vanna White, co-hosts of WHEEL OF FORTUNE, and JEOPARDY! host Alex Trebek recently renewed their contracts to continue hosting their respective shows through the 2015-2016 season.
"The ABC Owned Stations have been a fantastic broadcast partner for WHEEL OF FORTUNE and JEOPARDY! for the last few decades, and we look forward to many more years of this prosperous relationship," DiSalvo said. "WHEEL and JEOPARDY! continue to hit prime-time size ratings every night and truly prove the power that syndicated programming brings to a station's lineup."
"Our ABC-owned stations have been the local destinations for WHEEL OF FORTUNE and JEOPARDY! for nearly 30 years," said Rebecca Campbell, president of the ABC Owned Television Stations Group. "Both shows are strong perennial performers and we are thrilled to continue to offer them to our viewers and advertisers."
With more than 30 million viewers per week, WHEEL OF FORTUNE has been the #1 syndicated game show since its inception. It has earned six Emmy Awards, including the 2011 Emmy for Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show. JEOPARDY!, the #2 game show in syndication, reaches 25 million viewers each week. JEOPARDY!, the winner of a 2011 Peabody Award and 30 Emmy Awards, including the 2012 Emmy for Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Program, was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most awards won by a TV Game Show.
Both shows are produced by Sony Pictures Television, A Sony Pictures Entertainment Company, and executive produced by Harry Friedman. They are distributed domestically by CBS Television Distribution and internationally by CBS Studios International, both units of CBS Corp.
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