MW Sony looks to sell streaming rights to 'Jeopardy' and 'Wheel of Fortune' for the first time

By Lukas I. Alpert

Give me streaming rights for $1,000.

Sony Pictures Entertainment said Thursday that it is moving to sell streaming rights to "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune," two hit programs that have so far remained only available on traditional broadcast television.

The programs remain highly popular, with each drawing roughly 7 million viewers a night, according to Nielsen. But with linear-television audiences growing older and smaller, Sony Pictures - a subsidiary of Japan's Sony Group Corp. $(SONY)$ (JP:6758) - has decided to take bids for their streaming rights, according to Sony executives.

The company is looking to sell streaming rights to "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" under a three-year deal that would start in September, the executives said. The deal would provide the streaming partner with rights to show episodes on the same day they air on syndicated television.

The executives said Sony was in talks already and is hoping a deal will be in place as early as April. Between the two shows, Sony produces 425 episodes a year, which should make it an appealing offering for streaming services.

"Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" were among the last remaining holdouts to look to secure streaming deals. Most major sports events, while still a mainstay of linear television, have also signed deals for some streaming rights.

"The world is changing around us," Keith Le Goy, the chairman of Sony's television division, told the New York Times. "Consumption on streaming is now overtaking consumption of other forms of delivery of television. Big iconic franchises, like the NFL, the NBA and WWE, are moving over."

The shows - which appear on different networks in different markets - have undergone considerable transformation in recent years. Sony signed Ryan Seacrest to host "Wheel of Fortune," replacing longtime host Pat Sajak in 2023. That same year, Ken Jennings was named to replace the late Alex Trebek, who had hosted "Jeopardy" for decades before his death in 2020.

Older episodes of "Jeopardy" had been available on the Pluto streaming service until they were pulled by Sony last year. In December, Sony launched a spin-off, " Pop Culture Jeopardy," hosted by Colin Jost of "Saturday Night Live," on Amazon's Prime Video $(AMZN)$.

-Lukas I. Alpert

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February 27, 2025 15:07 ET (20:07 GMT)

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