Source: CBS Photo Archive / Getty
After much social media hype around LeVar Burton being the new host of Jeopardy, his guest hosting gig wasn’t received that well. When Burton fill in as the guest host from July 26 to July 30, the game show had the lowest ratings ever among all the guest hosts thus far. According to Newsweek, Nielsen Media Research shows that only 4.4 of the Jeopardy! audience tuned in to watch Burton.
These ratings are disappointing, considering more than 267,000 people signed a Change.org petition urging the network to bring the Reading Rainbow host onboard. One factor that may have affected viewership was that his week serving as guest host was airing the same time as the Tokyo Olympics.
The guest host with the best ratings is Ken Jennings, a popular Jeopardy! contestant whose ratings soared to a 6.1 while he was guest hosting the show for six weeks straight. However, Jennings was not the choice for the permanent host. It was recently announced that Jeopardy!’s executive producer Mike Richards would be successor to the late Alex Trebek. Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik was also selected as a second host and will be seen on Jeopardy! primetime and spinoff specials.
Even though Richards is the new host, a recent poll shows that Burton was a favorite among fans of the show. A survey released by Morning Consult stated that when asked who they wanted to be the permanent host of Jeopardy!, Burton received 16% of the votes while Richards only got 3%.
After not being chosen, Burton said he still feels like a winner.
“I have said many times over these past weeks that no matter the outcome, I’ve won,” he tweeted. “The outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and fans alike has been incredible! If love is the ultimate blessing and I believe that it is, I am truly blessed beyond measure.”
Fans were certainly not happy that Burton didn’t get this opportunity, including director Ava DuVernay. In a tweet, she teased taking matters into her own hands and giving Burton a new hosting job herself.
“Me trying to create a show right in this moment for @levarburton to host and make an international hit,” she tweeted along with a GIF.
Someone else on Twitter said the execs behind Jeopardy! didn’t give Burton a fair chance.
“The fix was in from the jump. They didn’t give him a fair shake because they knew he wasn’t getting the job from the beginning. I won’t be watching Jeopardy again.”
Actress Yvette Nicole Brown stated that though she is happy for Mayim Bialik, she feels Burton was wronged.
“Still, the way the search was handled did @levarburton dirty. That’s not on Mayim. That’s on @jeopardy & the powers that be.”
