The numbers are in. Ryan Seacrest‘s first week as host of Wheel of Fortune made for the game show’s highest ratings in five years. The first week also saw a double-digit percentage increase in viewership in every key demo. While viewership numbers did slightly decrease in his second week, it wasn’t a massive drop, proving that he and Vanna White have captured viewers’ attention for now.
According to Nielsen, Wheel of Fortune Season 42’s premiere week had an average viewership of 8.31 million per episode, making it the No. 1 syndicated show that week.
Its average household rating was 4.88. This 8.1 million is a 21-percent increase from the September 2023 Season 41’s premiere week, which had an episode average of 6.87 million viewers, per The Hollywood Reporter. The first four episodes of the second week averaged just under 8 million viewers per episode.
Ratings were up in every key demo by 10 percent or more in the first week. Household ratings rose 21 percent from 2023’s figures.
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For comparison, Seacrest’s first episode as host on September 9 brought in 9.63 million viewers, the show’s biggest season premiere since 2015. While the average viewership per episode went down after the premiere, the ratings increased. Seacrest’s first episode received a 4.62 household rating, and as noted above, the average household rating for the first week at large was 4.88. Seacrest didn’t have more viewers than Pat Sajak‘s final episode, however, which was watched by 11 million people.
The first episode of Seacrest’s second week marked the first time in his tenure that the $1 million prize came into play. This was just the 13th time in the show’s history that a player met all the requirements to win the jackpot, but she ultimately lost the bonus round.
Seacrest’s Wheel contract reportedly extends into the 2030s, per a New York Times report. Time will tell if he has the staying power in regards to viewership and ratings. Following Sajak’s retirement, White extended her contract through 2026. She has yet to publicly announce if she will return after that, but her feelings about leaving seem up in the air. Sajak is still the host of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, which returns for its fifth season on October 14.
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