The premiere of the Jeopardy! National College Championship earned some impressive viewership numbers. The opening of the tournament averaged 4.1 million viewers and a 0.6 rating.
The show was on par with Judge Steve Harvey and was only beat by NBC’s Olympics coverage.
According to TV Line, Abbott Elementary and Queens ratings and views dropped tremendously. For instance, Abbott Elementary received 2.5 million viewers and a 0.5 rating while Queens only has 987,000 viewers.
The outlet reportedly acknowledged that the fifth day of the Beijing Winter Olympics averaged 8 million viewers and a 1.5 rating. So we know that when the audience isn’t watching the Beijing Olympics, they’re probably catching up on the newest Jeopardy! tournament.
The semifinals for the National College Championship will air next Thursday and Friday. Then, the finals will start on February 22. Tune in next week at 8 p.m.
Jeopardy! Introduces the National College Championship Series
Jeopardy’s National College Championship stars undergraduates from 36 different universities across the country. They will participate in a two-week competition that promises a grand prize of $100,000.
The first episode premiered last night (Feb 8) and will run through February 22. In order to kick off the start of the series, ABC Network shared an Instagram video with their Jeopardy! fans.
In the caption of the post, ABC wrote, “For these students, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime! The #JeopardyCollegeChampionship Primetime Event kicks off TUESDAY.”
Watch the clip here:
In a recent interview, the host of the show, Mayim Bialik asks “Who will become the first Jeopardy! National College Champion?”
Then, it quickly transitions to students from different universities talking about why they’re going on the show.
The first interviewee said, “I’ve wanted to be on Jeopardy my whole life.”
Another contestant goes on to say, “It’s the opportunity of a lifetime” while the third person said, “I get to meet a bunch of amazing people. And compete against some of the best kids from around the world.”
After the first question, Bialik asked a follow-up question. The question reads: “Why will your college win?”
The first contestant for this question has a very simple, but brilliant answer. “We’re going to win Jeopardy because we’re number one.”
“Well they don’t call Tulane the Harvard of the South for no reason,” another stated.
Finally, the last college student said, “Because I got that Bulldog mentality, of course.”
Tune into ABC to watch college students from around the world compete for the grand prize.
