Thirty years is not enough for CBS Television Distribution's
two top game shows, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! The pair has
been renewed through 2015-16 on the ABC Owned Television Stations Group, says
Joe DiSalvo, CTD's president of sales, effectively guaranteeing that the two
long-runners will dominate access for four more years. The renewals will extend
Wheel to 33 years on the air and Jeopardy! to 32.
"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, in a
statement. "Both shows are strong perennial performers and we are thrilled
to continue to offer them to our viewers and advertisers."
"The ABC O&Os 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," said
DiSalvo, also in a statement. "Wheel and Jeopardy! continue to
hit primetime-size ratings every night and truly prove the power that
syndicated programming brings to a station's lineup."
Last month, Sony renewed the contracts of the shows' three
stars-Wheel's hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White and Jeopardy!'s
Alex Trebek.
Both shows are produced by Sony Pictures Television and
executive produced by Harry Friedman.
