Amy Schneider recently ended her record setting Jeopardy! winning streak on January 26th. Her 40-game winning streak is the second longest in the show’s history, behind only that of former champion and current host Ken Jennings.
We can see that over the course of Amy Schneider’s streak demand for the show grew, peaking at 23.7 times the average series demand after her final episode. In fact, winning streaks on Jeopardy! are becoming more common. Just this season, Matt Amodio became the player with the second longest streak (38 games) before being unseated by Schneider. While streaks like this build momentum and grow interest in the game show over the course of their run, it’s worth pointing out that they often don’t generate the largest demand for the show.
Controversy seems to engage Jeopardy audiences more than anything. Compare the peak demand for Jeopardy! during Amy Schneider’s run (23.7x) to James Holzhauer’s peak at the end of his winning streak (42.6x). Holzhauer was a divisive contestant for his aggressive strategy which allowed him to rack up attention grabbing winnings.
Last season’s rotating schedule of celebrities in search of a new host drew enormous attention to the show. The comfort and regularity of Alex Trebek as host was gone and for a time the show was mired in controversy. This didn’t dampen interest in the show however - average demand for Jeopardy! while seven of these guests were host was higher than the peak demand for the show during Amy Schneider’s run.
