Variety is reporting that Sony Pictures Television is in negotiations for a permanent host of the game show “Jeopardy!” to replace the late Alex Trebek.
The front-runner appears to be executive producer Mike Richards who served as a guest host, according to Variety.
The show’s slate of guest hosts expires next week when Joe Buck takes his turn from Aug. 9 to Aug. 13.
Longtime host Alex Trebek died Nov. 8, 2020, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. The show used a series of guest hosts starting in January after the episodes taped by Trebek were done airing.
Variety reported that Sony said it was in discussions “with several potential candidates.”
“A source close to the situation cautioned that there’s no certainty that the sides will close a deal and that other candidates remain in the mix, although Richards is clearly the front-runner.”
Many people had thought that the permanent host would be consulting producer Ken Jennings. He was the first guest host in the rotation and is the show’s The first guest host was the show’s “Greatest of All Time.” Jennings had a record-setting 74-game winning streak in 2004. He is the show’s highest-grossing winner with $2.52 million in regular play.
After Jennings, Richards hosted from Feb. 22 to March 5 and was followed by Katie Couric, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Aaron Rodgers, Anderson Cooper, Bill Whitaker, Mayim Bialik, Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts and LaVar Burton.
Buzzy Cohen hosted the “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions” May 17-28.
David Faber of CNBC is hosting through Friday.
A petition on has acquired more than 263,000 signatures in support of Burton being named the permanent host but, according to a survey by OnePoll, Burton is not the first choice of those surveyed.
OnePoll said it polled “a nationally representative sample of 1,003 Americans and found that 23% want to see Ken Jennings become host.
In second was Richards with 14% followed by Burton, 10%; Bialik, 8%; Rodgers, 5%; Couric, 5%; Cooper, 5%; Dr. Oz, 4%; Roberts, 3%; and Stephanopoulos, 2%.
