TV Q&A: Why are ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ switching time slots?

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review.

Q: I have seen some other markets do this and I never thought that WPXI-TV would do so: Is there a particular reason why “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” are changing time slots at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.? Is it because of ratings or any other reason?

– Aaron, Mt. Pleasant

Rob: I started hearing from viewers about this last week and started asking Channel 11 executives about the change. The station sent out a release on June 27 saying the change was made to better align these programs with how they are broadcast throughout the rest of the country.

It’s true that in many markets, “Wheel” airs before “Jeopardy!” and there’s a good reason for WPXI to make that change in its own self-interest: “Jeopardy!” gets higher ratings than “Wheel” on Channel 11 and by moving “Jeopardy!” to 7:30, the goal is surely to try to drive a larger audience to WPXI’s prime-time NBC programming.

Beginning July 4, “Wheel” will air at 7 p.m. and “Jeopardy!” at 7:30 p.m. on WPXI.

Q: Can you tell me what happened to the streaming series on Paramount+ called “Halo?” Season one, episode nine is the last episode that has appeared to date and that was on May 18.

– Dick, Latrobe

Rob: The first season of the ambitious and expensive “Halo,” which has been renewed for a second season, consisted of nine episodes. They all streamed.

There’s no word on when season two will be ready, but given how many years it took season one to be made, my guess is late 2023 at the earliest.

Q: Any reason “Married at First Sight: Australia” hasn’t been on since May when they were still in the adding couples stage?

– Janet via Facebook

Rob: When a show disappears from the schedule and hasn’t completed its run, that’s often an indication that ratings were poor. No network pulls a successful series (unless there was some other behind-the-scenes issue) no matter the official rationale given.

Per Lifetime: “Due to the long season and preparing for our crime block and other upcoming series, we shifted the remaining of the season online.”

New episodes of “MAFS Australia” are now available on the Lifetime App, MyLifetime.com and VOD.

Q: When HGTV started, it had garden shows. For several years now, there are no garden shows. How come?

– Pat, Vandergrift

Rob: When A&E started, it was a network devoted to actual arts, but now it only offers entertainment. Similarly, I would guess the H (for homes) part of HGTV proved more popular over time than the G (for gardens), hence the change in emphasis.

But HGTV says it does still have gardening/landscape design series available to stream on discovery+ (“Curb Appeal Xtreme,” “Martha Knows Best,” “Martha Gets Down Dirty” and “Clipped”) and season two of “Inside Out” will premiere on linear HGTV at 8 p.m. Aug. 1.