Seacrest, Indiana, Seacrest, ABC’s “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” season premiere features the arrival of new host Ryan Seacrest, attracting the largest audience in nearly two years, and averaged 3.55 million viewers on Friday, September 26th.
A 3.55 million viewers and a rating of 0.31 among adults between 18-49 follow Nielsen’s Live+Same Day Big Data Plan panel. It’s up 17% from last year’s season premiere (304 million), and was represented by Pat Sajac as host.
SeaCrest was taken over by longtime host Pat Sajak (and co-host Vanna White) in the syndicate Wheel of Fortune in September 2024, but ABC still had Sajak’s season running prime time Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
This will also be responsible for the new period for “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” east time at 8pm on Friday. Seacrest and White are at the helm. The show was the No. 1 program on broadcast nights and has won the show’s best audiences and viewers since December 13th, 2023.
It was also ABC’s best Friday at 8pm performance since the May 2024 episode of “Jeopardy Masters” and headed for the slot with entertainment dishes.
The premier featured a lot of ABC synergies from “Dancing with the Stars” contestants Derek Huff, Bruno Toniori and Jenna Johnson. This Friday episode, October 3rd, includes Letta (“Parks and Recreation”), Brock’s new kid, Joey McIntyre, and actor Oliver Hudson (“Happy Gilmore 2”).
The “wheel” was good for Seacrest. According to daytime series distributor CBS Media Venture, syndicated gamers for the 2024-2025 television season were growing year by year, both in households and total audiences. “Wheel” averaged 7.93 million viewers last season, with just 74,000 bumps from the previous year. In households, the game show recorded a rating of 4.6 for households this past season, up 1% from the previous year.
Sajak was approved for the daytime “wheel” in June 2024 for more than 40 years as a host. He was still seen last season on the Primetime Edition of ABC’s “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.” Daytime “Wheels” have just started their 43rd season in syndication. This series is produced by Sony Pictures Television.
