Topline
Longtime Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak will retire from the syndicated game show after more than 40 seasons next year, the 76-year-old announced Monday, leaving behind a long-running show that draws nearly 8 million viewers every night.
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak is retiring after this coming season after four decades.
Key Facts
Sajak said in a tweet he will leave after his 41st season, which begins in September.
The host will stay on as a consultant for Wheel of Fortune for three years, distributor Sony Pictures Television told Bloomberg in a statement.
Sony has not specified who will replace Sajak, or whether co-host Vanna White will remain with the show (Forbes has reached out to Sony for comment).
Big Number
7.7 million. That’s how many people tuned into Wheel of Fortune on average in the week starting May 22, according to Nielsen. It was the second highest-rated syndicated program on U.S. television that week, behind fellow Sony game show Jeopardy! (8.2 million viewers), outpacing shows like Family Feud (6.9 million) and Inside Edition (3.3 million).
Key Background
Sajak joined Wheel of Fortune—known for its big-screen word puzzles, hand-spun prize wheel and penchant for giving away cars and vacations—in 1981, six years after the show first launched. The show has aired on syndicated broadcast TV for decades, often alongside Jeopardy!, which was hosted by Alex Trebek from the 1970s until his 2020 death. In 2016, Forbes estimated Sajak’s annual pay at $15 million, just behind the $16.5 million drawn by Trebek. White joined the show a year after Sajak, and is typically responsible for revealing letters on the show’s puzzles, though she filled in as host in 2019 while Sajak recovered from emergency surgery.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2023/06/12/pat-sajak-retiring-from-wheel-of-fortune-after-4-decades-leaving-behind-large-audience/