Pat Sajak’s Farewell Scores Largest ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Audience In Over 4 Years

Wheel of Fortune audiences came out in droves to bid farewell to Pat Sajak earlier this month.

The long-time host ended his four-decade run with a final episode on June 7, which scored the syndicated series’ best audience in more than four years with 11.03M viewers tuning in.

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That made it the most-watched telecast of the week across broadcast, cable and syndicated programming (excluding sports), according to Nielsen data.

The week of Sajak’s departure, Wheel of Fortune averaged 8.5M viewers and a 5.0 household rating, marking an 18-week ratings high. All five episodes that week were among the highest-rated and most-watched telecasts of the week.

Sajak announced in June 2023 that he was ready to retire as host from the syndicated game show, and Season 41 would be his last. He agreed to stay on as a consultant on the show for three years following his final year hosting, said Suzanne Prete, EVP Game Shows at Sony Pictures Television, when Sajak announced his retirement.

A week after Sajak announced his retirement, it was revealed that Ryan Seacrest would be taking over as host in Season 42. Seacrest also will serve as consulting producer on the show.

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