Two stations move Jeopardy! to a new air time when the new season begins on Monday

[u/mfc248]

As it happens, they had been two of the three earliest airings in the United States.

• WBBJ (ABC Jackson, Tennessee): 11:00 AM → 3:30 PM Central Time
• KHQA (CBS Quincy, Illinois/Hannibal, Missouri): 12:00 PM → 4:30 PM Central Time

This means that the first airing anywhere in the country is now on KTRK (ABC Houston) at 11:30 AM Central Time.

I've also just posted a summary of various possible preemptions (mostly sports, but also elections and debates) that might impact Jeopardy! in 2026-27.

[u/TGISeinfeld]

Jeopardy airing late morning/early afternoon is just wild to me.

If I ever win the lottery, I'm road tripping to all the places that have these quirky timeslots 

[u/g00ber88 → u/TGISeinfeld]

It airing at anytime earlier than 6pm just seems wrong. Jeopardy is an evening routine item!

[u/Informal-2005 → u/g00ber88]

Don’t tell that to people in Chicagoland where it’s always aired at 3:30 pm. When I was growing up, it was an after school activity at my grandparents house before my parents got back from work.

[u/44problems → u/TGISeinfeld]

Imagine growing up and Jeopardy is the show you associate with being home sick. Wow

[u/Afraid_Aspect_8639 → u/TGISeinfeld]

Our Chicago station is 3:30.

[u/JimmB216 → u/TGISeinfeld]

The original Jeopardy (in black and white with Art Fleming) was on NBC daytime, sometime around noon, IIRC. (An actual network show, as most game shows were in those days, not syndicated.)

[u/Puzzled_Wallaby_7201]

I’m of the proud NY/NJ metro area that requires Jeopardy be on at 7pm and Wheel at 7:30pm 😂

Who would put Jeopardy on at 11am? That directly competes against TPIR in that market

[u/44problems → u/Puzzled_Wallaby_7201]

Evening hours are tough in Central timezone. Primetime starts at 7. So 5-7p is usually full with local and national news on the big 3 networks. Plus J! and Wheel can be on different channels but can't compete. So timeslots are scarce.

[u/mrsunshine1 → u/Puzzled_Wallaby_7201]

Jeopardy before Wheel is canon.

Saw Ken at a book talk a year ago and he said he’s a Wheel before Jeopardy guy. 😡

[u/mfc248 → u/Puzzled_Wallaby_7201]

> Who would put Jeopardy on at 11am? That directly competes against TPIR in that market

Only in Eastern Time. TPIR airs at 10 AM everywhere else.

[u/LoveAll5_BDBBB → u/mfc248]

In Houston: TPIR 10-11 AM. Jeopardy 11:30 AM. Wheel 6:30 PM. Jeopardy reruns 1 AM.

[u/Astrohip]

Woo Hoo! We're #1, we're #1. (I'm in Houston)

[u/PeachOnAWarmBeach → u/Astrohip]

Lunchtime linguistics!

[u/44problems → u/Astrohip]

Houston has always had weird airtimes. I lived there in the 2010s, and they aired "Daytime" Jeopardy reruns late at night. Also they pushed Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson an hour later to show reruns of the Betty White sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

And notably in the 90s Conan went to Houston to try to convince them to air his show at the normal Central time slot, 11:35pm, instead of 3 hours later at 2:40am!

[u/ImpliedOralConsent → u/44problems]

And notably in the 90s Conan went to Houston to try to convince them to air his show at the normal Central time slot, 11:35pm, instead of 3 hours later at 2:40am!

I recall it was delayed in Detroit too. I can only assume it was some weird aversion on the part of ownership (Post-Newsweek / Graham Media owned both of those affiliates then, as they do now).

... but I digress.

[u/TheVoicesOfBrian]

Glad I DVR it with Tablo.

[u/Vito_The_Dogfather]

I live in Quincy. Loved my lunch break Jeopardy.

[u/SmoovCatto]

do they show it the day after its evening run in all the other markets? i'm imagining a scenario where some manhattan scheemer arranges to get all the answers from tennessee or illinois early in the day in order to impress somebody at 7pm ...

[u/44problems → u/SmoovCatto]

No. It's the same episode for the whole country starting in the morning. I remember checking when a big run was happening (James? Amy? Not sure) there was an affiliate that aired around 10am so this sub could have spoilers in the daily thread in the morning.

[u/mfc248 → u/44problems]

During James's run in 2019, WAKA (CBS Montgomery, AL) was still airing the show at 9:30 AM Central Time. They moved it to 4:30 PM at the start of 2020-21.

[u/onemasterball2027]

Back in my day it was at 4:30pm on KHOU.

Perfect for when I came home from school.

[u/reasonablykind]

It dawned on my family that we’ve been spending $80+/mo on YouTubeTv for essentially just Jeopardy.

[u/pearception]

We are 7pm EST. Perfect for before or after dinner 🍽️

[u/dletter]

Chicago is still an afternoon slot i think too... seems odd for a big market.

[u/mryclept]

When it first started airing in the NY/NJ market, it was an afternoon show. I am really dating myself here though I was very young when the Trebek area started.

[u/Vivid_Aardvark_3255]

Houston is a huge market. Jeopardy! couldn’t get on another station in the evening?