Exclusive: CTD Renews 'Wheel' and 'Jeopardy!' on ABC Owned Stations Through 2016

Two game shows get seasons 33 and 32

By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/29/2012 11:00:00 AM

Thirty years is not enough for CBS Television Distribution's two top game shows, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! The pair has been renewed through 2015-16 on the ABC Owned Television Stations Group, says Joe DiSalvo, CTD's president of sales, effectively guaranteeing that the two long-runners will dominate access for four more years. The renewals will extend Wheel to 33 years on the air and Jeopardy! to 32.

"Our ABC-owned stations have been the local destinations for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! for nearly 30 years," said Rebecca Campbell,  president of the ABC Owned Television Stations Group, in a statement. "Both shows are strong perennial performers and we are thrilled to continue to offer them to our viewers and advertisers."

"The ABC O&Os have been a fantastic broadcast partner for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! for the last few decades, and we look forward to many more years of this prosperous relationship," said DiSalvo, also in a statement. "Wheel and Jeopardy! continue to hit primetime-size ratings every night and truly prove the power that syndicated programming brings to a station's lineup."

Last month, Sony renewed the contracts of the shows' three stars-Wheel's hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White and Jeopardy!'s Alex Trebek.

Both shows are produced by Sony Pictures Television and executive produced by Harry Friedman.