IN FOCUS

The timing of Jeopardy!'s Ultimate Tournament of Champions is ideal. The first round began Feb. 9, shortly after the start of this month's sweeps. The grand finale is scheduled to run May 23-25, at the height of the next sweeps period. Executive producer Harry Friedman cooked up the 15-week contest, which brings back 150 of the show's top-scorers. In May, the top two winners will square off against Ken Jennings, who raked in a record $2.5 million during 74 straight shows last year. Until 2003, Jeopardy!contestants were required to step down from the podium after winning five shows. Jennings was the first big winner following the abolishment of that rule.

“People have speculated on how some of the past Jeopardy! players would do against him,” says host Alex Trebek. “We're answering that question.”

The Trump wedding and Johnny Carson's death helped boost the ratings of the top four entertainment newsmagazines in the week ended Jan. 30. Entertainment Tonight's household rating was up 4% from the prior week, hitting a season high of 5.9. Inside Edition pulled a 4.0 rating, also a season high. The Insider averaged a 2.9 for the week. Access Hollywood tied its season high of 2.8. The programs had their best ratings on Monday, when the newsmagazines provided complete coverage of the Saturday nuptials and Carson's death on Sunday. Most other syndicated shows were down from the week ended Jan. 23, when audiences were larger than usual due to the Martin Luther King holiday.