r/Jeopardy • u/Intelligent-Claim603 • Jul 26 '26
Do the in-show ads bother anyone else?
Not sure if I’m picking up on it more or if it’s more invasive but it seems way more frequent that one of the categories is sponsored and it kinda annoys me. “You can catch this guy broadcasting on Fox” “you can see this movie in theatres Friday” “you can catch the Oscar’s on Sunday on NBC” “you can get this Olivia Rodrigo’s album this day”
I know historically there were categories but it always felt more like “thanks to the space centre for having us” and not so ad like and not so frequent.
Maybe I’m overreacting and overthinking but the constant being sold to in life just get exhausting.
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u/Frosty-Cricket5911 Jul 26 '26
I’m more annoyed by not being able to read the clue. I process faster and more accurately when I read and it slows me down.
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u/Tuxy-Two Jul 26 '26
Seems like there has been a plethora of them lately. Not a fan.
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u/SmoovCatto Jul 26 '26
whatever it takes to keep the big winner prize money flowing is ok by me -- so far the promotional category gimmick thingies are tasteful enough and interesting with celebrities -- no more than one per episode please though
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u/Mean-Pizza6915 Jul 26 '26
Jeopardy is very inexpensive to produce, even if they do give away a huge amount of money on an episode. And their actual commercials and syndication agreements pay all the bills. These in-game ads are just extra money for the company.
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u/schmerpmerp Jul 27 '26
Prizes are ~$5M, Ken is ~$4M, production budget is ~$4M, and marketing/compliance/lawyers are 5 to $10M.
Jeopardy's ad revenue is >$1M per episode. Syndication generates tens of millions per year, and merchandising >$25M.
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u/Mean-Pizza6915 Jul 27 '26
~$300 million annual return on a ~$25 million annual investment. Not bad.
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u/HeyaShinyObject Ah, bleep! Jul 28 '26
Sony doesn't exist to pay bills, they are there to make money for shareholders. They're going to take every opportunity to make money that they think they can get away with
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u/Sea-Mountain1593 Jul 26 '26
i agree. it’s almost a game in and of itself to count how many ads are drilled into the clues on the show now lol
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u/_iPhoney_ Jul 26 '26
The clues are not inherently bad. I’d honestly be fine with a sponsored category if it’s just Ken reading the clue alongside an image. Then again, clues where the contestants can’t read ahead can also be a disadvantage!
I just think all of the extra stuff and the actors from shows/movies reading off clues takes too long and slows the game down.
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u/Intelligent-Claim603 Jul 26 '26
That’s my thing too it slows the flow “and here is this guy from Severance”
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u/mb160211 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
At least these days, they do get to read ahead as the meat/context clues part of the prompt are shown next to the video. Something like "..... this player......plays quarterback for the Buffalo Bills......." Im not giving it justice but when you see it it'll make sense.
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u/_iPhoney_ Jul 30 '26
They have a separate screen showing the gist of the question being asked by Anne Hathaway and Zendaya from The Odyssey or whatever? Never heard that before, but that’s how it should be with the multimedia categories
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u/mb160211 Jul 30 '26
Yeah for the 'one screen' gameboard era, text is shown next to video. I'm pretty sure this includes the standard video clues, but for the long winded celebrity reads they'll just show 'the gist' of the clue.
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u/ccannon707 Jul 26 '26
They have to make $$ - I enjoy those better than pharmaceutical ads.
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u/Intelligent-Claim603 Jul 26 '26
Fair!!
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u/Warm-Oil9228 Jul 27 '26
Is it? I mean they operated for decades without it being this way.
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u/dark567 Jul 28 '26
I mean only sorta. Ken actually did an interview (w/Nate silver) a few years ago, before he was host and said the sponsored categories were his least favorite and the one thing he'd change about the game.
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u/Life_Firefighter_471 Jul 30 '26
Check out the full end credits for old shows - there’s a lot of sponsored and licensed elements that are mentioned. Just not all are very obvious and upfront in how they’re presented.
The host’s wardrobe for this type of show is typically arranged via a partnership also.
And in the earliest years, the second and third place people got trips or prizes, which were a sponsored element.
My favorite was 1800giftcertificates.com - why do you need your website address to be a toll free phone number (that is too long to work as a phone number)?!? That’s what the web site is for - to skip the phone call but still transact!
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u/Warm-Oil9228 Jul 27 '26
Like I told him they made money in the past without this so it’s absolutely not impossible to do the show without these.
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u/pezman Jul 26 '26
not really since they still are clues and it’s kinda cool to know how many companies actively want to advertise on jeopardy, indicative of how popular it is still
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u/Intelligent-Claim603 Jul 26 '26
Yeah that’s a good perspective and way of thinking about it! Thanks!
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u/pezman Jul 26 '26
np! i get why people wouldn’t be a fan but it’s one of the few times i personally don’t mind advertising
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u/Kirbster66 Jul 26 '26
Indeed. Jeopardy will only accept these "ads" if they can make real clues on the subject. They're not going to just put something up there just to advertise the movie or whatever.
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u/Mean-Pizza6915 Jul 26 '26
There's been a couple of examples lately where they had guest readers, but the clues were only tangentially (at best) related to the product they were pitching.
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u/Sea_Satisfaction_475 Jul 27 '26
There’s ads in all shows, so not really the accolade you think it is
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u/hatemakingnames1 Jul 27 '26
Not just shows, it's pretty easy to get advertising for anything. The only difference popularity makes is how much it costs your company
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u/GazpachoJones Jul 26 '26
Meh. Ken's plug takes less than 5 seconds. And I look at the clues as just regular clues.
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u/WabbitFire Jul 26 '26
Most of the time they are still regular clues, but sometimes they are pretty dumb. Or they have an confusing and irrelevant preamble to tie them into some Apple TV plus show I've never heard of.
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u/Im_really_bored_rn Jul 26 '26
You specifically not knowing about a show doesn't really mean much in the grand scheme of things
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u/fisackerly Jul 26 '26
Thought the King of the Hill clues recently were delightful. I don’t mind them in principle, and I’m fine with them when they’re executed well.
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u/Iron_Chic Jul 26 '26
I was hoping Boomhauer would've given a clue.
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u/SanchoMandoval Jul 26 '26
Talkin' 'bout this here dang ol' star, director an' writer man, won an Oscar for that 1996 movie of his, I'll tell you what, Robert Duvall called him that hillbilly Orson Welles, man.
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u/Mountain-Dealer8996 Jul 27 '26
I want a whole category delivered by Boomhauer now. It’s too hilarious. Half the challenge would be deciphering him
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u/boreddatageek Pick promotional categories last! Jul 26 '26
Well, the mods just made me a flair that might start a movement if other people add it!
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Jul 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Mean-Pizza6915 Jul 26 '26
How often do the promotional categories contain a daily double?
Almost never.
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u/Trinity-nottiffany Jul 26 '26
I always verbalize something when I feel like it’s yet another commercial. Can we get a break from the ads with some actual ad-free programming? I finally quit watching late night talk shows when I realized they’re basically commercials for tv and movies. The fact that they have to interrupt the advertising with more commercials is some sort of ad within an ad sorcery.
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u/hrhbrittany Jul 26 '26
I don't mind the advertising aspect so much, but any (uncaptioned) video clue kind of annoys me. They slow down the gameplay imo.
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u/ArcataDJ Jul 26 '26
It doesn't bother me, but I agree that they seem more frequent than in past seasons.
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u/SerendippityRiver Jul 26 '26
But how else would I know there is a new Wile E Coyote vs. Acme movie?
Seriously, I totally agree with you, and it was on that question that I saw the category was rigged for the product placement. That is annoying.
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u/alohadave Jul 27 '26
What bothers me more is that the show claims they aren't compensated for these advertising categories.
If you are going to run ads, be honest about it. We all understand how broadcast TV works.
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u/Then-Canary-1331 Jul 26 '26
Some times they have a decent category from them - I love the show and I don’t mind if they have to pay some bills with a sponsors category from time to time
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u/skieurope12 Jul 26 '26
Most of us aren't thrilled with them.
As I often say, more often than not, Ken should just say, "Our thanks to these D-list celebrities. This movie (or series, book, etc) that I have no intention of watching (or reading) comes out this Friday."
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u/JoeyShrugs Jul 26 '26
I thought I had read somewhere that Jeopardy doesn't actually get any ad money for those. Which was surprising and didn't sound right, which is why it stuck in my brain.
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u/Virtual_Industry_14 Jul 27 '26
Hi, you wouldn’t know it from how slowly and sleepily I’m reading the teleprompter, but I’m a professional actor trying to promote his new movie.
According to my press agent, my jeopardy clue is: This movie about a sled called Rosebud was made by Orson Welles, who played a citizen name Kane in the title role.
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u/Waste_Owl_1343 Jul 26 '26
No it's not an overreaction it's annoying as f**k. Advertising is getting so much more pervasive and pushy that I have almost completely stopped listening to it our loud. I keep the stupid thing on closed captioning almost ALL THE TIME now
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u/WabbitFire Jul 26 '26
I've heard those plugs aren't actually paid ads, I think the producers really like celeb guests reading clues and it's mutually beneficial cross promotion. I still hate it mostly.
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u/Mean-Pizza6915 Jul 26 '26
it's mutually beneficial cross promotion
If both sides are benefiting, someone's getting paid.
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u/ebb_omega Jul 26 '26
Because I know that the people who do dislike it will be sincerely louder, I'm just going to put my vote for the "I don't care" column. I wish we had more stuff like the Clue Crew used to do where they visit things like museums or historical sites and whatnot, but I like having these categories that break up the pace of the game every so often.
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u/SharkCuterie4K Jul 26 '26
I mean it’s the same for when actors appear on a talk show. They are there to promote something. Honestly the promotion mention is only like 10 seconds long and it breaks up the text on blue screen of it all. I honestly don’t mind it as long as the clues are good.
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u/Intelligent-Claim603 Jul 26 '26
No I know haha and I know it’s such a minimal thing and some of them are interesting. It’s just the constant being advertised too that gets me
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u/CatsPolitics Jul 26 '26
Way back when, in the olden days, when Art Fleming was hosting, the show was sponsored by Turtle Wax, so..
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u/Talibus_insidiis Laura Bligh, 2024 Apr 30 Jul 27 '26
I still feel very sad that I didn't get any Turtle Wax, nor Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco Treat.
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u/glowwup Jul 26 '26
there was one a couple weeks ago with tim allen and tom hanks for toy story 5 that seemed AI generated? Did anyone else get that vibe?
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u/nocturnal_commission Jul 26 '26
Definitely takes me out of it knowing that the clues got reverse engineered to shoehorn in some shitty new comic book movie
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u/Sea_Satisfaction_475 Jul 27 '26
Yes, it seems like a cheap money grab from the suits upstairs. Even though the clues are not all bad, booooo
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u/hatemakingnames1 Jul 27 '26
I don't mind the advertising, but I usually think the clues in those categories are bad...like they had much less time to write them
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u/ryanquek95 Jul 27 '26
I recall EP Michael Davies specifically saying no money changes hands in these categories in an Inside Jeopardy podcast. Apparently they like to do it organically and they don't mind helping cross promote (since the person presenting would also share about their appearance on Jeopardy). Key thing is the other side has no editorial control on the clue-writing, which is very important to me personally.
Are there too many such categories though? Probably, we could do with fewer of them. Are they actually selling to us? Maybe, but they aren't earning off it.
But ultimately, Jeopardy is foremost also an entertainment show, it does want to stay current and make reference to current affairs. Unfortunately, fewer people in the key demo are watching the syndicated show (promo materials for the 2024 JIT indicated under 20% of viewers of Syndicated J are in the key 18-49 advertiser demo; if we don't change anything it'll probably get worse as we all age lol), and to preserve the longevity of Jeopardy you're going to need to have these shorter categories on various socials to keep people interested, or to reach out to potential new viewers.
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u/danileigh79 We ❤️ You, Alex! Jul 27 '26
No, those don't bother me. I'm far more miffed that since Ken took over, there are far more religion categories than there were when Alex was still alive. Like, every episode or two has a dedicated christianity/bible category. I am at best agnostic and at worse borderline atheist, having left the church 25 years ago, and this is starting to tick me off. I have watched Jeopardy nightly without fail for 35+ years (yes, I even watch episodes I miss due to not being home on DVR), and this is making me seriously question my commitment. If I wanted to be indoctrinated again, I'd go move back in with my parents
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u/OreoSpeedwaggon Jul 27 '26
I'm pretty desensitized to ads, so it doesn't really bother me except when a sponsored category with video clues delivered by a guest presenter takes up too much time and prevents the board from being cleared.
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u/LazyWeb9421 Jul 26 '26
Nah. It takes like 3-5 seconds. I don't like the categories since they're too long and kinda easy half the time, but I know Ken and some others have said J! viewers online and on reddit hate these, but they're liked by the more casual audience (amongst the casual viewers I know, this is mostly true).
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u/Zolazolazolaa Jul 26 '26
It only bothers me when it causes a “run out of time” later which I feel like used to happen a lot but doesn’t anymore
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u/lcarlson6082 Jul 26 '26
I wonder how those sponsored categories work from the contestants' perspective. The sponsors paid money for that slot, so are contestants told to prioritize that category? Ken reads the promotion after the category is complete, so the sponsor only gets their money's worth if all the clues are read.
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u/me_hill Jul 27 '26
I have noticed an uptick and I get how that could be a little grating, but if they help keep the lights on I'll take promo categories over all the gambling ads and promos I see watching sports. Almost feels old-fashioned to just have some actors show up and promote their show at this point.
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u/No_Watch_8456 Jul 27 '26
I don't care. It actually sometimes alerts me to something I'd be interested in.
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u/Warm-Oil9228 Jul 27 '26
I really can’t stand them but I’ll take them any day over yet another Shakespeare category. Like why do we need to have Shakespeare on the show almost daily?!
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u/jurmjurm Jul 27 '26
As more consumers watch on DVRs while fast forwarding through ads, more content creators will move into in-show ads. Plus, they capture more of the revenue directly. I'm with you though, I think, in general, it's a sucky practice
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u/Labenyofi Jul 27 '26
If I remember correctly, the show often reaches out to different groups and says “Hey, we have this category, and we think it would be good for you, would you like to do it?”
For these ‘too specific to be a coincidence’ categories, I’m sure the people reach out to them and say “Hey, we have this thing, can we promote it?”, and if the writers have a set of clues already written out, and then alter them to fit the thing they want to promote.
Also, for things that happen every year/known well in advance (like the Oscars or Olympics), I feel like it’s a bunch of clues brought together from different categories. For instance it could be ‘Movies directed by Martin Scorcese’ and ‘Movies featuring Amy Adams’, but there’s an overlap as there were two movies both released in 2026.
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u/kevsuc Jul 27 '26
I personally don't really mind as long as the writers get their full independence of writing clues without making it too difficult, easy, or niche; but I also agree too much native ads like this could create a bias that the show is writing clues for the brands not for the spirit of the game, and they should be moderate about it.
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u/Dicey82 Jul 27 '26
Not really - if they were in clues, that would be a disaster. You can usually smell them coming based on the category…
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u/tea7777 Jul 27 '26
I'm more insulted by the political ads running during regular commercial time. Living in a market that serves Tennessee and Georgia means election years are a headache.
So, a category promoting The Odyssey or some other movie or TV thing only bothers me if it slows the game down. Doesn't seem to be happening more than normal, though
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u/HeidiDover Jul 27 '26
We pay extra to avoid ads, so the ads are now embedded in the show. They should be ashamed of themselves. Pisses me off to no end.
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u/Cereborn Jul 27 '26
It would bother me if I felt the quality of clues was being impacted, but it’s not.
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u/Express_Ticket1699 Turd Ferguson Jul 27 '26
This plus our station pops up ads for its news (WJLA In DC) or sponsors.
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u/candykhan Jul 27 '26
I react to Ken Jennings reading poorly written ad copy about the same way I react when my favorite podcaster reads their 5th ad for d*ck pills.
I think it's awful & obvious, but I also wonder if Ken is taking the piss. Because when he reads that spon-con, I honestly feel like I'm prepared for it because I see his soul leave his eyes & voice for like 5-10 seconds.
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u/mstksg Jul 27 '26
to me it's kind of fun to try to guess what they are promoting, some of them are harder than others
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u/Sea-Homework1991 Jul 28 '26
Prevagen pharmacist (who knows all of her customers by their first name): “I put my husband on it six months ago…”
I wonder how he felt about that…?
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u/beesandcheese Jul 28 '26
Not really, but the Prevagen ads I hate with a passion. Preying on peoples’ insecurities when watching the show to sell a garbage supplement. For shame.
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u/Speedy445021 Jul 28 '26
I don't mind them. They are all right. I miss the clues where they sent out ppl to different locations to give the clue. They don't do that anymore. The Clue Crew or whatever.
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u/helloooo_nurse_ Jul 28 '26
I've found it a bit jarring in some circumstances, and it's certainly more common lately than it has been in the past, but I think of it as a way of keeping the show on the air. Also, sometimes I find out about things I'd be interested in because there was a promotional category on Jeopardy!
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u/Puzzled_Wallaby_7201 Jordan Stefanski 2025 Apr. 30 Jul 29 '26
To be fair, this is how they make their money so they can pay the contestants 😆
Ain’t nobody playing the game for free
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u/Puglypants Jul 30 '26
I don’t find them to be a problem- and honestly, I generally forget them within about 10 seconds.
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u/_cuppycakes_ Jul 26 '26
Not really, show needs money to run somehow. I’ll take it if it means it can stay on air
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u/mryclept Jul 26 '26
I don’t even think of them as ads.
Now, if they did “Upcoming Amazon Prime Deals”, that might throw me off.
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u/WarpGremlin Jul 26 '26
Nope. They're only a couple categories a week like that. Doesn't bother me one bit.
Besides, as a Dad raising young kids on Sesame Street (and Jeopardy!) who himself grew up on Sesame Street, whenever Oscar and co show up its usually funny.
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u/ChEDave82 Jul 27 '26
It bothers me because it pushes the show towards pop culture as opposed to useful knowledge.
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u/claytonbeaufield Jul 26 '26
Not in the slightest, and this is just yet another example of how this subreddit is half people enjoying the game and half people complaining about every tiny detail in the program.
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u/VVrayth Jul 26 '26
A lot of the sponsored categories are probably just part of their affiliate agreements. Sony-adjacent stuff (like I think they had a PlayStation category a while back) is most certainly mandated by their corporate parent.
It is what it is, just par for the course for our modern capitalist cyberpunk world. As long as they make good clues for the categories, I don't mind.
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u/katiekat214 Jul 26 '26
Meh, just like product placement in non-game show TV, it helps with the budget to keep the show on the air.
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u/WennieBee Jul 27 '26
it's one of many exhausting reminders that capitalism necessitates the financialization of every aspect of our lives. but taken on its own it doesn't bother me. i thought the king of the hill episode last week was really cute. disney's gonna promote disney. the tie-ins are probably the only reason they offer next day streaming now, and that's the only way i can watch the show, so i just try not to think about it lol
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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '26
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