Ken Jennings is celebrating Jeopardy! bringing some analytics to the game. On Twitter, the game show host said that stats would now officially be compiled on the brand’s website. A big letter to the fans came from Michael Davies. The executive producer told readers that people had been asking for comprehensive stats for a while and the show decided to make it a reality. For Jennings, he couldn’t be happier, as he’s always viewed Jeopardy! as a form of sport anyway. The host explained how sports journalists had the best writing about the show when compared with entertainment press. Well, he and viewers who feel the same are getting what they’ve been asking for. In the blog, Davies uses current dominant champion Amy Schneider to speak about the ways in which these analytics can help viewers understand the game in new ways.
“Big announcement from @Jeopardy: daily box scores and an annual “postseason.” I noticed many years ago that sportswriters were the best interviewers about Jeopardy! They treated it (correctly!) as a competition first and showbiz second,” he explained. “And the box scores include buzzer stats! For the first time, fans will be able to dig into the interplay of knowledge and timing that defines the game. Looking forward to the Ph.D. dissertations on Jeopardy! analytics.”
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Executive producer Michael Davies gave some more context on the official blog. “Aha! Stats! My obsession since I joined the show a little more than 4 months ago. Last week we started publishing some comparative stats (Opens an external site) of our top 4 champions – Amy, Matt, James Holzhauer, and Ken Jennings – and the response has been fantastic. Today we are continuing our foray into #jeopardata with the first release of our daily box score.”
“Everyone at Jeopardy! owes a massive debt of thanks to some notable members of our community who have done extraordinary work compiling, developing, and publishing all sorts of stats about our show,” he continued. “My team and I read and appreciate so much of this work on your websites, your Twitter feeds, and on the Jeopardy! subreddit. Jeopardy!, we feel, has a responsibility to add to this body of outstanding work and perhaps fuel even more. We have decided that the best way we can do that is by publishing an official daily box score every night.”
Are you excited to see how Jeopardy! uses stats? Let us know down in the comments!
