YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. — In the end, the computer crushed the humans — and finished above almost everything else on TV, too, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
“Jeopardy!” was the No. 2 program across many of the biggest US television markets on two nights this week, behind “American Idol” and “Two and a Half Men,” as International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. computer Watson defeated two of the quiz show’s biggest champions.
An average of 9.1 percent of the households in 56 of the largest US markets tuned in for the three-episode run, according to preliminary Nielsen Co. estimates from the show’s distributor. That is up 2.1 percentage points — or roughly 30 percent — from the “Jeopardy!” average for February a year ago.
The games, taped last month and broadcast nationally from Monday through Wednesday, saw the room-sized IBM computer system rack up $77,147 — significantly more than the combined total for contestants Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.
Watson’s popularity peaked during the second night of the contest, when 9.5 percent of households in Nielsen’s “metered markets” tuned in — the highest such rating for “Jeopardy!” in nearly six years. Viewing was up from 8.5 percent of households for the first night, but the show slipped to 9.1 percent for the final night.
“Jeopardy!” is syndicated on local television stations, rather than airing on a national network. Final estimates of the absolute number of households or people who tuned in nationally won’t be available until the week of Feb 28, Nielsen said, because its syndicated ratings are processed on two-week lag.
“Jeopardy” is produced by Sony Corp., and distributed by CBS Corp.’s distribution arms.