New Stats Show How Ryan Seacrest Is Really Doing as Host of ‘Wheel of Fortune’

Ryan Seacrest is holding down the fort at Wheel of Fortune.

There has been much discussion about how the American Idol host, 49, has been doing since taking over for Pat Sajak, who retired after 41 years hosting the show. Since he debuted as host on September 9, for season 42, Seacrest has found praise from his fans, as well as a host of criticism from detractors who miss Sajak.

However, according to Nielsen data, Seacrest is right on the money. The beloved game show averaged 7.99 million viewers during Seacrest’s first month as host, per a post by Variety containing the numbers. Between September 9 and October 6, Wheel of Fortune was “the most-watched entertainment series across broadcast, cable, and syndication.”

When you remove sports and news shows from those Nielsen numbers, more people watched Wheel of Fortune than any other program on traditional television (rather than streaming). The good news kept coming for Seacrest, because the data also showed that the TV personality helped get Wheel of Fortune its biggest season premiere in three years.

Per TVLine, Seacrest’s debut was Wheel of Fortune‘s most-watched season premiere in nine years. His first week boasted 8.31 million viewers, making it the No. 1 show in syndication that week. Wheel of Fortune “reached 40 million total viewers in its premiere month” and the show is “up 3 percent in the adults 25-54 demo versus last year,” a Sony Pictures TV producer for the show told Variety.

Maggie Sajak, 29, who works as the social media correspondent for the show, seemed to sense Seacrest’s potential right away. The daughter of beloved long-running host Pat Sajak — who is still set to host Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, which will air in 2025 — had previously called the new host “great” and “so professional.”

She shared her confidence in Seacrest back in September, gushing, “I’m sure you would assume, but he really appreciates the show and knows how important it is. You can really tell by how prepared he is, and how he treats the contestants, and how he treats the whole experience.”

Wheel of Fortune airs weeknights at 7:30 p.m.