‘Jeopardy’ champ draws media flak

Question: Why beat up on James Holzhauer?

“Jeopardy!” superstar James Holzhauer’s record-breaking winning streak reportedly helped the series take the No. 1 spot in syndication ratings from “Judge Judy.”

Holzhauer, 35, already surpassed the $1 million mark faster than any other contestant that’s come before him. He previously won a game with a total of $131,127, topping the one-day record of $110,914 he set earlier in his run. The previous single-day record-holder was Roger Craig, who won $77,000 in a 2010 game.

According to Variety, viewers have taken notice of the Las Vegas sports gambler’s impressive run. Ratings for the show have reportedly increased from 9.6 million viewers during his early April appearances, to 12 million by the end of the month. As a result of the boosted numbers, “Jeopardy!” dethroned “Judge Judy” as the reigning ratings champion for the past two weeks.

Unfortunately for those who want to see Holzhauer aim for Ken Jennings’ impressive 74-game winning streak set in 2004, the outlet reports he’s taking a break until May 20 for the show’s teacher competition.

Although Holzhauer still has more than 50 games to go before catching up to Jennings, his total earnings are on track to surpass the reigning champ well before the 74-game mark.

As The New York Post notes, Jennings finished his winning streak with $2,520,700. Meanwhile, Holzhauer’s per-game average of $76,601 is much higher than Jennings’ $34,064.

Holzhauer recently gave some advice to a middle school newspaper for those that may want to follow in his footsteps.

“I was an undisciplined student, but I set a goal for ‘Jeopardy!’ and really focused on achieving it,” he told the student newspaper for Shaler Area Middle School in Glenshaw, Penn. “No one has ever played ‘Jeopardy!’ like I do, but I didn’t let that stop me from approaching the game the way I thought I should.”

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