Jeopardy! exec producer Mike Richards in advanced talks to permanently host famed game show

Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards is negotiating with Sony Pictures Television to become the show’s permanent host following Alex Trebek’s death last year.

Richards, 46, made a strong impression with Sony execs in hosting the show amid a series of guests hosts this year, sources told Variety. 

A Sony spokesman told the outlet that the company continues to negotiate with multiple people, while a source told the outlet that Richards looks to be in the lead. 

The latest: Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards, 46, is negotiating with Sony Pictures Television to become the show’s permanent host following Alex Trebek’s death last year. He was snapped in June accepting an Emmy for the program

Richards has experience at the helm of game shows, as he past hosted shows such as The Pyramid and Divided, as well as reality shows including High School Reunion and Beauty and the Geek.

As an executive producer, he’s worked on shows including The Price Is Right, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Let’s Make a Deal, having put out more than 4,000 hours of game shows on the air.

Among those who have had guest hosting stints the past year include Mayim Bialik and Buzzy Cohen, who have also been looked at closely for the position, according to Variety; in addition to LeVar Burton, Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Ken Jennings, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Savannah Guthrie, Robin Roberts, Aaron Rodgers, George Stephanopoulos and Bill Whitaker.

Trebek, who died last November at the age of 80, hosted the syndicated show for 36 years prior to his passing. 

Details: Richards has experience at the helm of game shows, as he past hosted shows such as The Pyramid and Divided. He was snapped in 2014 

Icon: Trebek, who died last November at the age of 80, hosted the syndicated show for 36 years prior to his passing

Trebek, who hosted the show for more than 8,000 episodes since 1984, died from pancreatic cancer November 8, less than two weeks he pre-taped his last series of episodes in late October.

The host who had the lowest-rated string of shows was Dr. Oz, as The Wrap reported in April that the show’s numbers dipped two percent in the TV personality’s first week of hosting, with the show’s 5.2 rating being beaten by Family Feud’s 5.4 rating that week.