Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards confirms a permanent host will be in place when Season 38 begins taping this summer

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Richards says a new host will be named before Season 38 begins taping in late July or early August. “It’s going to come down to the heads of Sony (Entertainment) to make that decision, ultimately, and it’ll come down to testing,” Richards told The Wall Street Journal’s podcast The Journal, according to Yahoo! Entertainment. “They’ve been a part of it. They know what’s going on in the studio. They’re watching the feed, the tapings. It’s very extensive. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of, as far as testing in its size and scope.” He added that Sony is doing extensive research before making a final pick. “You want to make an informed decision,” Richards said. “In the end, we’re a pretty cerebral group, the Jeopardy! team. We want to go at this with real analytics and real testing and not just go, ‘Hey, how about this guy?’ which is kind of how a lot of these decisions have been made historically.”