Release

FIFTEEN OF JEOPARDY!’S TOP PLAYERS COMPETE FOR A QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS IN 2011 TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

Episodes to air November 2-15

CULVER CITY, CALIF. (Oct. 26, 2011) – “Jeopardy!,” America’s favorite quiz show®, is reuniting 15 of its recent champions for a head-to-head competition for a chance to win a quarter million dollars. The 2011 Tournament of Champions, beginning Nov. 2, will feature the show’s recent highest money earners, including the winners of last season’s College Championship and Teachers Tournament. 

This year’s competitors include:

Name

Occupation

City

Brian Meacham

Film Preservationist

Anchorage, Alaska

Buddy Wright

Operations Engineer

Fort Worth, Texas

Charles Temple

High School English Teacher

Ocracoke, N.C.

Christopher Short

Editor of Trivia Games

Crawfordsville, Ind.

Erin McLean

Junior at Boston University

Danvers, Mass.

Jay Rhee

Oncologist

Annapolis, Md.

John Krizel

Writer

Oceanside, N.Y.

Joon Pahk

Physics Teacher at Harvard University

Somerville, Mass.

Justin Sausville

Urologist

Baltimore, Md.

Kara Spak

Reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago, Ill.

Mark Runsvold

Student and Waiter

Moscow, Idaho

Paul Kursky

Online Marketing Producer

San Francisco, Calif.

Roger Craig

Computer Scientist

Newark, Del.

Tom Kunzen

Geotechnical Engineer

Orlando, Fla.

Tom Nissley

Writer

Seattle, Wash.


The second place winner will earn a minimum of $100,000 and third place $50,000.  Semifinalists receive $10,000, and contestants eliminated in the first round receive $5,000.

Since 1985, more than 300 contestants have competed in the tournament, with nearly $5.4 million in cash prizes awarded to the participating players. The featured champs for the upcoming 2011 Tournament of Champions have accumulated more than $1.9 million in cash prizes in their initial appearances on the show.

“Jeopardy!,” the winner of 29 Emmy awards, including the 2011 Emmy for Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Program, was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most awards won by a TV Game Show. The series is the #1-rated quiz show in syndication with nearly 9 million daily viewers.  “Jeopardy!” is produced by Sony Pictures Television, a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company. It is distributed domestically by CBS Television Distribution and internationally by CBS Television International, both units of CBS Corp. 

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