Oops! West Michigan Misses Out on Big Jeopardy! Moment Due to Glitch at WWMT

It was a rough night for West Michigan television station WWMT NewsChannel 3. A computer glitch in their control room Wednesday evening caused the Final Jeopardy segment on the game show Jeopardy! not to air.

It is well documented that anything that interrupts either Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy! on the stations that carry the shows causes backlash. This happens even when there are reasonable reasons to preempt the shows, such as major breaking news, severe weather, or sports broadcasts that cause a conflict in the schedule.

Get our free mobile app

But on Wednesday, January 26, a major moment in the show was missed when commercials played on NewsChannel 3 instead of the final round. 40-day winner Amy Schneider lost in that round, bringing her weeks-long run as the winner to an end with total winnings of $1,382,800. Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, took down the record-breaking champ earning $29,600 in the game.

WWMT News Anchor Andy Dominiani, in a Facebook post, made a little humor about the situation, saying he got a "nasty email" about the incident from someone a little close to home...

OH no no no! Jeopardy Fans, we are SO very sorry - a computer issue in master control triggered a commercial break early and we lost Amy Schneider's Jeopardy! defeat. Believe me when I say it dropped our jaws too! In fact, I get nasty emails all the time- just not usually from my own wife and kids!! Believe me, this was NOT on purpose!!!

Several people sent complaints by phone, email, and on social media, and the television station quickly apologized saying the computer issue was out of their control and that the mishap was not intentional. WWMT also aired that final round during their 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. newscasts, and also Thursday morning, to give viewers a chance to view the missed portion of the show.

New episodes of Jeopardy! air weeknights locally in the West Michigan market on WWMT NewsChannel 3 at 7:30 p.m..