NYT’s Wordle to become a TV game show

The New York Times is betting that the Wordle craze isn’t over yet. On Monday, the Times announced that it would turn the hit mobile word game into a televised game show on NBC.

“Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie will host the event.

while The Times and “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon will both serve as production partners. Guthrie and Fallon announced the news on Monday’s 8:00 a.m. broadcast of the “Today” show, where they shared that the game show was in development for the past two and a half years.

The show, which will begin airing on NBC next year, is being described as “fast-paced” and a “great family game show.” This feels a bit different from mobile games, which often require longer periods of thought where users work out possible options.

It will be the first time The Times has collaborated with a TV broadcaster for an entertainment-based programme, representing another shift in the media company’s pivot towards building a sustainable digital subscription business as print revenues continue to decline.

Wordle began life as a popular online word puzzle game after its release in October 2021 by Josh Wardley, a software engineer in Brooklyn. In January of the following year, the NYT acquired the title for its growing games business, which almost immediately brought tens of millions of new users to The New York Times. As of last year, NYT Games says users played well over 11 billion puzzles in all its games during the year, ranging from 8 billion in 2023.

NBC will begin shooting episodes of the game show this summer and is currently looking for competitors.