Wordle heads to NBC as a new game show with Savannah Guthrie
Wordle is leaving the phone screen for NBC, with Savannah Guthrie hosting a new game show built to turn a daily ritual into network spectacle.
The daily yellow-and-green obsession that spread from phones to office chats is heading to NBC, where Wordle will be remade as a game show with Savannah Guthrie as host. The New York Times announced the adaptation on May 11, saying the series will be produced with Universal Television Alternative Studio and Jimmy Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog, a sign that broadcasters still see value in turning digital habits into prime-time fixtures.
Wordle launched in 2021 and was acquired by The New York Times in 2022. Since then, the company has described it as a daily ritual for millions of players worldwide, a kind of quiet internet habit built on personal streaks, shared screenshots and side-channel bragging. NBC and the Times are now trying to convert that private routine into something louder and more visible, with the company promising a “fresh, fast-paced format” for television.
Fallon will serve as an executive producer, and Guthrie’s casting gives the project an immediate NBC identity. She has previously described Wordle as part of her own daily routine, while Fallon has publicly shown enthusiasm for the game, making the adaptation feel less like a cold licensing deal than a move to package a recognizable digital obsession for a broad broadcast audience. One reported format detail calls for teams of three competing for cash prizes.
The strategy is easy to read. For NBC, Wordle comes with built-in awareness, a familiar brand and an audience that already knows how to talk about the game. For the Times, the show extends a games business that has become increasingly important beyond the newspaper itself. In an attention economy where habits are valuable and fandom can be measured in daily use, a puzzle that has already won the morning routine has obvious commercial appeal.
The harder question is whether Wordle survives the transition from solitary play to spectacle. Its appeal has always rested partly on intimacy, the small satisfaction of a five-letter solve and the social pleasure of sharing results without revealing the answer. On television, that delicate loop becomes a contest, and the format will have to preserve enough of the game’s simplicity to feel authentic while adding enough drama to justify the screen.
The show is expected to air in 2027, giving NBC and the Times time to test whether one of the internet’s most durable habits can become the next dependable TV property. If it works, Wordle could become a template for the next wave of game-show adaptations: not just familiar names, but digital rituals with audiences already trained to return every day.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
