The New York Times to turn Wordle into an NBC game show

The New York Times is expanding its games portfolio by partnering with NBC, a television network, to turn the mobile word game Wordle into a televised game show. The media company announced the partnership on Monday. The game show is scheduled to begin airing on NBC next year, with the network set to start shooting episodes this summer. NBC is currently looking for contestants to participate in the upcoming program.

The television project has been in development for two and a half years, according to Today show host Savannah Guthrie and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, who announced the development on the 8:00 a.m. broadcast of the Today show on Monday. Guthrie is set to host the televised program, while Fallon and The New York Times will both serve as production partners. The television show is described as a fast-paced family game, contrasting with the original mobile format which often requires players to spend long periods of thought working through possible word choices. The original digital puzzle was created by software engineer Josh Wardle and released in October 2021, before The New York Times acquired the title in January of the following year.

This collaboration represents a strategic pivot in the attempt by The New York Times to build a sustainable digital subscription business as print revenue continues to decline. The acquisition of Wordle in January of the year following its release almost immediately brought tens of millions of new users to the publication. The scale of this audience has continued to expand: users played more than 11 billion puzzles across all of the publisher’s games last year, representing an increase from the 8 billion puzzles played in 2023.

Why it matters

This deal marks the first time The New York Times has collaborated with a TV broadcaster for an entertainment-based program, signaling a strategic pivot to bolster its digital subscription business as print revenue declines.