Last year’s ranking: Unranked
It took five years, but the continued success of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” in syndication has finally landed host Meredith Vieira in the rankings for “Most Bankable Stars.”

“It’s a rock-solid game, and Meredith is low-key and the perfect host,” said one participant. “She still knows it’s all about the game.”

The series ranks third among game shows with a 2.9. Ms. Vieira just completed her 1,000th episode as host of the show, which is cleared through the 2010-11 season. But with her contract up in February and no renewal officially announced, fans of the show have bombarded Web sites begging for a contract extension.

Ms. Vieira’s schedule clearly has been busy since she took over for Katie Couric as co-host of “Today.”

However, industry sources said it appears unlikely that the show will switch hosts; they expect a deal to be announced sometime closer to NATPE, later this month. However, fans also expected Regis Philbin to be named host originally, so surprises have happened.

“She is keeping ‘Millionaire’ in the top 20,” reminded one panelist.