Ken Jennings ‘Panicking’ Over Ryan Seacrest Entering Game Show Arena

Jeopardy host Ken Jennings is going to have to level up his game now that charismatic Ryan Seacrest is entering the arena, TV industry insiders dished to RadarOnline.com .

Jennings' Jeopardy is still the No.1 ranked game show, but Wheel of Fortune — which Seacrest is set to start hosting this fall — is a close second and expected to close the gap once the likable replacement for Pat Sajak takes the helm.

While both Jennings, 50, and Seacrest, 49, have big shoes to fill as they stepped into longtime, beloved hosts Sajak and the late Alex Trebek ' s roles, sources noted stark differences in their backgrounds.

A TV insider explained: "Ryan has so much more showbiz experience than Ken's ever going to have, and he's got the industry's backing and connections. Ken is merely relying on his rep as Jeopardy 's greatest champion."

The source continued: "Ken was expecting to be a big star , but he's making a lot of mistakes, he's not keeping up with the trivia, and his knowledge of things like music is faltering."

Jennings, 50, became the official host after Mayim Bialik 's departure, but he's been blasted by fans over misleading clues, miscredited songs, and mind-boggling utterances, among other bloopers.

Meanwhile, our source said Jennings is "refusing to take the blame" and warns if he isn't feeling threatened by 49-year-old Seacrest, he should be.

"Bosses over at Wheel of Fortune are thrilled to have Ryan. He has energy and audiences like him, while Ken is seen as a nerd who just got lucky ."

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And Jennings is basically working without a net. Unlike his predecessor, he doesn't have a long-term contract.

The source added: "Ken better step it up because he can be ditched at anytime . His contract doesn't ensure that he'll have the job for years. Ken wants to be doing this for a long time, but he's going to have to prove his worth."

As this outlet reported, Jennings isn't completely naive toward his uncertain future as the host of the popular game show.

In fact, sources claimed the 50-year-old host was so desperate to remain at the Jeopardy helm that he took a pay cut to ensure he wouldn't be replaced.