In my hometown of Lafayette, LA, Jeopardy! has a fraught history. The ABC affiliate, KATC, has aired Wheel of Fortune at 6:30 for as long as I can remember, and it probably premiered there. Jeopardy did not air in the Lafayette market itself (as long as I can remember, anyway) until about 2004 or so. It started out at 9:00am, then moved to 11am, ultimately ending up now airing at 12:37am, with a number of PSAs instead of sold spots. My theory for the strange treatment is that viewers with cable just had settled into watching J! on WBRZ, the ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge, at 4:30 in the afternoon. (been airing in that timeslot as long as I can remember)
It's a bit strange to see J! treated like a show that's not doing so well in the ratings. Also, in terms of my memory and how far back it goes, I'm 27.
-Ben