How to Get on The Price Is Right: Free Tickets, the 18+ Rule and How 9 Players Get Picked

Short version: You can't apply to be on The Price Is Right. You get a free audience ticket (18 and up), sit through a quick interview in line with everyone else, and hope a producer puts your name among the 9 people called to Contestants' Row.

No test, no audition tape, no application form. That makes it the most open front door in daytime TV, and also the least predictable one. Here's the route from ticket to taping, using the show's official ticket partner and published rules.

Where do Price Is Right tickets come from?

From one place. The official show site sends ticket seekers to On Camera Audiences, the company that fills the studio, and its FAQ says every TV show ticket it hands out is completely free.

Anyone selling you a Price Is Right seat is selling something you could have booked yourself. Skip them.

Timing matters more than luck here. The ticket page says tapings are posted up to 60 days out and tickets usually open about a month ahead, and there are several tapings each day.

You pick one. The page is firm that you can attend only one taping per day, so booking the morning and afternoon slots to double your chances won't work.

Watch for themed tapings on that same page. Some carry their own entry rules; a college special, for instance, has been open only to college students.

Priority Ticket or Line Voucher: which one did you get?

It matters. A Priority Ticket puts you ahead of Line Voucher holders, as long as you're there by the arrival time printed on it.

Even that isn't a sure seat. On Camera Audiences says a Priority Ticket "does not guarantee admission," and it hands out more line vouchers than there are seats so the room is always full.

👉 If you hold a Line Voucher, treat the arrival time as the latest you should show up, not the earliest. Vouchers are honored first come, first served.

Turned away because the studio filled up? Ask for a Turnaway ticket. The FAQ says it gives you priority entry to another taping date.

Where is The Price Is Right taped now?

Not at CBS Television City anymore. The show spent 51 years in Bob Barker Studio 33 there, and the Season 51 finale in 2023 was the last episode taped in that room.

Season 52 moved to Haven Studios, a newer facility on the Glendale side of Los Angeles. Coverage in The Spokesman-Review and on CBS New York both placed it in Glendale.

Your ticket will point you to a check-in spot rather than a studio lobby. The event listing names the Charis Mission Church parking lot at 5005 Edenhurst Avenue in northeast Los Angeles, which sits next door to Haven.

What should you bring on taping day?

Two things you can't forget: a valid photo ID and your Social Security number. Published accounts of check-in, including Wikipedia's and LiveAbout's, list both, and the minimum age to attend is 18, no exceptions for teens.

Plan for parking. On Camera Audiences tells every guest to leave extra time and read the parking instructions on the ticket itself.

Don't count on buying a souvenir shirt when you get there. The ticket page says merch isn't sold at the studio, so if you want a matching team shirt, make it or buy it in advance.

How does the show pick who comes on down?

Every audience member gets a name tag with an ID number. Staff then bring people through in small groups, roughly a dozen at a time, for a very short chat.

That chat is the whole audition. Former producer Stan Blits told the New York Post in 2013, in a quote People later ran, that he looked for "energy, sincerity and potential humor," and out of a full audience only nine players are chosen for each episode.

So what works? Our read of the published advice is simple: answer quickly, give a real detail about yourself, and don't perform a bit you rehearsed in the car. Producers hear plenty of those.

Who is ruled out before the interview?

A few groups. Rules published with CBS's Price Is Right contestant searches say you can't play if you've been a contestant on any TV version of the show in the last 10 years.

Heavy game show résumés are a problem too. The published rule sets differ on the exact count, so read the eligibility terms attached to your own ticket.

Candidates for public office are excluded. So are employees of Paramount, CBS, Fremantle and the show's production company, along with their immediate families.

How is this different from Wheel and Jeopardy!?

It's close to the opposite. The two Sony shows screen you online before anyone sees your face; The Price Is Right sees your face first and never tests you at all.

Full walk-throughs of the other two live in our Wheel of Fortune audition guide and our guide to the Jeopardy! test and audition.

If you're trying for all three, the Price Is Right trip is the cheapest to test, since the ticket costs nothing and there's no months-long pool to sit in.

FAQ

Is The Price Is Right LIVE the same thing? No. It's a separate touring stage show that visits other cities, with its own site at priceisrightlive.com. Winning there doesn't put you on CBS.

Can kids go to a taping? No. On Camera Audiences sets the minimum age at 18.

When does it air? Weekday mornings on CBS, at 11 a.m. ET in most markets, and episodes stream on Paramount+. Check your station, since some shift it.

Who do I ask about my ticket? On Camera Audiences takes questions about attending the Los Angeles tapings at tickets@ocatv.com.

Want the rest of the lineup? Our Price Is Right page collects the show's coverage, and the weeknight air-times guide finds your local station for the syndicated shows. Evenings, the Jeopardy! tonight page and Wheel of Fortune tonight track who's playing, every result by date sits in the archive, and our Family Feud time-slot guide covers Steve Harvey's show.

Sources · On Camera Audiences — The Price Is Right tickets (18+, one taping per day, check-in location) · On Camera Audiences — FAQ (free tickets, Priority Ticket, Line Voucher, Turnaway) · PriceIsRight.com — Tickets · CBS Chicago — Price Is Right contestant search rules (10-year rule, exclusions) · People via AOL — how contestants are picked · The Spokesman-Review — move to Haven Studios in Glendale · CBS New York — farewell to Bob Barker Studio 33 · Wikipedia — The Price Is Right (interviews, name tags, check-in) · LiveAbout — Price Is Right tickets (ID, Social Security number, group interviews)

By the Game Show On Air desk · Updated Oct. 1, 3:38 a.m. ET