There is a legal battle between CBS and Sony over the rights to distribute the syndicated game shows “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” On April 10th, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kevin Brazile issued a tentative ruling for the case. It denied CBS’ bid to temporarily block Sony from assuming distribution of the long-running series.
“Sony can begin distributing the Shows and need not deliver episodes to CBS,” Brazile’s order states.
“We are gratified by the Court’s ruling today and we look forward to distributing our shows, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, to the 200+ stations that license and count on this programming in the U.S. and around the world, and the millions of fans who tune in to these beloved game shows every week,” Sony said in a statement.
Of course, CBS isn’t losing their golden geese without a fight and will appeal the ruling. “This is only a preliminary ruling based on partial evidence, not the outcome of the full case,” CBS wrote in a statement. “We’re confident once all the evidence is heard at trial, we will prevail on the merits. In today’s ruling, the court itself recognized the balance of harm tips in CBS’s favor, so we will ask the appellate court for a stay pending our appeal.”
Sony vs CBS
This recent dispute started in February when Sony claimed that CBS breached its contract by entering into unauthorized licensing agreements. Claiming that the network licensed the shows at below-market rates and failed to maximize advertising revenue. The company has also allegedly demanded layoffs that have impacted both shows distribution, marketing, and advertising sales teams.
Plus the fact that these deals are supposed to limit licensing agreements to a two-year period. However, CBS made deals in Australia and New Zealand for longer periods. When confronted, the company refused to pay the fees it collected until it was sued into doing so.
This led to Sony taking over distribution for “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune,” two of the most-watched shows on broadcast TV. CBS responded by filing to keep the terms of their current deal in place, and the motion was granted.
CBS has also filed a countersuit claiming that Sony is trying to wriggle out of its contract. Alleging that CBS has mostly complied and has made billions for Sony.
The Problem With Bundling
Sony mostly takes issue with CBS’ habit of bundling its shows for licensing and advertising when pitching to broadcasters. However, Brazile admits this practice is probably “mostly permissible,” despite the conflict of interest of bundling CBS and Sony programming. While this practice could theoretically undercut profits for “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” The order acknowledges that the shows are the most desired programming in “virtually any package.”
“negotiations with CBS for the Sony shows often included, at CBS’ insistence, conversations about other CBS programming,” testified Dale Woods, an affiliate station manager. It is “well understood that CBS would only license Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! if we agreed,”
“We felt like we had to take the other CBS programming given the importance of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!,” he adds. “I cannot stress enough the power of the Sony shows to a local station. Having the rights to broadcast these shows can quite literally make or break you.”
The network defends this strategy because CBS’ shows are taking the deduction, not Sony’s. Though others argue that bundling the series could decrease the prices relative to the individual series’ market value. This presentaion could make certain stations refuse deals since it would mean taking undesired programming. Even though most seem to believe that is unlikly given the popularity of “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.”
Not the First Time
Rumblings about this discontent go back to 2019, when CBS and Viacom decided to recombine. The court believes this started a ripple effect that caused CBS not sufficiently try to maximize profits for the shows.
Former CBS vice president, Roxanne Pompa, even testified that network executive Lisa Kramer said the series are “not shows the international formats team should primarily focus on ‘because we don’t take in 100 percent of the revenue.’”
“Before the CBS-Viacom merger, my team always took care of production 100 percent from start to finish,” Pompa adds. “We valued the relationship that we had with the Sony producers and technical teams … When the Viacom-side team took over some of this work, I saw that they didn’t have the same regard for the production process. For example, I noticed that they started production in other countries with no one staffing the production and were allowing production materials to be delivered before signature of a deal.”
We’ll keep you posted on updates about the battle for distribution rights to “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” as this story develops.
