Sony Pictures TV’s legal row with CBS over Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune sales rights escalates with court ruling
Jeopardy! has been under the Sony umbrella since 1994
The legal spat between Sony Pictures Television and CBS over the sales rights to Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune continues to escalate, with a judge granting CBS a temporary restraining order (TRO) halting Sony’s efforts to assume distribution control of the iconic US gameshows.
On Monday, Sony sent a letter to CBS saying it would take over distribution of the two shows, which are produced by Sony and distributed by CBS to more than 200 stations across the US in addition to international markets.
Paramount Global-owned CBS responded by asking a judge to block Sony’s efforts to cancel its long-standing contracts. On Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court granted Paramount Global Content Distribution (PGCD) the TRO, meaning the contracts will remain in place for now.
“We’re pleased the court issued a temporary restraining order against Sony’s unlawful actions. We will continue to seamlessly license Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! as both a completed show and local formats to our licensing clients like we have for over 40 years,” said a representative for PGCD.
The legal dispute began in late October when Sony filed a lawsuit claiming CBS had been “egregiously undercutting the value and profitability of [Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!] in favour of its own self-interest.”
In its complaint, Sony alleged CBS had “pocketed millions in distribution fees from unauthorised deals, licensed the shows domestically well below market value, and favoured its wholly owned shows in advertising sales and distribution,” in addition to gutting the teams that carry out many of these functions.
CBS counter-sued the following month with a claim that Sony was trying to “escape” the companies’ current deal.
“Sony is attempting to obtain in court what it could not get at the bargaining table: the rights to the series for free, by finding any excuse it can muster,” said CBS in its countersuit in late November.
Both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! have been under the Sony umbrella since 1994, when the company acquired the gameshows’ original producer, Merv Griffin Enterprises. Eleven years earlier, Merv Griffin Enterprises had signed a long-term deal with production and syndication company King World, which was subsequently acquired by CBS in 1999.
