Sony Pictures Television is suing CBS, claiming that the latter has failed to live up to its contract to distribute Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune in syndication.
Sony produces the two long-running game shows, which are perennially among the most-watched syndicated programs on broadcast TV. The suit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that CBS hasn’t held up its end of a contract to distribute the two shows to local TV stations in the United States and entered into unauthorized distribution deals overseas.
“As stated in our complaint, CBS has been egregiously undercutting the value and profitability of these shows in favor of its own self-interest,” Sony said in a statement. “CBS has pocketed millions in distribution fees from unauthorized deals, licensed the shows domestically well below market value, and favored its wholly-owned shows in advertising sales and distribution, among other things. Further CBS has gutted the teams responsible for fulfilling its contractual obligations, requiring us to step in at our own expense. After repeated attempts to resolve this matter amicably, we are left with no choice but to take legal action today.”
In a statement of its own, CBS said that “For more than 40 years, CBS and its predecessor company King World have been accomplished distribution partners and thoughtful stewards for Wheel and Jeopardy! in the syndication market. This work has helped build shows into franchises, transform popular series into cultural icons and deliver Sony billions of dollars of revenue. Our contract is clear that we hold the distribution rights to these series in perpetuity. We strongly refute any claims by Sony that we did not use our best efforts in distributing the programs or otherwise failed to abide by our obligations under the agreements. Sony’s claims are rooted in the fact they simply don’t like the deal the parties agreed to decades ago. We look forward to vigorously defending this lawsuit in court.”
Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! have each been airing in syndication for more than 40 years, and Sony’s distribution agreements with CBS and its predecessors (CBS bought the shows’ original distributor, King World, in 1999) date back to the early 1980s as well. Under the deal, CBS’ syndication arm, CBS Media Ventures, licenses the shows to local stations and sells national advertising spots in exchange for 35 percent to 40 percent of receipts.
Sony claims that CBS has failed to live up to its contractual duty to make its “best efforts” to make those receipts as large as possible. The complaint states that CBS has licensed the shows at below-market rates and failed to max out potential ad revenue from the two shows. Sony also alleges that CBS entered into unauthorized distribution agreements in Australia, New Zealand and other international territories that exceeded the contractual limit of two years — and says CBS Media Ventures admitted as much in 2023 — but hasn’t turned over any receipts from those agreements.
Sony, which is seeking monetary damages, also says that recent layoffs at CBS parent Paramount Global have adversely affected the units tasked with distributing, marketing and ad sales for the two game shows, further restricting CBS’ ability to hold up its end of the contract.
A copy of Sony’s complaint is below.
Oct. 31, 2 p.m. Updated with CBS statement on the legal action.