Sony will take over distribution rights of “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” from CBS, a California judge ruled — dealing a blow to the Tiffany Network in its fight to keep control of the highly rated game shows.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kevin Brazile issued a tentative ruling on Thursday denying CBS’s request for a court order that would temporarily block Sony from distributing the popular game shows.
The ruling effectively grants Sony the immediate right to assume full distribution duties.
“Sony can begin distributing the shows and need not deliver episodes to CBS,” Brazile stated in his preliminary decision.
CBS Media Ventures quickly announced its intention to appeal the ruling.
“This is only a preliminary ruling based on partial evidence, not the outcome of the full case,” CBS said 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 has accused CBS of breaching their distribution agreement. It accused the network of having entered unauthorized licensing arrangements at rates below market value while neglecting to maximize advertising revenues.
Sony also accused CBS of severely undermining its distribution capabilities by implementing substantial layoffs that diminished the teams responsible for promoting and distributing the two iconic game shows.
CBS strongly denies these accusations.
In a countersuit filed last year, the network alleged Sony was unjustly attempting to terminate their agreement prematurely.
CBS maintained it had adhered to the contract and that it generated billions in revenue for Sony.
In February, Sony replaced CBS as the distributor while claiming that CBS’s actions constituted clear contractual breaches.
CBS initially responded by obtaining a temporary restraining order to prevent the immediate transition to Sony.
Brazile’s ruling also closely examined CBS’s practice of bundling programming during licensing negotiations.
Dale Woods, an affiliate station manager, testified that CBS commonly insisted on bundling Sony’s highly valuable shows with other CBS programs.
According to Woods, stations often felt compelled to accept additional CBS content due to the high value placed on “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.”
“Having the rights to broadcast these shows can quite literally make or break you,” he testified in court.
CBS refuted Woods’ statements, arguing that bundling did not negatively affect Sony since any financial shortfall from bundled deals impacted only CBS programs.
However, the court disagreed, noting that bundling likely lowered overall prices and possibly deterred certain stations from entering agreements due to the requirement of accepting less desirable content.
Sony Pictures Television welcomed the court’s decision, expressing optimism about future distribution opportunities.
“We are gratified by the court’s ruling today and 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,” the company stated.
The ruling also cited CBS’s decision to forgo an open bidding process for the game shows — a practice that reportedly restricted potential revenue by limiting market competition.
Court documents also referenced internal issues stemming from CBS’s merger with Viacom in 2019.
Former CBS Vice President Roxanne Pompa testified that after the merger, Viacom’s management exhibited less commitment to maximizing profits and quality in international productions of the game shows.
“Before the CBS-Viacom merger, my team always took care of production 100 percent from start to finish,” Pompa explained.
“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.”
Court documents revealed other internal frictions, including CBS improperly extending licensing agreements beyond contractual limits and initially withholding associated payments to Sony. CBS eventually settled these debts following litigation.
“Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” continue to rake in massive audiences despite premiering decades ago – in 1964 with host Art Fleming, and in 1975 with Chuck Woolery, respectively.
The two game shows draw about seven million viewers a night each, according to Nielsen.
