The thorny legal issue over who gets to distribute long-running game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune has an update.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has granted a preliminary injunction to Sony Pictures Television in the case, effectively denying CBS’ bid to block the former from distributing the high-profile shows.
The court, led by L.A. Superior Court Judge Kevin C. Brazile, said it believes Sony had the right to terminate the distribution deals, noting that licensing agreements should be limited to a two-year period but some deals, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, were for a “longer period of time.”
Earlier this year, Sony informed CBS and its parent company Paramount Global that it was taking over global distribution of the shows, which have been running for over 40 years, after the latter filed a breach of contract suit last year.
The issue is essentially financial. Sony accused CBS of licensing the shows at “below market” rates, “failed to maximize advertising revenue” and “undercut” the shows through “self-preferencing.”
One example it gave was from January, when Procter & Gamble stopped advertising, suggesting that Paramount’s inability to renew its deal with ratings data provider Nielsen was in part responsible.
CBS has hit back. The company will appeal the decision, which as it stands means the contract is still being litigated rather than fully terminated.
The broadcast network believes the court did not engage with what the standard for termination for material breach is in New York, and said the court said “there has not been a total failure by CBS.”
“We plan to appeal the decision immediately. This is only a preliminary ruling based on partial evidence, not the outcome of the full case. 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,” a CBS Media Ventures spokeswoman told Deadline.
Sony Pictures Television is clearly the happier of the two parties. “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,” a spokeswoman told Deadline.
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