A dispute over distribution of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune has become the legal equivalent of a Daily Double.
Four weeks after Sony Pictures Television filed a lawsuit against CBS related to licensing of the two long-running game shows, CBS has answered with a countersuit that alleges Sony is using the legal claim to try to escape the two 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,” reads the cross complaint, filed Tuesday in L.A. County Superior Court.
In its initial complaint, Sony claimed that CBS was “egregiously undercutting the value and profitability of these shows in favor of its own self-interest” and that recent layoffs by CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, had “gutted” the teams responsible for distributing, marketing and selling commercial time for the two shows. Sony also alleged CBS had breached the distribution deal by entering into license agreements in Australia and New Zealand for longer than the agreed-upon length of two years, and that CBS had yet to pay Sony its portion of those license fees.
In its cross complaint, CBS says it has negotiated at- or above-market increases in license fees from the local stations in the United States that air Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune; that Paramount layoffs haven’t impacted the ability of its syndication arm, CBS Media Ventures, to live up to its contract; and that it has in fact paid Sony its fair share of the Australia and New Zealand license deals.
For nearly a year beginning in August 2023, CBS’ complaint states, “Sony continued to accept CBS remittances of its shares of the gross receipts from [the Australia and New Zealand] licenses, and the parties at all times acted as if the Agreements were in full force and effect — with Sony even deciding it wanted to re-purchase the rights from CBS.”
CBS further alleges that Sony wrongfully tried to terminate the two parties’ distribution deal, which has been in place since the early 1980s. CBS says it has fully cured any potential breach of contract, and further claims that Sony has tried to undermine CBS’ exclusive distribution rights by distributing new versions of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! in the U.K. and Australia.
CBS is seeking orders that Sony can’t terminate the distribution deals based on the Australia and New Zealand licenses or on a breach of the “best effort” clause in their agreement, as well as monetary damages.
The Hollywood Reporter has asked Sony for comment on the countersuit.
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