The Rules Are No Game: CBS Slams Sony’s “Ineffective” ‘Jeopardy!’ & ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Distribution Grab – Update – Deadline

By Dominic Patten Executive Editor, Legal, Labor & Politics
UPDATED with CBS statement: All games have winners and losers, but CBS is now calling out Sony Pictures TV for not playing by the rules when it comes to the dispute over decades-old Jeopardy! & Wheel of Fortune distribution deals.
On Monday, hours after SPT’s head of Games Shows sent a letter to CBS informing the company that the Tokyo-led media giant will be taking over global distribution of the shows after a more than 40-year deal between the parties, the Shari Redstone-owned CBS Media Ventures sent a missive to clients and others saying NFW.
The note, which I’m told is also CBS’ on-the-record response, said in the bluntest terms:

Watch on Deadline

“We are aware Sony has informed you that it has purported to assume the distribution functions for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, and that it has terminated CBS’s distribution arrangement. This communication is false, inappropriate, and ineffective. Sony has no rights under the distribution agreements to terminate them, and CBS remains the distributor for the Series, notwithstanding any communications from Sony to the contrary. Any contention by Sony that it has reclaimed the distribution rights is subject to ongoing judicial proceedings, and CBS will be seeking immediate relief from the appropriate courts. All business should continue in the usual course.”
Events are moving much faster than a round of Final Jeopardy!
In the time since Sony said this morning that it is now in full control of Wheel and Jeopardy!, Paramount came to a new multi-year agreement with Nielsen for multi-platform ratings and data — an added point of contention for SPT since its October 31 breach of contract filing.
You might ask: What is watch that docket?
PREVIOUSLY, 7:03 AM: Doubt Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White will be saying the letters C-B-S this week on Wheel of Fortune, but the still Shari Redstone-owned company just lost a hold on one of its game show gold mines, at least according to Sony.
As a legal battle continues to boil between Sony Pictures TV and CBS Studios over their more than 42-year-old original deals, the former informed the latter Monday that it is fully taking over “global distribution” of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! as of next week.
“To facilitate an orderly transition of the distribution functions for the Shows, on January 27, 2025, Sony Pictures delivered to CBS the episodes of the Shows to air the week of February 3 through February 9,” notes a letter SPT’s head of games shows Suzanne Prete sent to CBS’ Wendy McMahon today that Deadline has seen. “We expect CBS to take all necessary steps to ensure that the episodes are properly delivered to broadcasters. Sony Pictures will begin delivery of episodes of the Shows to broadcasters starting with the episodes scheduled to air the week of February 10.”

“Although CBS has failed to respond to our previous requests for cooperation in effectuating the transition to Sony Pictures of the distribution functions, we nonetheless again request CBS’s cooperation in making this transition as orderly as possible,” the letter adds, perhaps overly optimistically.
A likely dubious move contractually, the seizing of distribution rights does reek of a power play to shake up a somewhat stagnant legal situation.
To that, Sony is seeking permission from a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to file an amended complaint to supersede the breach of contract document the media giant put in the court docket on Halloween last year. “Rather than live up to its obligations under the terms of the parties’ agreements, CBS recently admitted that it entered unauthorized licensing deals, in plain violation of a negotiated, two-year limit for such licenses under the agreements, and then paid itself a commission on those deals,” Sony accused CBS in its fiery, jury-trial-seeking-filing full of such self-dealing accusations.
As amended complaints often are, the 27-page FAC that Sony wants the court to consider is similar to the 19-page document from last fall. There are, however, a few choice additions that might point to where all this is going.
“For example, in January 2025, Procter & Gamble — a top advertiser for the Shows in recent years —stopped advertising on the Shows entirely,” the proposed amended complaint states regarding “long-term harm” to the “goodwill” and cold hard ad cash Wheel and Jeopardy! have suffered from CBS in Sony’s POV. “Sony Pictures does not yet know why Procter & Gamble made this choice, including because CBS failed to notify Sony Pictures of this change, but the abrupt termination after years of advertising on the Shows overlaps with CBS’s failure to renew Nielsen and the lack of commercial ratings data. Procter & Gamble similarly stopped advertising for other CBS-sold shows like Flip Side, Family Feud, and People Puzzler, all of which would be affected by the Nielsen non-renewal.”
CBS Studios did not respond to request for comment from Deadline on Sony’s latest play in the ongoing lawsuit and countersuit. If they do get back to us, this post will be updated.
On November 26, CBS did have something to say, and it wasn’t playing.
“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,” CBS-hired attorneys Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP exclaimed to Sony Pictures TV Studios, Jeopardy Productions and Califon Productions in a cross-complaint submitted after Thanksgiving.
As a part of the new regime going into effect now, Sony wants CBS to immediately hand over documents and materials related to the following:
1. Domestic licensing agreements relating to the Shows, including any renewals or amendments. 
2. Agreements related to licensing the Shows in foreign territories, including any renewals or  amendments. 
3. Foreign format license agreements relating to the Shows, including any renewals or amendments. 
4. Advertising sales agreements relating to the Shows, including any renewals or amendments, and  any related rate cards. 
5. Current inventory reports related to advertising for the Shows. 
6. Current stewardship reports related to advertising for the Shows. 

7. For items 1-4 above, the contact information for CBS’s primary contact in connection with those  agreements. 
“Please be advised that Sony Pictures reserves all of its rights, privileges, and remedies,” the two-page correspondence concludes.
Oddly, while this is all rather procedural on many levels and a clear chess move on Sony’s part, today’s announcement comes after months of rather sleepy activity on the docket.
All of which has one wondering just how ironic today’s Daily Double could be? Ken? Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networksWe want to hear from you! Send us a tip using our annonymous form.Sign up for our breaking news alerts
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Source: http://deadline.com/2025/02/jeopardy-profits-lawsuit-cbs-sony-latest-1236276575/