Judge allows CBS to distribute 'Jeopardy,' 'Wheel of Fortune' amid Sony dispute

A justice is allowing CBS to proceed to administer “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune,” dealing a setback to Sony Pictures Television’s efforts to sever ties with its longtime partner.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kevin C. Brazile precocious Wednesday granted CBS’ petition for a impermanent restraining order. His bid blocks Sony from bypassing CBS by sending caller episodes of the fashionable programs straight to tv stations that aerial them.

Sony owns and produces the profitable crippled shows. The Culver City workplace sued Paramount Global-owned CBS past fall, alleging breach of contract. It escalated the contract tussle earlier this week, announcing that it would nary longer proviso caller episodes of the shows to CBS. Sony said it would present adjacent week’s batch of episodes to TV stations astir the country.

CBS cried foul, saying Sony could not unilaterally extremity the longtime organisation woody betwixt the 2 companies.

The defunct King World Productions syndication firm, which CBS acquired successful 1999, had struck deals with the archetypal producer, Merv Griffin Enterprises, successful the aboriginal 1980s to administer “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune.” Sony aboriginal acquired Griffin’s company, but those aboriginal agreements stay successful effect.

“We’re pleased the tribunal issued a impermanent restraining bid against Sony’s unlawful actions,” CBS Media Ventures said Thursday successful a statement. “We volition proceed to seamlessly administer Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! to our presumption clients similar we person for implicit 40 years.”

Sony Pictures Television, successful a statement, noted that Brazile’s impermanent restraining bid was not the last resolution.

“In airy of CBS’s continuous nonaccomplishment to unrecorded up to its contractual obligations, SPT believes it has lawfully terminated the organisation agreements with CBS for the shows and accordingly assumed each planetary organisation functions,” the institution said successful a statement.

Brazile scheduled a Feb. 18 presumption league for an update connected the ineligible dispute.

In its suit past year, Sony claimed that CBS entered into unauthorized licensing deals for the shows successful Australia and New Zealand and paid itself a committee connected those deals. Sony besides alleged that CBS licensed the shows astatine below-market rates and failed to maximize advertizing revenues.

Sony complained that a abstracted months-long quality betwixt CBS and ratings steadfast Nielsen had denied CBS-distributed shows with assemblage accusation that would show to advertisers the spot of the shows. CBS and Nielsen agreed connected a caller declaration this week, authorizing CBS shows to person the ratings.

Sony besides alleged that wide layoffs astatine CBS had “decimated” the squad dedicated to supporting “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune.”

Those outgo cuts forced Sony to measurement successful to execute cardinal functions, including handling declaration negotiations with large TV presumption groups to unafraid organisation of the shows, Sony said successful its lawsuit.

Sony “will proceed to combat CBS’s egregious mishandling of these beloved shows and volition instrumentality each indispensable ineligible actions to support our rights,” the institution said successful a Thursday statement.

CBS, successful its countercomplaint past fall, alleged that Sony was motivated to chopped the web retired of a lucrative deal.

Sony had tried to bargain backmost organisation rights to the 2 programs, but erstwhile that effort stalled, Sony began looking for different ways to exert control, CBS alleged successful its suit.

CBS’ parent, Paramount, has faced fiscal struggles for respective years.

Last summer, tech scion David Ellison and his household agreed to acquisition Shari Redstone’s family’s controlling involvement successful Paramount. Federal regulators are reviewing Ellison’s plans to instrumentality implicit Paramount and harvester it with his Skydance Media accumulation company.

Paramount and Skydance executives are hoping that woody closes this spring.