By Matthew Swinski | Published
Wheel of Fortune And Danger! They may be light-hearted game shows designed to test the brainpower of their contestants and entertain the millions of fans who tune in daily, but behind the scenes, there are reportedly millions of dollars. Games are being played. According to the lawsuit filed by Sony, the company claims that Wheel of Fortune And Danger! Distributor CBS has made several unauthorized licensing deals, leaving Sony out in the cold and keeping all profits. Despite the serious allegations leveled at CBS, Sony says the unauthorized licensing deals are just the tip of the metaphorical iceberg.
The case
On October 31, Sony filed its application. Wheel of Fortune And Danger! The lawsuit, in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that CBS failed to honor the companies’ long-standing partnership over the distribution of the two popular game shows.
In Sony’s filing, the company said that instead of fulfilling its obligations under the terms of the parties’ agreements, CBS recently publicly admitted that it had entered into unauthorized licensing deals, two of which had previously been set aside. The year limit was violated. License under Agreements. According to Sony, after the unauthorized licensing deals were completed, CBS then paid itself commissions on those deals.
All about money
At the center of the allegation regarding unauthorized licensing deals, Sony recently discovered that CBS had made deals in New Zealand and Australia, pocketing the network a $3.6 million commission fee. When Sony was informed of the deal, the company insisted on its fair share of the money, but they were quickly rejected and nothing was left of the two deals. According to Wheel of Fortune And Danger! In the lawsuit, CBS claimed that Sony had already received its fair share of the fees and was not entitled to any commission fees.
If losing millions of dollars in potential commission fees wasn’t bad enough, Sony says CBS routinely devalued its programs and lost more profits because of the network’s own incompetence. is According to Wheel of Fortune And Danger! In the lawsuit, Sony also claims that CBS licensed shows it believed were below market rates while also failing to maximize advertising revenue.
In doing so, Sony argues that CBS has “undercut.” Wheel of Fortune And Danger! through self-preference,” which has rendered itself incapable of fulfilling its obligations under the Treaties.
Sony argues that thanks to “far-reaching” layoffs to teams within CBS responsible for distributing game shows, the network is no longer able to meet the requirements of a previously negotiated agreement between the two companies. “Bundling of CBS Danger! And Wheel of Fortune “The relatively unpopular shows owned by CBS reduce the gross receipts that CBS would retain for those shows if they were sold independently,” the lawsuit states.
In addition to not charging the highest price for Danger! And Wheel of FortuneSony’s lawsuit also alleges that CBS kept a superior property in the network’s shows ahead of the two game shows, despite Danger! And Wheel of Fortune to be very popular. Sony claims that CBS has packaged its less popular shows in major markets while offering game shows to lower-tier stations around the country.
In a statement, CBS denied all the allegations against the network and wrote that its agreement “clearly states that we retain the distribution rights to these series in perpetuity.” The network says it looks forward to “vigorously defending this case in court.”
Source: Variety
