An appeals court has temporarily blocked Sony from taking over distribution of syndicated game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune from CBS.California’s Second Appellate District on Thursday paused a Los Angeles judge’s order last week denying CBS’s bid for a preliminary injunction, allowing the network to continue distributing the shows. That ruling, which allowed Sony not to deliver episodes to CBS, is “stayed pending further order of this court,” a three-judge panel ruled.Sony produces the two long-running shows, which are perennially among the most watched syndicated programs on broadcast TV. In February, Sony took over CBS’ role as a distributor after claiming that the network breached its contract by entering into unauthorized licensing agreements. CBS later filed for a restraining order seeking to keep the terms of the deal in place.But on Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kevin Brazile denied CBS’ bid for a court order that would’ve temporarily blocked Sony’s efforts from assuming distribution. CBS immediately appealed, which was granted.The appeals court will now review which side gets to distribute the shows while the case is being considered. It set a deadline for Sony to file opposition papers by April 28, to which CBS must reply by May 9.“The superior court’s order of April 10, 2025 denying the preliminary injunction and allowing [Sony] to begin ‘distributing the shows and need not deliver episodes to CBS’ is stayed pending further order of this court,” the order stated.At the heart of the lawsuit: allegations that CBS licensed the shows at below-market rates, failed to maximize advertising revenue and has overall rendered itself incapable of living up to its end of the agreement with Sony by implementing far-reaching layoffs that have allegedly decimated teams responsible for the shows’ distribution, marketing and advertising sales.In Brazile’s order, the judge pointed to CBS’ practice of bundling its shows for both licensing and advertising purposes when presenting them to broadcasters. He found that this could be a conflict of interest because the bundle includes both CBS and Sony programming, which could undercut profits for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. The shows are the most desired programming in “virtually any package,” the order stated.Also at issue was the absence of an open bidding process for the shows, unlike CBS’ treatment of The Oprah Winfrey Show, allowing the same stations to continuously air them. This foreclosed the ability of new stations to generate higher bids, the court concluded.CBS declined to comment, while Sony didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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