Sony’s shopping around for a streaming deal for “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune”
Who wants to be a millionaire? Sony.
Sony’s hoping a major streamer is in the mood to buy a vowel or two.
The company is looking for buyers interested in signing a three-year streaming rights deal for new episodes of its massively popular game shows “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy.”
The deal, which Sony execs said would start in September, could result in a pretty fat paycheck for the tech company. Netflix this year began airing eps of WWE’s “Raw” — which was averaging less than 2 million viewers a week on USA Network — as part of a 10-year, $5 billion deal.
According to Nielsen, “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy” each still garner about 7 million viewers a night (though this package would be for the shows’ streaming rights only, not their exclusive rights).
Sony has been itching to make more money off of these game shows for a while: it began airing a spin-off version of “Jeopardy” on Amazon Prime late last year, “Pop Culture Jeopardy,” hosted by SNL’s Colin Jost.
Sony is currently suing Paramount’s CBS, alleging that the network has made more than $1 billion in profit from its 35-year distribution deal but isn’t working to maximize licensing revenue lately. According to Bloomberg reporting, Sony attempted to buy out CBS from the deal last year. Execs said this streaming rights deal is unrelated to its monthslong legal battle with the network.
Many Hollywood insiders told Sherwood News that the entertainment industry’s labor contraction could be helped by having longstanding cable and network TV tentpoles (like game shows, procedurals, and late-night shows) move over to streaming, providing streaming workers with longer-term, steady employment.
