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Wendy’s Double Jeopardy

CBS News C.E.O. Wendy McMahon’s tenure was already beset by controversies that have antagonized both the network’s current owner, Shari Redstone, and its future owner, David Ellison. Now, she’s taking heat for a ‘Wheel of Fortune’/‘Jeopardy!’ miscalculation that could cost Paramount eight-figure annual profits.

Wendy McMahon
Sony’s buyout offer landed on the desk of Wendy McMahon, the CBS News and Stations C.E.O. who, in addition to that plum assignment, also oversees CBS Media Ventures, the studio’s syndication and distribution arm. Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images fo Anti-Defamation League
Dylan Byers
April 16, 2025

In December 2023, Sony Pictures Television approached CBS with a nine-figure offer to buy back the distribution rights for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, the still-popular primetime twin bill that, even in the post-Trebek/Sajak, late-stage linear era, continues to generate a half-billion-plus in annual revenue for its stakeholders: Sony, which produces the shows; CBS, which has distributed them for three and a half decades; and the myriad local stations that license them. The JFK-LAX crowd may think of Wheel and Jeopardy! as ABC shows, but in certain markets you have to swap from NBC to CBS to get the full double-feature experience. Indeed, this whole affair offers a window into the confoundingly complex nature of Hollywood distribution arrangements.