Disney Loses $269.2 Million in Quiz Show Scandal

[Brian Damage]

Back in the 1950s there were the widely publicized TV quiz show scandals, wherein it was learned that certain contestants were cheating to win big jackpots.

Today a Federal jury in Riverside, Calif., said there is another kind of TV quiz show scandal. In this case, the company that licensed the show to the Walt Disney Co. won a major lawsuit against Disney, after claiming the media giant cheated it over its fair share of the profits for the quiz show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

The company that sued Disney, Celador International, was awarded $269.2 million by the jury, the Los Angeles Times' Company Town blog reported.

Disney had licensed the rights to "Millionaire" from U.K.-based Celador.

In a statement Disney said, according to the article, "We believe this verdict is fundamentally wrong and will aggressively seek to have it reversed."

The article said, "Celador argued that a series of "sweetheart deals" struck between a clutch of Disney-owned companies kept the show in the red, even as it became ABC's first No. 1 show in more than a decade."


Celador had sued for $395 million in broadcast license fees and $10 million from the sale of "Millionaire"-related merchandise.

The jury awarded Celador $260 in license fees and $9.2 million for the merchadise sales.

Disney's accounting had the show in the red to the tune of $73 million.

The article said, "The decision strikes at the heart of the "vertical integration" argument that has buttressed the wave of consolidation that has swept Hollywood over the last 20 years, in which media giants contend that it is economically advantageous to control both the production and distribution of TV programming."

http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tvbizwire/

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...you also have to have a group of very smart accountants to make sure you appear to lose money on your successful series- even if you really didn't.

Universal claimed they were losing money on "THE ROCKFORD FILES" in the late '70s, but James Garner challenged them on that [he was losing money on part of his financial arrangement with that studio as well] by pointing out their efforts at "creative bookkeeping"....and now the people behind the original British edition of "WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?" have legally proven they were cheated as well.

It's all about corporate greed. ABC/Disney continues to make a fortune on the daily syndicated version of the series {as does Meredith Viera, who also owns a piece of it and is "co-executive producer"}, and virtually all of its owned and operated stations carry it during "lunchtime" [WABC-TV in New York airs it at 12:30pm, as well as 2:07am, right after a repeat of "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW" (they don't own her, but milk as much ratings out of her daily series wherever posssible)]. How could they NOT be making money from twice daily editions of the show? And don't get me started about "corporate synergy" practiced during the show [certain ABC celebrities as participants, and on-location editions from Disneyland or Walt Disney World, for starters]......

[catlover79]

^ I couldn't have put it better myself!!!

[Marvo301]

The same thing happened to Tom Wopat and John Schneider on "Dukes of Hazzard". Creative bookkeeping by Warner Brothers deprived them of hundreds of thousands of dollars they were due from the merchandising of "Dukes" products. They went on strike (which is the reason replacement characters Vance and Coy spent a few months in Hazzard County) and eventually sued Warner Brothers to recover what they were owed. An out of court settlement finally ended the suit and allowed Bo and Luke to return to Hazzard County.

[glickmam]

Someone really should pass legislation making creative bookkeeping illegal.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

The same thing happened to Tom Wopat and John Schneider on "Dukes of Hazzard". Creative bookkeeping by Warner Brothers deprived them of hundreds of thousands of dollars they were due from the merchandising of "Dukes" products. They went on strike (which is the reason replacement characters Vance and Coy spent a few months in Hazzard County) and eventually sued Warner Brothers to recover what they were owed. An out of court settlement finally ended the suit and allowed Bo and Luke to return to Hazzard County.

Plus, those royalties were GUARANTEED in their contracts!!! So Warner Brothers had no one to blame but themselves in that case.

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by catlover79

Plus, those royalties were GUARANTEED in their contracts!!! So Warner Brothers had no one to blame but themselves in that case.

That's true. Their contracts guarenteed them 5% of all profits from the merchandising of "Dukes of Hazzard" merchandise. Warner Bros. used creative accounting to try to minimize the profits so John and Tom would get much less money. However John and Tom were smart enough to hire their own accountants to crunch the numbers and find out what they were really owed. So Warner's really have no one but themselves to blame.

[catlover79]