Warner Bros Sues CBS for $70 Mllion (for Two and a Half Men)
12-25-08, 04:12 PM
#1
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Tis the Season for Lawsuits (Two and a Half Men/Gilmore Girls)
(AP) LOS ANGELES - "Two and a Half Men" has spawned one major lawsuit.
Warner Bros. Television sued CBS in Los Angeles on Wednesday, claiming it is owed nearly $70 million for producing and licensing the hit sitcom.
The show, which stars Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer, is in its sixth season.
Warner Bros. claims that its agreement with CBS granted it the ability to recoup $49 million in losses on the show's first four seasons and other financial incentives.
Warner Bros. claims CBS will soon owe it $20 million now that "Two and a Half Men" has remained a hit in its fifth and sixth seasons.
Chris Ender, CBS' senior vice-president of communications, issued a season-themed statement: "Wow, I wonder what they got the other networks for Christmas."
Warner Bros. Television sued CBS in Los Angeles on Wednesday, claiming it is owed nearly $70 million for producing and licensing the hit sitcom.
The show, which stars Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer, is in its sixth season.
Warner Bros. claims that its agreement with CBS granted it the ability to recoup $49 million in losses on the show's first four seasons and other financial incentives.
Warner Bros. claims CBS will soon owe it $20 million now that "Two and a Half Men" has remained a hit in its fifth and sixth seasons.
Chris Ender, CBS' senior vice-president of communications, issued a season-themed statement: "Wow, I wonder what they got the other networks for Christmas."
Last edited by JuryDuty; 12-26-08 at 11:39 AM.
12-26-08, 11:38 AM
#2
DVD Talk Limited Edition
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And now today:
'Tis the season for lawsuits.
A day after Warner Bros. Television filed a $49 million complaint against CBS over hit comedy "Two and a Half Men," the studio itself became the target of suit by "Gilmore Girls" executive producer Gavin Polone over the quirky WB dramedy.
The breach-of-contract lawsuit, which names WBTV; the WB, which aired "Gilmore Girls" for from 2000-2006; and the CW, which ran the series' final seventh season, was filed Dec. 24 in Los Angeles Superior Court by Hufflund/Polone, Polone's company with Judy Hofflund.
The complaint accuses vertically integrated Time Warner companies WBTV and the WB of "self-dealing at all levels" and claims that they "have colluded to defraud the originator of hit 'Gilmore Girls' television series with a scheme that rivals the greed and bravado of any story line defendants could script."
The suit refers to a 2000 agreement between Hofflund/Polone and WBTV and its 2002 amendment that guaranteed the producing company a percentage of the "modified adjusted gross," the money the show earns after costs are deducted.
While Hofflund/Polone agrees that early in its run "Gilmore Girls" was in the red, the company disputes WBTV's 2006 statement that through the first six seasons the series' modified adjusted gross was still a $53 million deficit.
A third-party audit commissioned by Hofflund/Polone in October 2006 alleges that the balance, as calculated by WBTV, was understated by $45.5 million through "collusion among defendants to set below-market license fees" and a series of improper charges.
The majority of the audit's findings were disputed by WBTV at a meeting this past June.
The lawsuit asks for "tens of millions of dollars" in damages.
A rep for WBTV could not be reached for comment Thursday.
A day after Warner Bros. Television filed a $49 million complaint against CBS over hit comedy "Two and a Half Men," the studio itself became the target of suit by "Gilmore Girls" executive producer Gavin Polone over the quirky WB dramedy.
The breach-of-contract lawsuit, which names WBTV; the WB, which aired "Gilmore Girls" for from 2000-2006; and the CW, which ran the series' final seventh season, was filed Dec. 24 in Los Angeles Superior Court by Hufflund/Polone, Polone's company with Judy Hofflund.
The complaint accuses vertically integrated Time Warner companies WBTV and the WB of "self-dealing at all levels" and claims that they "have colluded to defraud the originator of hit 'Gilmore Girls' television series with a scheme that rivals the greed and bravado of any story line defendants could script."
The suit refers to a 2000 agreement between Hofflund/Polone and WBTV and its 2002 amendment that guaranteed the producing company a percentage of the "modified adjusted gross," the money the show earns after costs are deducted.
While Hofflund/Polone agrees that early in its run "Gilmore Girls" was in the red, the company disputes WBTV's 2006 statement that through the first six seasons the series' modified adjusted gross was still a $53 million deficit.
A third-party audit commissioned by Hofflund/Polone in October 2006 alleges that the balance, as calculated by WBTV, was understated by $45.5 million through "collusion among defendants to set below-market license fees" and a series of improper charges.
The majority of the audit's findings were disputed by WBTV at a meeting this past June.
The lawsuit asks for "tens of millions of dollars" in damages.
A rep for WBTV could not be reached for comment Thursday.
12-26-08, 11:45 AM
#3
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That second article I find more interesting. I really wonder if they were banking on an increase year over year if they were losing an average of $10M a year. As popular as the show is, I doubt it made $53M on dvd sets or the complete series set.
12-26-08, 07:42 PM
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What I am trying to figure out is how does a series run on the air for seven years if it is constantly loosing money. I love "Gilmore girls" it is honestly one of my favorite shows. But could syndication and dvd sales really bring in enough to make up for a show losing $50 Million over the course of 6 years?
12-26-08, 10:08 PM
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What I am trying to figure out is how does a series run on the air for seven years if it is constantly loosing money. I love "Gilmore girls" it is honestly one of my favorite shows. But could syndication and dvd sales really bring in enough to make up for a show losing $50 Million over the course of 6 years?
Granted, GG is NOWHERE near as popular, but it gives you an idea of what kind of profit could be made over the years. Since each season of GG sells for a similar price as Mama Mia, they would probably need to sell about 4 million season sets of GG to make $50 million. So...maybe? LOL
12-27-08, 05:12 AM
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It appears that the problem is that WB is both the distributor and the network, so they negotiated their own distribution fees. Apparently, they set the fees to the point where they were always in the red officially on the distribution end, since the WB network was making money on the network end. Very crafty, but also deceptive.
