LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The British creator of "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?" on Thursday sued the Walt Disney Co., accusing it of "sweetheart deals" with its broadcast and production subsidiaries to cut him out of profits from its U.S. version of the game show.
In a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, series creator Paul Smith and his company, Celador International Ltd., said Disney and subsidiaries ABC and Buena Vista Television manipulated costs to keep the series "at prices well below the fair market value."
A Disney spokesman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
In 1999, Celador went into partnership with the Disney-owned companies to produce and distribute one-hour first-run and half-hour syndicated versions of "Millionaire" for North America, the lawsuit said.
The hit show, which first aired in the United Kingdom in 1998, has been licensed in about 65 territories around the world and broadcast in 106 countries, the lawsuit said.
Under a joint venture with Celador, Buena Vista produced "Millionaire" with host Regis Philbin (news), and the ABC network aired it starting on Aug. 16, 1999, for 13 consecutive nights.
The show was an instant success, putting ABC on top of the ratings for each night it ran and continuing to draw an average of 29 million viewers per night in the 1999-2000 season, according to ABC's Web site.
However, ratings for the show collapsed in 2001, and ABC has not recovered its pull with viewers since.
In its lawsuit, Celador accused Disney of unlawfully interfering in its joint venture with ABC and BVT by pressuring its subsidiaries to hike production costs and refusing to renegotiate licensing fees for better terms.
"In essence, Disney sits on both sides of the bargaining table in any negotiation for the production and distribution rights to the series, thereby enabling it to manipulate negotiations in any way that serves its corporate interests," the lawsuit said.
The suit also seeks to protect the rights of Lusam Music Ltd., which created the brooding theme music for "Millionaire," and claims Disney used the series music without permission in its theme park attractions.
The suit seeks unspecified damages and asks a judge to order Disney and its subsidiaries to disgorge its profits from "Millionaire."
