Forget "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." How about "Who Wants To Be A Massive Millionaire"?

Celador International was awarded a $269.2 million judgment Wednesday by a jury in Riverside, Calif., after its lengthy lawsuit against ABC parent Walt Disney Co. claiming lost profits from "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" during its primetime run in the early 2000s.

The decision, which Disney says it will appeal, could change the way television networks do business, possibly removing the cozy relationships between production companies and broadcast entities all under the same roof.

Celador, which created the show, originally asked for nearly $400 million in broadcast licensing fees and $10 million in revenue from games inspired by the show, claiming Disney short-changed those expected to profit from the broadcast licensing fees by keeping the show in-house on ABC rather than shop it around and get a more competitive rate. ABC later contended that "Millionaire" lost $73 million during its run that began in 1999, despite pulling in ad revenue of nearly $1.8 billion, according to Kantar Media.

Such "sweetheart deals" have been the mainstay of television production companies over the years, and when challenged by actors and producers -- including a move by David Duchovny against Fox Television over "The X-Files" a decade ago -- cases were generally settled rather than make it in front of a jury.

If such a judgment can survive the appeal process, however, media companies will have to find better ways to produce and distribute its own content, either by spinning off some aspects of the company, or simply finding ways to get better competitive pricing up front.

"Millionaire" remains a syndicated show hosted by Meredith Vieira and distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television in the United States. The prime time Regis Philbin edition aired until 2002, but made special returns in 2004 and 2009.