Judge Judy Sheindlin is returning to television this fall with her new courtroom show, “Judy Justice,” after the conclusion of her long-running series, “Judge Judy,” in 2021. She and her executive producer, Scott Koondel, created and distributed the new show on Amazon’s Freevee streaming service. Despite CBS’s attempt to keep her out of the marketplace by selling reruns of the old show, “Judge Judy,” Sheindlin’s new show has been cleared in 95% of the country.
CBS had hoped that local markets would purchase reruns of “Judge Judy,” but were surprised when Sheindlin introduced “Judy Justice” as a new option for stations to air. The network is now faced with selling repeats of the old show, which has less market value compared to the original content from “Judy Justice.” CBS is aiming to secure prime timeslots and top dollar for its reruns, while Sox Entertainment is looking to promote “Judy Justice.”
There were discussions about having “Judy Justice” replace CBS’s daytime chat show, “The Talk,” as sources revealed that the network’s syndication division owns the rights to the original show’s library. However, CBS has provided episodes of “Judge Judy” to stations since the show ended in 2021, and stated that their syndication offerings already include the entire library. They did not confirm any talks about replacing “The Talk” with “Judy Justice.”
Despite the lack of comments from CBS and Sheindlin’s representative, it is clear that Sheindlin has a massive and loyal audience that will follow her across different platforms. Her executive producer described her as a juggernaut who can draw a crowd anywhere, from broadcast to streaming to cable. New Yorkers can catch “Judy Justice” on Pix 11 at 3 p.m., while “Judge Judy” reruns will continue to air on CBS stations.
In the midst of the competition between reruns of “Judge Judy” and the new show “Judy Justice,” CBS and Sheindlin’s team are navigating the changing landscape of daytime television. It remains to be seen how each show will perform in terms of viewership and ratings, as audiences decide which courtroom show they prefer to watch. With Sheindlin’s reputation as the highest-paid TV jurist, it will be interesting to see how her return to linear television will impact the daytime TV landscape.
