Judge Judy’s Comeback Spells Trouble for Former CBS Executives

Judge Judy Sheindlin, the highest paid TV jurist, is set to make her return to linear television this fall with her new courtroom show, “Judy Justice.” This news comes as a blow to her old bosses at CBS, who were expecting to cash in on reruns of her long-running show, “Judge Judy.”

Sheindlin ended her successful 25 season run with CBS in 2021 and teamed up with her executive producer, Scott Koondel, to create and distribute “Judy Justice” on Amazon’s Freevee streaming service. Despite CBS’s efforts to keep Judy out of the marketplace, “Judy Justice” has been cleared in 95% of the country and is set to compete with reruns of “Judge Judy.”

CBS had hoped to sell repeats of the old show to local markets, but now they find themselves at a disadvantage as other stations have the option to air the new original content from “Judy Justice.” Variety reported that CBS is trying to secure top dollar for its reruns, but may struggle to compete with the buzz around the new show.

There were talks for “Judy Justice” to replace CBS’ daytime chat series, “The Talk,” but it seems those discussions did not come to fruition. CBS owns the rights to the original show’s library and has provided episodes to stations since it ended in 2021. They are not currently considering replacing “The Talk” with “Judy Justice.”

Despite the challenges, Koondel described Judge Judy as a juggernaut with a massive loyal audience who will follow her wherever she goes. New Yorkers will be able to watch “Judy Justice” on Pix 11 at 3p.m., while CBS stations will continue to air reruns of “Judge Judy.”

While CBS may have been caught off guard by the success of “Judy Justice,” one person who will be pleased with the news is Jay-Z, a self-professed fan of the TV judge. As the battle for viewership heats up this fall, it will be interesting to see how Judge Judy’s return to TV impacts the landscape of daytime television.

In the end, it seems that Judge Judy is not only a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom, but also in the world of television programming. Her loyal audience and undeniable charm have made her a household name, and it appears that she has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. As she makes her triumphant return to TV this fall, one thing is certain – Judge Judy is here to stay.