It’s “Judy Justice”: Judy Sheindlin moves to IMDB in November
New home for Judy Sheindlin, and the same format
We now have a drop date for Judy Sheindlin’s new courtroom show on Amazon’s IMDB TV and you can mark your calendars for November 1 – That’s when the woman helming the most successful court show of all time debuts with her new show Judy Justice.
Joining Sheindlin in the new venture is her granddaughter Sarah Rose, who is a law clerk and will provide legal analysis. Also joining Sheindlin is bailiff Kevin Rasco and stenographer Whitney Kumar.
The new show is on a streamer but in an old-school way: like what you see on linear television, a new episode is being released every weekday with the format similar to Sheindlin’s previous show Judge Judy. Former Judge Judy executive producers Randy Douthit and Amy Freisleben are on board with Sheindlin on the new project.
“Judge Judy Sheindlin has been instrumental in shaping the world of television for over 25 years, and she has been a weekday staple for advice, entertainment, and the best one-liners in the business,” said Lauren Anderson and Ryan Pirozzi, who are co-heads of IMDB’s Content and Programming. “As we continue to build IMDb TV into a modern broadcast network, we are thrilled to have Judy Justice as a signature program that our streaming audiences can enjoy any time of day.”
Sheindlin announced her departure from her syndicated show bearing her namesake in early 2020, after her relationship with syndicator CBS Media Ventures crumbled. Judy has been the top syndicated show for the last decade, beating longtime stalwarts Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy! for the title. In October of last year to the surprise of many, she struck a deal with little-known Amazon streamer IMDB TV, who is building up their ad-supported service with premium content.
Meanwhile, her previous series is remaining in syndication with new contracts kicking in September 13 in a new off-syndication package from CBS Media Ventures. Given Judge Judy is still drawing strong numbers, the local station lineup nearly remains intact. In Chicago, Judge Judy is now airing on two local stations: two back-to-back episodes at 4 p.m. on CBS-owned WBBM-TV and at 5 p.m. on Weigel’s CW affiliate WCIU, also with back-to-back episodes. Judge Judy returns to WCIU for the first time since the 1997-98 season, where it ran in prime access (6-7 p.m.) and drew surprisingly strong numbers. WCIU was outbid for the show in 1998, where it moved back to WPWR-TV where it was in its first season. Judge Judy was originally syndicated by Worldvision Enterprises, until 1999 when Viacom bought the company in order to have the court show in its syndication stable.
WBBM has no immediate plans to launch a 4 p.m. newscast, but may do so in the near future.