“Judge” Judy Sheindlin made the jump to streaming in 2021, and now she may be jumping back. Sheindlin’s show Judy Justice was created for Amazon Freevee, but may soon be airing on broadcast TV as well. Sources close to the production told Deadline that it might even air in syndication just like Sheindlin’s iconic show Judge Judy.
There are 260 episodes of Judy Justice available now on Amazon Freevee – an ad-supported streaming service available to Amazon Prime members. It was the first original court show made for a streaming outlet, and its exclusivity may be at an end. Insiders said that the distributor, Sox Entertainment, is “actively exploring” options to sell the show’s library to TV stations for the fall 2023 season. That may even mean cable syndication.
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“It’s extremely fluid tight now,” one insider said. “There will be an opportunity for shows like Judy Justice to potentially get on the air while incumbents try to hold onto time periods at fever pitch.”
A big part of the reason for this consideration is reportedly the surprising resilience of the original Judge Judy series in syndication. The show ended two years ago, yet it continues to dominate its marketplace in re-runs and even out-perform more current shows. The syndication marketplace is still reeling from the abrupt ends of several heavy hitters including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Wendy Williams Show, Maury, Dr. Oz and The Real. Meanwhile, four more shows are ending later this year: Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, Judge Mathis and The People’s Court.
Those last two should leave a perfect opening for Sheindlin’s iconic courtroom brand to step in. Re-runs of Judge Judy have reportedly out-performed all first-run syndication programming except for Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud. The “repeatability” of the show is beyond networks’ hopes, and now sources say that some station group owners have reached out to Sox entertainment to inquire about Judy Justice.
Data reportedly shows that there is little overlap between the Freevee audience and the cable audience, so Judy Justice would effectively be a first-run show for Sheindlin’s most loyal fans. However, buyers are reportedly trying to minimize the price to broadcast the show, even seeking barter agreements rather than licensing deals. For now, Judy Justice is only available on Amazon Freevee.
