A GOLDEN GAVEL
Judge Judy sells archive for $95M: sources
Judge Judy Sheindlin, one of television’s biggest stars, sold her entire 10,400-show archive back to CBS as part of a deal to extend her contract through the 2020-21 TV season.
Terms of the archive sale were not released, but sources familiar with the deal told The Post it was for roughly $95 million.
Judge Judy, as she is known, has dispensed her wildly popular no-nonsense wisdom from her television courtroom for 21 seasons, including her saying, “Beauty fades, dumb is forever.”
The extension, reached with CBS Television Distribution, will carry the 70year -old former Manhattan Family Court judge through her 25th season.
Brooklyn-born Sheindlin is clearly a smart operator. The deal to sell her library comes just two years after CBS sold it to her in conjunction with her last renewal.
The “Judge Judy” star earns around $45 million per year, according to several reports. The show brought in $244.7 million in ad revenue to CBS in 2016, according to SNL Kagan.
“My mother always told me it’s proper etiquette to leave the dance with the person who brought you,” Sheindlin told The Post in a statement.
“Judge Judy” has been with CBS from the beginning, despite attempts by others to steal it away from Les Moonves’ company.
“Judge Judy” is sold internationally in 150 countries.
The show is broadcast in domestic syndication and is seen in New York on CBS at 4 p.m. and 4.30 pm.
The show broadcasts 260 original episodes per year. Even during its summer hiatus, “Judge Judy” reruns typically outdraw the competition.
Under the new deal, CBS Television Distribution is al- lowed to sell “Judge Judy” into an online player such as Netflix, Amazon or Hulu.
The show scores around 10 million viewers and has been the No. 1 daytime syndicated show for eight years.
“Judge Judy is a shrewd business woman, and it’s a huge windfall for her considering she got the rights to her library during her last negotiation,” Billie Gold at Dentsu Aegis told The Post.
“The show repeats well and has vast potential for sale to all the new cable and over-the-top players out in the field looking for valuable content that will draw viewers,” Gold added.
The sharp intelligence of Judge Judy — who likes to give it to “stupid” witnesses on her No. 1 syndicated show — carved up an eye-popping $95 million episode library deal with CBS, The Post has learned.