Judy Sheindlin, the New York state judge-turned-daytime-TV star, is hoping to rake in up to $200 million from the rights to reruns of her eponymous TV show according to The Hollywood Reporter.
THR notes that dollar figure is on top of the $47 million per year she’s locked down with CBS in a recent contract renegotiation.
While neither Ms. Sheindlin nor network executives responded to THR with comment, the entertainment magazine quoted an unnamed insider as saying network executives were unconvinced the “Judge Judy” archive had a lot of earning potential.
“The company didn’t necessarily think [the library] was that valuable. There had been some tire-kicking over the years with either cable or [streaming video-on-demand] people to see if anyone wanted her shows, and I don’t think the response was overwhelmingly big,” the source said.
The 74-year-old retired jurist, first appointed to the bench by New York City Mayor Ed Koch in 1982, “still averages more than 10 million daily viewers in [her show’s] 21st season,” THR said.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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