Judge Judy Portrait - P 2012
CBS Television DistributionLONDON – A+E Networks U.K. Channel Crime + Investigation will become the new home of the latest seasons of U.S. daytime hit court show Judge Judy in Britain.
It has acquired the U.K. pay TV rights to premiere seasons 16 and 17 of the courtroom show in Britain in a deal with CBS Corp.’s CBS Studios International. In the U.S., the show is currently in its 18th season.
The two seasons, each containing 257 30-minute episodes, will air on CI in the U.K. and Ireland before any other TV channel. Most recently, ITV3 had those rights, with the CBS Reality channel here then airing the show in a later window.
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CBS Reality is expected to continue showing Judge Judy in the U.K. in later windows.
Financial details of the new deal weren’t disclosed.
?Said Heather Jones, vp programming at A+E Networks UK: ”For almost 20 years, the Judge Judy franchise has had incredible success around the world, and we are confident that the CI audience will welcome the show into the schedule. The CBS Studios International deal will give our audiences two brand new [seasons] before anyone else in the U.K.”
Season 16 will begin airing this month.
Said Stephen Tague, senior vp, Europe at CBS Studios International: “Judge Judy is the number-one show on U.S. daytime television and the highest-rated program in all of U.S. syndication.”
Judge Judith Sheindlin is a former New York family court judge.
E-mail: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
