Judge Judy is an American arbitration-based reality court show featuring the former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show has been on for 25 seasons, with the first episode airing on September 16, 1996. But did you ever wonder how much her bailiff on the show made?
The bailiff on Judge Judy is paid $1 million per year.
How Much Does Judge Judy Make?
Judith Sheindlin earns a whopping $47 million per year as the judge on the hit CBS-distributed syndicated court show, which is now in its 21st season.
Judge Judy draws 10.3 million weekly viewers, making it the most-watched national daytime show. The show generates an estimated $160 million to $170 million in revenue per year, which includes license fees from 200-plus stations across the country and barter advertising revenue from CBS.
One of the reasons Sheindlin can command such a high salary is that production costs are low. Petri Hawkins-Byrd, her long-serving bailiff, is said to earn more than $1 million per year for his work on the show, which typically shoots 260-odd episodes over about 52 days each year. (Source: Variety)
Judge Judy’s Success
The show Judge Judy reached its revenue peak around a decade ago when it challenged The Oprah Winfrey Show for dominance in daytime syndication. At the time, the show grossed more than $200 million annually. Judge Judy is still the tallest tree in an overgrown forest, making it more valuable to CBS than ever. In an era of fragmentation and declining linear viewership, the show’s importance to local stations as an afternoon or early evening lead-in to lucrative newscasts has only grown.
The most impressive aspect of Sheindlin’s tenure on Judge Judy is not her eight-figure salary but her stamina.
Judge Judy was a huge success right away in 1996. It quickly delivered big numbers for the ragtag group of stations that signed on for the first new court show to hit syndication three years after the gavel fell for good on Judge Joseph Wapner’s pioneering The People’s Court. Two decades later, America still enjoys Sheindlin’s blunt talk, finger-wagging, and no-nonsense justice.
Producer Larry Lyttle, who recruited Sheindlin for TV while serving as president of Viacom’s Big Ticket Television, is impressed by her longevity.
When we started, all I really knew was that there was something about [Sheindlin’s] authenticity on camera that made her incredibly compelling, We knew we had something early on, but we never thought it would be the franchise it has become. Her household ratings are still greater than many primetime series. Her value is indisputable.
Larry Lyttle, Judge Judy Producer
(Source: Variety)
The Millions of Followers
Judge Judy Sheindlin is still in session, according to IMDb TV. After 25 million hours of viewing by users, Amazon’s free streaming service has renewed Judy Justice for a second season.
Judy Justice, Sheindlin’s second act following the end of the long-running, iconic daytime series Judge Judy, premiered on IMDb TV last November. According to the Amazon-owned ad-supported platform. Judy Justice has become IMDb TV’s top original program in both first streams and hours watched. New episodes of Season 1 will continue to be released on-demand and on the Judy Justice live linear channel every weekday until April 15, 2022. (Source: Variety)
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