Judge Judith Sheindlin is bringing her courtroom back to free, broadcast television.
On Thursday, Amazon MGM Studios said it reached a multi-year syndication deal that will bring its original series “Judy Justice” to more than 100 television stations across the country, including those owned or operated by Nexstar Media Group, Sunbeam Television, Weigel Broadcasting and Cox Media Group.
The move comes a little over two years after Sheindlin brought her courtroom-style arbitration show to Amazon’s free streaming service Freevee following the end of her multi-decade distribution deal with Paramount Global’s CBS Television. Earlier this month, Amazon said the show had been renewed for another season, which debuted this week.
“What a full circle moment — this continues to be quite an adventure!” Sheindlin said in a statement on Tuesday.
“We are thrilled to bring Judy Justice to linear television audiences nationwide,” Scott Koondel, the CEO of Sox Entertainment, the production company behind Judy Justice, said in a statement. “With Judge Judy Sheindlin at the helm, viewers can expect a compelling and thought-provoking legal experience in high definition for the first time in broadcast. I’m grateful that TV station groups have embraced this new innovative syndication model with talent that has been on broadcast stations for 28 years.”
The program will clear in all top 10 television markets across the country, Amazon MGM Studios and Sox Entertainment said, airing on stations in major markets like New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston and Houston.
“We remain honored that Her Honor agreed to go on this streaming adventure with us,” Lauren Anderson, the head of ad-supported video on demand, unscripted and targeted programming at Amazon MGM Studios, said on Wednesday. “Having firmly cemented her place as an icon of broadcast television, Judge Sheindlin took a pioneering risk bringing her new show and brand to a then-nascent service. Not only are we thrilled that her common sense, life skills building approach to justice has been a hit with cross-generational Amazon customers, we are beyond delighted that we, in partnership with Sox Entertainment, are now able to deliver Judy Justice back to hundreds of broadcast markets – and broadcast audiences – across North America. Full circle indeed.”
New episodes will continue to be released on Freevee through April 5. Freevee is available as a free download on most popular streaming TV platforms, including Roku and Amazon’s own Fire TV.
