Scott Koondel thinks the model he’s using to sell Judy Justice — Judge Judy Sheindlin’s next chapter, which streams on Amazon Freevee — is one he can apply to many other shows in syndication.
“I have a lot of shows that are for streaming and eventually for syndication,” said Koondel, who worked in distribution for CBS from 1997 to 2018, the last six as executive VP and chief corporate content licensing officer. He started at Paramount in 1994. “I see a world where I could provide syndicated shows for TV stations and not have to deficit-finance.”
That model makes sense for TV stations, who don’t tend to make money in daytime any longer and thus do not want to pay cash for shows airing between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. News lead-ins and lead-outs, however, are a different story. Some shows airing in those time slots — especially Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and Family Feud — do command cash license fees.
Repeats of Judge Judy still gather large daytime audiences. This season, the show is averaging 5.6 million viewers, making it daytime’s most-watched show, according to CBS. It’s the fourth most-viewed show in syndication behind Jeopardy! at 7.8 million, Wheel of Fortune at 7.3 million and Family Feud at 7.3 million. Stations’ contracts with CBS for the show are up at the end of the 2023-24 TV season and CBS Media Ventures is actively in the market renewing it for 2024-25 and beyond, putting both Judge Judy and Judy Justice in the market simultaneously.
Koondel thinks that could work to Judy Justice’s advantage, with stations potentially wanting to add new episodes of daytime’s most iconic judge to their already-existing court and/or Judy blocks.
“What Judy has done in streaming is a phenomenon,” Koondel said. “A lot of people didn’t think Judy would work on another platform. We brought her over to streaming and Amazon did a show with us and it’s been a huge success.”
According to Amazon, Judy Justice is Freevee’s most-streamed show. After its second season on the service, the company renewed the show for two more, taking it through season four.
“It found an audience instantly and it’s not reaching the same people who watch the reruns on CBS. It’s reaching cord-cutters who don’t watch over-the-air TV,” Koondel said.
Judy Sheindlin turned to streaming after her syndicated show, which was produced and distributed by CBS Media Ventures, concluded airing original episodes in July 2021 after 25 years on the air. At that time, Sheindlin decided she did not want to retire but CBS had already sold the library to stations on an all-barter basis.
Koondel sold her new show, Judy Justice, to Amazon for Freevee where it premiered in November of that year with the same executive producer, Randy Douthit. Besides Sheindlin, it stars her granddaughter, Sarah Rose as her law clerk, as well as Whitney Kumar as the court stenographer and Kevin Rasco as the bailiff.
Sheindlin and her team also produce a panel court show, Tribunal Justice, for the streaming service. Tribunal Justice stars original Hot Bench judges Patricia diMango and Tanya Acker, as well as Sheindlin’s son, Adam Levy, as the judges. Koondel also plans to take that show to TV stations — perhaps this year.
According to Koondel, he doesn’t have to clear the entire country because Judy Justice episodes have already been paid for by Amazon. “I have the most flexible show available in the marketplace,” he said. “It’s essentially risk-free. If reruns of Judge Judy can do 5.6 million viewers a day, what do you think new episodes will do with the same talent?”
Koondel also is looking to sell the show to a cable network.
Beyond syndication, Koondel is also working on a scripted series called Big Man, about NBA greats Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, which takes place under the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement. He also has game, dating and magazine shows in development under his banner of Sox Entertainment and represents Home Shopping Network’s Joy Mangano.
