Amazon said the new name will take effect on April 27. The retailer said the streaming service will also expand its original programming by 70% in 2022, with spinoffs of shows such as Bosh: Legacy and other series. It will also add more original movies.
Judge Judy Sheindlin will serve another helping of Judy Justice. Her streaming series, which launched in November, has been renewed for a second season. IMDb TV, Amazon’s complimentary (i.e., not Prime) streaming service, made the announcement on Tuesday — simultaneously revealing that the show has been among the platform’s most popular originals, with a combined 25 million-plus hours streamed in four months.
The company hopes a new court show starring the straight-talking judge will help turbocharge its free, ad-supported streaming platform, IMDb TV.
Exclusives
Judge Judy Sheindlin announced today the start date and name of her new show, Judy Justice, which will be available weekdays on IMDb TV, a free streaming service offered by Amazon.
Amazon and Sony Pictures TV have struck a deal that will bring an extensive catalog of legendary producer Norman Lear’s shows to the Amazon’s Prime Video and IMDb TV streaming services. The titles headed to the two platforms are Maude, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, 227, Good Times, the original One Day at a Time, Diff’rent Strokes, Sanford & Son and Sanford.
The Amazon-backed free-streaming service has landed library rights to the first two seasons of the series starring Nicholas Pinnock. Should those perform well, it could lead to a third-season renewal on the ad-supported platform.
Last year, Amazon’s IMDb TV was the surprise winner of Judy Sheindlin’s follow-up court TV series. While no premiere date has been set, IMDb TV executives are hopeful the new show will be able to premiere sometime this year.
In a classic case of coopetition, Roku inked a deal with Amazon to bring the IMDb TV free, ad-supported streaming service to the Roku platform in the U.S. The IMDb TV service competes for viewers — and ad dollars — with the Roku Channel, a similar ad-supported VOD service. Under Roku’s standard distribution agreements, it takes 30% of ad inventory on partner channels but the terms of the deal with Amazon for IMDb TV were not disclosed.
Judith Sheindlin is headed to streaming. The Judge Judy star’s untitled new court show (aka Judy Justice) has been greenlighted by Amazon Studios to stream exclusively on IMDb TV, Amazon’s free, ad-supported streaming service.
