syndication

NBCUniversal has renewed the syndicated daytime talk show for two additional seasons, taking the series fronted by the former American Idol breakout through its sixth season in 2025.

Ken Jennings broke ‘Jeopardy’ in 2004. In 2022, he helped save it.

When Season 9 of Hot Bench premieres on Monday, Oct. 31, Judge Yodit Tewolde and Judge Rachel Juarez will join series vet Judge Michael Corriero, as the trio take on real small claims cases from courthouses across the country.

The move to cut The Drew Barrymore Show from an hourlong format to two half-hour segments has paid off for the syndicated talk show, which saw a 60% boost in ratings from this time last year. The daytime talk show that debuted in September 2020 saw the sharpest annual increase of any syndicated show, with a live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating of 0.8 for the week ending Oct. 9.

Karamo, Sherri and The Jennifer Hudson Show are some of the new kids on the block, but they’re returning to the genre’s roots.

Anthony Zuiker and Sinclair Broadcast Group have struck an unusual arrangement that calls for the CSI creator to work with the station group giant on crafting original content, some drawn from Sinclair’s wealth of local news archives. The plan is to sell shows in syndication to other stations as well as to assemble docuseries pulled from the archives of its 185 TV stations that can be licensed to outside buyers. Zuiker will also consult with Sinclair’s news directors and journalists on amping up the storytelling qualities of local news reports, particularly on big national stories.

Karamo, Sherri and The Jennifer Hudson Show are some of the new kids on the block, but they’re returning to the genre’s roots.

He follows longtime domestic distribution president Jim Kraus, who becomes a senior adviser.

TVNewsCheck’s Michael Depp speaks with talk show host Tamron Hall about how her show is hitting a post-pandemic groove and her work with the NAB Leadership Foundation as its newly named industry ambassador. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

The dogfight between Judith Sheindlin and CBS with Rebel Entertainment Partners over the $95 million sale of the Judy Judy library is over, but not finished. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kristin S. Escalante has granted a motion by Sheindlin, Big Ticket Pictures and the Paramount Global-owned company to dismiss the two-year old suit from self-described “successor in interest” Rebel over the more than $5 million the latter claims it is owed for the admittedly convoluted 2017 sale. However, Rebel says it intends to appeal.

The two syndicated entertainment shows will air on the Fox O&Os through the 2024-25 season.

Despite the loss of the show’s longtime host, viewership has held mostly steady, emboldening a move to spinoffs and tournaments, including a revival of Celebrity Jeopardy.

Jamey Tucker says his freelance job as What the Tech? reporter is providing daily news stories covering consumer technology to more than a dozen TV stations. “Tucker does a good job of being a curator of what’s new,” says Estelle Parsley, the VP of news for WRDW, Gray’s NBC affil in Augusta, Ga.

The TV icon is currently celebrating his 40th season of peddling vowels, and in a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, he strongly suggests that those days could be numbered. “Years go by fast,” Sajak says. “We’re getting near the end. It’s been a long [time]. We’re not gonna do this for another 40 years. The end is near. … It’s an honor to have been in people’s living rooms for that long.” Sajak acknowledges: “In most television shows by this time, you would have said, ‘That’s probably enough,’ but this show will not die.”

As the host of the syndicated Drew Barrymore Show, which returned for a third season on Monday, the actress spelunks into her own past with open sentimentality and charming clumsiness.

What veteran TV executive Frank Cicha terms daytime’s “re-rack” has created openings for The Jennifer Hudson Show and Sherri, with Sherri Shepherd, both debuting Monday, and Karamo with Karamo Brown of Queer Eye fame, starting Sept. 19. They are joining a daytime lineup that includes continuing talk-variety series The Kelly Clarkson Show, The Drew Barrymore Show, Tamron Hall and ratings leaders The View, Dr. Phil and Live with Kelly and Ryan.

TVNewsCheck’s Michael Depp talks with Entertainment Tonight Executive Producer Erin Johnson on the eve of the show’s 42^nd season about its longevity and how a rethink of its social and digital presence transformed ET into something much more than just a TV show. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

Finding a respectable place within the highly contested world of daytime talk which includes shows hosted by Drew Barrymore, Kelly Clarkson and Rachel Ray, along with juggernauts like Dr. Phil, The View, Live with Kelly and Ryan and The Ellen DeGeneres Show which recently ended, Hall faces even more competition as several shows hosted by African Americas will premiere. But while proclaiming Oprah Winfrey as the undisputed greatest talk show host of all time, she’s unsure if the iconic show created lanes for Black daytime personalities like many assumed it would.

This fall, something entirely new is happening in broadcast syndication. Yes, three new talk shows will premiere, but daytime talk shows have come and gone before. What’s new is that all three of this year’s debuting shows have hosts who first got to test their chops on the show that they are ostensibly replacing, a word that syndicators don’t appreciate. They also are being produced by the teams that produced those prior shows.

For 12 years she was one of daytime’s most bold and beloved personalities. Then she was gone, replaced by a string of guest hosts amid tabloid rumors. Now a behind-the-scenes look at what really went down with TV’s queen of the purple throne.

Starting with a single weekly series, the Television Syndication Co. has grown to a distributor of a broad range of programming to domestic, international and in-flight markets. Above, the TVS team (l-r): Brooke Smith, syndication sales executive; Barbara DeMaio, operations manager; Mary Joyce, international sales executive/acquisitions; Cassie M. Yde, president; and Lisa Romine, syndication sales executive. (Photo by Raymond Sherman)

The long-running daytime talk show Dr. Phil conducted a round of layoffs ahead of its upcoming season this fall, a spokesperson for the show confirmed on Friday. The cost-cutting move affected about 25 workers, most of which worked in production roles for the talk show, the Dr. Phil spokesperson said, adding the show had “streamlined production to ensure longevity.”

Wanda Sykes is knocking on the door of syndication with a new series that features videos taken from Ring doorbells. The comedian is to host Ring Nation, a new twist on the popular clip show genre, from MGM Television, Live PD producer Big Fish Entertainment and Ring. The series, which will launch on Sept. 26, will feature viral videos shared by people from their video doorbells and smart home cameras.

Paramount Global Content Distribution is behind WOW–Women Of Wrestling. The show has been cleared in 100% of the U.S., including station groups CBS Stations, Sinclair, Nexstar, Hearst Television, Gray and Tegna.

During her time at the helm, Extra has been nominated eight times for “Outstanding Entertainment News Program” at the Daytime Emmy Awards, winning twice.

TVNewsCheck’s Michael Depp talks with Ginger Zee, chief meteorologist for ABC and co-host of Hearst Media Production Group’s Hearts of Heroes, along with fellow host Sheldon Yellen, about broadcast’s role in disaster preparedness and the frontline workers whose stories they tell in the show. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

It’s official: Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings are the permanent hosts of Jeopardy going forward. The game show’s executive producer Michael Davies today announced the completion of deals with the The Big Bang Theory star and former Jeopardy champion to continue to split hosting duties.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has entered into long-term deals that will have the two hosts continue to split duties on the popular syndicated game show, according to a person familiar with the matter, while retaining Bialik to host primetime editions of the show as well as the new Celebrity Jeopardy expected to start up at ABC. With Sony eager to boost more versions of the program, this person says, more than one host was required.

TVNewsCheck’s Michael Depp talks with veteran New York broadcaster Ernie Anastos, who is returning to television this fall with Positively America with Ernie Anastos, a new syndicated offering through which he plans to share accumulated wisdom and compelling conversations. A transcript of the conversation is included.

Hearst Television’s syndicated Matter of Fact is available in 181 markets covering 95% of the U.S. Like many news organizations, Matter of Fact and the 33-owned Hearst stations underwent some soul-searching following the George Floyd murder two years ago. They wanted to elevate the concerns of communities that often lacked media attention. Executive Producer Rita Aleman says: “The mission of the show was always to share voices as diverse as America, slices of life that people should see in order to understand how issues play out across the country.”

The daily one-hour court series will debut in syndication this fall and on Allen Media’s JusticeCentral.TV network.