LOS ANGELES (Hollywoood Reporter) - Judith Sheindlin has signed a deal to stay on the bench at "Judge Judy" through 2015, the show's distributor said Monday.
Sheindlin, 68, who reportedly makes $45 million per year to tape her show, has been with the courtroom series since it premiered in 1996. Before that, she served as a non-nonsense family court judge in Manhattan.
"Judge Judy" remains the top-rated half-hour syndicated court show, averaging 10 million viewers per episode. For the 2009-10 season, "Judge Judy" topped "The Oprah Winfrey Show," the first time any daytime program has outperformed the veteran talker in 10 years.
"Judy is in a class by herself," CBS Television Distribution president John Nogawski said in a statement. "For 15 years, she's delivered one of the highest-rated shows in all of syndication. She's at the top of her game, and we're excited to be in business with daytime's #1 star."