How sticky is Judge Judy’s audience? Are viewers dependent on Judge Judy, have they so molded their routines around a TV show that they’ll keep watching even if it means watching episodes from 1999? Or will the recurring revenue of Judge Judy prove to be more fragile than CBS predicted? This sets up a fascinating recurring revenue experiment. Will anybody be able to tell? Sheindlin, meanwhile, is betting that her audience will follow her to Amazon’s IMDB TV. Rather than keep paying for new episodes, CBS has opted to play the hits - just air reruns. For such a gem, CBS paid Judge Judy a reported $47 million per year (for 52 days of filming), and an additional $99 million for the library of old episodes.Īll of that came to an end earlier this year when Sheindlin’s contract with CBS ran out and Amazon made her an offer for an undisclosed amount. From a business perspective, that means whoever airs Judge Judy can basically guarantee advertisers the same each day, which in turn means that revenue is highly predictable. It’s ambient television, comfort food, a pillar of stability in a chaotic life.
Ok, I have no idea what people do when they watch Judge Judy, but I know that they watch it with incredible consistency. They vacuum with it on in the background, they watch as they change their car’s oil, they listen as they soak in a luxurious tub and nibble French chocolates. It’s less something people look forward to and more something they rely on. Daytime television isn’t just regular TV, though, it’s highly routine-based entertainment. Judge Judy even beat Oprah most of the years they overlapped. For the past 11 years it was the #1 first-run show in syndicated television, meaning that every weekday almost 10 million Americans watch her show. Judge Judy has aired over 7,000 episodes since its launch in 1996. This post isn’t about the woman called Judge Judy, though, it’s about the show called Judge Judy. Anyone interested in understanding why should check out this fantastic profile from New York Magazine, which is loaded with amazing and hilarious stories of Judge Judy Sheindlin (who was a real judge before playing one on TV). She doesn’t take shit from anyone, not a manicurist with a grudge against an ex-roommate and not a deadbeat accordion player behind on alimony. She’s Ruth Bader Ginsberg crossed with Lara Croft crossed with David Letterman.
That’s because watching Season 1 Episode 1 of Riverdale is like licking a frozen telephone pole - you’re not going anywhere. Netflix doesn’t have a contract with customers, but they still have highly predictable cash flows. The most extreme example is a mortgage, where a legally agreed upon fixed payment occurs each month. The real advantage of a recurring revenue business is that cash flow is predictable. Do tents that sell Halloween costumes or Fourth of July fireworks count as recurring revenue businesses? What about scholastically required TI-83 calculators or urinal cakes? If every business is a recurring revenue business, then the term has no meaning. Somewhere, though, there has to be a line in the sand. The same customers are coming back to the park every year. Most of their revenue is recurring in nature.
At first glance this feels like a real desperation move, the CEO equivalent of leaving a mixtape inside Wall Street stock analyst’s lockers (please, please like me). Six Flags CEO Jim Reid-Anderson even told Jim Cramer ( MoneyLemma has a love-hate relationship with Jim Cramer ) that theme parks are a recurring revenue industry. Recurring revenue is en vogue and it seems every company makes a claim to it.
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