05 Sep Broadcasting & Cable: Syndication Seeks a Court Comeback

Arguably the winner of the court fallout is Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, which snapped up People’s Court’s Judge Marilyn Milian and Judge Greg Mathis and gave them both their own new shows. Those shows — Justice for the People With Judge Milian and Mathis Court With Judge Mathis — join Equal Justice With Judge Eboni K. Williams as AMG rolls out three more court shows this fall, bringing its total court offering to nine. AMG tends to bundle these shows into blocks, cume the ratings and sell advertising across the entire block. AMG owns its shows outright and also offers them on its own streaming and cable networks, creating ancillary revenue streams. It’s a model that others are seeking to emulate.

“We made a conscious choice many years ago to be the leader in the space,” Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of AMG, said. “Legal is a very important advertising category for local TV stations. There are plenty of law firms that are advertising and they like the environment of court shows. We are helping TV stations to capitalize on the category and hold on to it.”