24/7 Wall St.

“Live with Kelly,” the talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa, got all the press last week among syndicated programs. She added a new co-host Ryan Seacrest. However, the show is barely among the top 20 syndicated shows based on audience. The top spot belongs to courtroom reality TV show “Judge Judy.”

In the week from April 17 to 24, “Judge Judy” had a household rating of 6.6, which means it captures 6.6% of those watching TV during the period. Since the show is syndicated, and many people are watching network programming or shows on major cable networks, the figure is impressive. “Live with Kelly” had a rating of 2.2. It is worth noting the two shows do not compete with one another, because they are in different time slots.

The shows just behind “Judge July” are “Family Feud” at 6.5 and “Wheel of Fortune” at 6.0.

“Judge Judy” is long-lived. It has been on the air since 1996, eons in the syndicated TV business. It has run almost 6,000 episodes.

The show is hosted by Judith Susan Blum. She is really a judge. Her last real posting was as supervising judge for family court in Manhattan. Her TV job probably pays her better. It has been reported she makes $47 million a year.

Judge Judy has become a cottage industry, and a large one. She has authored several books. There is a Judge Judy app. There is also a Judge Judy interactive game. However, the ultimate interaction between judge and viewers is that people can submit their cases online to be considered for a place on the show.

Judge Judy has not only made herself money. Her show is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution, a division of CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS).

Anyone who thought Kelly Ripa is the queen of daytime TV is not even close.