Has the whole "We want the next Judge Judy" craze died yet?
(All I know is that she's overtaken Wheel as most popular if what I read on B&C is right, and that at least one of the judge shows is going away.)
For the most part, but companies are still trying...with Nancy Grace and a knockoff called Texas Justice premiering this past season, I wouldn't say it's dead yet...just laying in a trunk somewhere trying to stop the blood loss.
With the Judge Judy ratings....it seems like she's on in some markets as much as three or four times a day...does this matter for the ratings (I.e. Would they take the average of all appearances, take the highest, etc.)
Concerning Oprah, she had three types of shows: giveaways, A-listers, and people with serious problems...not to mention some self promoting Conglom-o stuff sprinkled in for good measure . If syndicators are looking for a show that will get them all of this right away, that's not gonna happen. It's gonna take YEARS for any talk show to evolve into something anywhere near as dominant as Oprah was...right now, they need to look for brand new unestablished names..swim around the talent pool a little more than hiring one (or a group of) has beens.