Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD) has pulled its high-profile Celebrity Jury court strip off the market for fall after failing to come to terms with the Fox station group on price. But the project may not be dead entirely and could make a comeback sometime later, those familiar with the situation tell B&C.
WBDTD appeared reluctant to green light a project if it could not fetch sufficient cash license fees in addition to barter. Some other court shows are sold on an all-barter basis.
Celebrity Jury has been percolating for some time but negotiations had drug on with Fox, which has the strongest need for court shows.
Fox’s sibling Twentieth Television has been a primary supplier of court for the station group. But this year its focus is on talk with The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet and games with Temptation.
With Celebrity Jury out of the way, WBDTD is putting all of its efforts into its new TMZ magazine series (B&C, Jan. 16).
Second year prospects for its low-rated freshman talk show with Dr. Keith Ablow look shaky, with WBDTD President Ken Werner saying Monday that it will remain in production for this rest of this season. No mention was made about efforts to renew it.
