NATPE: 'Paternity Court' Renewed for Season Two

Updated: Tuesday, January 28, 2014, 2 p.m. ET

MGM’s Paternity Court will return for a second season, with renewals set in 80% of the country, said John Bryan, president of MGM Domestic Television Distribution at NATPE in Miami.

Stations renewing the show include CBS’ WLNY New York, as well as stations from the Hearst, Sinclair and Tribune Groups. Paternity Court, which averaged a 1.0 live plus same day national rating in the week ended Jan. 12, according to Nielsen, is in its rookie year.

The court genre has been dwindling recently, with shows such as CBS Television Distribution’s Judge Joe Brown calling it quits last year, and Twentieth’s Judge Alex and Entertainment Studios’ We the People with Gloria Allred both planning to end after this season. Paternity Court, which is a sort of hybrid between conflict and court, is hosted by Judge Lauren Lake. It’s produced by 79th and York Entertainment and distributed by MGM-owned Orion TV Productions.. 

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.