Judge Judy found guilty of accepting millions more in syndication money

THERE'S AN ORDER in the court . . . for three more years of "Judge Judy."

The popular jurist who fixes tsuris, has extended her contract with CBS TV Distribution and now plans to keep her court in session into 2020.

Salary terms were not discussed, but Judge Judy Sheindlin, a feisty 72, currently takes home $47 million a year - more than even a Philly Traffic Court judge.

She is by far the highest paid person on television.

And like a L'Oreal model, she's worth it.

During 2013, the last full year for which figures were available, Kantar Media reported that "Judge Judy" earned $136.8 million in revenue.

In addition to more "Judy," the new deal also gives CBS first look at any projects by Sheindlin's production company, which makes the new court show "Hot Bench" (which we've never heard of), and is, alas, not about a judge who wears a swimsuit instead of a robe.

Tattle's pitch to the judge would be a network sitcom, "Rise and Sheindlin." Rise would be Judge Judy's funny bailiff.

"Judge Judy," now in its 19th season, has been the top daytime show for the past five years. During the week ending Feb. 15, Nielsen reported "Judy" was seen by an average of 10.1 million viewers per episode, more than double the 4.9 million viewers of "Dr. Phil."

Sheindlin was out of the country yesterday. When you make nearly $50 million a year, you can be out of the country whenever you want. Maybe even start your own.

Tom Brokaw is sharing the news about his battle with cancer.

The former NBC anchor has a memoir coming out May 12, Random House announced yesterday. The book is called A Lucky Life Interrupted, and will draw upon a journal that Brokaw began keeping in 2013 after learning he had multiple myeloma.

Brokaw, 75, said in a statement issued through Random House that he hoped his book would "help others dealing with this unwelcome condition."

Brokaw's previous books include the best-selling The Greatest Generation and A Long Way From Home: Growing Up in the American Heartland in the Forties and Fifties.

* Paula Deen has found a new publishing home, Hachette Book Group.

Hachette's plans include selling and distributing a new title, Paula Deen Cuts the Fat, and reissuing such older works as The Lady & Sons and A Savannah Country Cookbook. Todd McGarity, a Hachette VP, said in a statement that Deen's "trademark warmth and culinary flair are as appealing as ever."

And Americans still love butter.

In 2013, Ballantine Books canceled a multibook deal with Deen after the deposition in a discrimination lawsuit filed by an ex-Deen employee revealed that she had admitted using racial slurs.

* Divergent author Veronica Roth is set to write a new two-book series, HarperCollins Children's Books told the Associated Press yesterday. The books currently are untitled, with the first one expected in 2017 and the next in 2018.

Roth, 26, and her publisher offered few specifics, beyond saying the series is in "the vein of 'Star Wars' " and will tell of a boy's "unlikely alliance" with an enemy.

Oooh. Sign our 12-year-old self up.

Divergent, a dystopian trilogy Roth completed in 2013, has sold more than 30 million copies. She began writing the series on winter break from Northwestern University.

While you were getting wasted in Cancun.

* The Daytime Emmys ceremony is returning to television with a new home on the Pop channel, formerly the TV Guide Network. The ceremony will air live from a Warner Bros. studio soundstage on April 26.

After losing its longtime spot on the broadcast networks in 2012, the Daytime Emmys aired on cable news channel HLN for two years.

Last year, it settled for streaming the proceedings online - a change in fortune that reflected the dwindling daytime audience.

* The SyFy network said yesterday that Dallas Mavericks owner and "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban will play the president of the United States in "Sharknado 3," set to premiere in July. Conservative commentator and author Ann Coulter will be his vice president.

The network previously said Bo Derek will have a cameo as star Tara Reid's mother, Jerry Springer will play a tourist and NSYNC singer Chris Kirkpatrick will be a pool lifeguard.

This year the toothy storm terrorizes Washington, D.C., Florida and TV viewers with taste.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

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On Twitter: @DNTattle