LOS ANGELES — Judge Judith Sheindlin, the straight-talking star of “Judge Judy,” peered down at a sassy defendant with disgust. “Listen to me, Miss Fibby,” Judge Sheindlin snapped at a recent taping here. “They don’t keep me here because I’m gorgeous. They keep me here because I’m smart.”

It was a classic “Judge Judy” retort: sour yet funny, superior yet self-deprecating. But it was also not exactly true. (Cue judicial scowl.) At a time when the broadcast television audience is fragmenting, CBS keeps her on that bench because, at 71 years old and finishing her 18th season in daytime syndication, she is a viewer-grabbing machine.

“Judge Judy” has ratings that are climbing, a rarity for DVR-embattled television programming during daytime, prime time or any other time. For the first two weeks of May, “Judge Judy” had a 7 percent increase in viewers compared to the same period last year, according to Nielsen. Among women 25 to 54, the bull’s-eye demographic for daytime television, ratings rose 5 percent.

By comparison, the 16-season-old “Judge Mathis,” a similar reality court show, suffered a 4 percent decline among total viewers and target-audience drop of 15 percent.