Dr. Phil McGraw’s conservative-leaning cable network Merit Street Media is filing for bankruptcy barely a year after its launch, and is also suing its distribution partner Trinity Broadcasting for breach of contract.
In its lawsuit against the Christian broadcaster, Merit Street alleged that Trinity “reneged on its obligations and abused its position as the controlling shareholder of Merit Street,” leaving the upstart channel with over $100 million in debt.
“These failures by TBN were neither unintended nor inadvertent,” the lawsuit read. “They were a conscious, intentional pattern of choices made with full awareness that the consequence of which was to sabotage and seal the fate of a new but already nationally acclaimed network.”
Following a two-decade run as a syndicated daytime talk show host, McGraw announced in late 2023 that he was starting up his own multi-platform media company, which would include a cable television channel featuring a Dr. Phil primetime program as its flagship.
Claiming that Merit Street would become “one of the most widely distributed startup networks in modern history,” the company revealed before its official launch that it was partnering with TBN. Besides McGraw’s weeknight show, the channel would focus on true crime and cultural programming and boast a lineup of familiar TV personalities such as Nancy Grace, Steve Harvey and Bear Grylls.
“Merit Street Media will be a resource of information and strategies to fight for America and its families, which are under a cultural ‘woke’ assault as never before,” McGraw said at the time. “I love this country and I believe family is the backbone of our society. Together we are going to stand strong and fight for the very soul and sanity of America and get things that matter back on track.”
However, after officially launching in April 2024, the network soon found itself in financial turmoil. Just months after McGraw’s high-profile and fawning primetime interview with Donald Trump, Merit Street laid off roughly 40 employees in August of last year – representing about one-third of its total staff.
And just last month, amid the Dr. Phil show’s “summer hiatus,” another 40 staffers were given the pink slip. It would now appear, though, that it was due to more than McGraw’s primetime program taking a break.
In a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the Northern District Court of Texas, Merit Street cited a “severely strained liquidity position” and the inability to secure additional capital as reasons for the declaration. It further mentioned issues with TBN and the Professional Bull Riders as factors. The PBR pulled its programming from Merit Street last November, just months after signing a four-year deal with the network. According to PBR at the time, it was severing ties with McGraw’s channel due to failure to make their payments for rights fees.
Merit also claimed in the bankruptcy filing that McGraw’s Peteski Productions company had continued to inject “substantial capital infusions” to keep the network going, but was unable to raise necessary funds through another round of equity financing. Ultimately, the network placed much of the blame on Trinity.
“Trinity Broadcasting Network is being sued by Merit Street Media for failing to provide clearly agreed-upon national distribution and other significant foundational commitments critical to the network’s continuing success and viability,” a Merit Street spokesperson said in a statement. “The suit is part of a restructuring proceeding also initiated by MSM.”
In the lawsuit, which was also filed on Wednesday, Merit alleged that TBN “began to abuse its power as a controlling shareholder” of the network and forced Merit to engage in costly third-party distribution deals with cable providers, despite Trinity boasting an extensive local TV lineup.
On top of that, Merit Street accused Trinity of self-dealing by charging the company for studio space to produce Dr. Phil’s shows, adding that TBN provided “shoddy production values.”
McGraw, meanwhile, has made headlines in recent months for embedding himself with ICE agents for raids amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns in large American cities.
After joining immigration enforcement for ride-alongs in Chicago in January, with footage of migrant arrests being used for content for Merit, the network boasted that McGraw and his camera crew got a “first-hand look at the targeted operations” in Los Angeles that led to fiery protests and Trump mobilizing the National Guard.
