Dr. Phil McGraw’s attempt to launch his own MAGA-aligned media venture has spectacularly backfired.
The 75-year-old TV personality, who rose to fame through regular appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show before launching his own talk show, Dr. Phil, in 2002, has run into financial troubles with his cable network, Merit Street Media, resulting in an indefinite “hiatus,” according to a new report by Slate.
McGraw announced the launch of his new venture in November 2023, after his once–most-watched daytime syndicated talk show ended on CBS. He immediately shifted his focus to primetime programming, telling Deadline he was “compelled to engage with a broader audience” due to his “grave concerns for the American family.”
The new media company—named after McGraw’s “respect for the meritocracy on which the country was built”—with offices in the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, introduced Dr. Phil Primetime, promising that the show and network would “stand strong and fight for the very soul and sanity of America.”
In April 2024, McGraw’s media network launched, in partnership with a religious broadcaster, Trinity Broadcasting Network. “We are thrilled to embark on this groundbreaking journey by creating a network that is not only widely accessible but also a hub for diverse, engaging content,” said Joel Cheatwood, COO of Merit Street Media, in a statement at the time.
Within months of the launch, McGraw’s aspirations began to crumble.
Despite interviews with prominent figures like Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump—whose Madison Square Garden campaign rally McGraw attended, saying the then-presidential candidate was not a “bully”— the network lagged in viewership.
In August 2024, the company laid off 38 staff members. A few months later, Professional Bull Riders announced the termination of a deal with Merit Street, claiming the company had breached the contract by “failing to pay rights fees owed.”
In a statement, McGraw’s company said that Merit Street had “agreed to work out its differences with PBR in a confidential proceeding” and was “surprised” by the termination announcement.
The breaking point came in June 2025, when the company laid off another 40 employees and went on a “summer hiatus,” shelving footage of interviews with ICE officials that McGraw—who had become outspoken about the agency—had promised would air, following ICE raids in Chicago.
A month later, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sued Trinity Broadcasting Network, describing TBN’s services as “comically dysfunctional.”
Professional Bull Riders objected to the bankruptcy, citing McGraw’s launch of a new entertainment company, Envoy Media, in partnership with Steve Harvey, and alleging that he “orchestrated” the Chapter 11 filing to “avoid menacing litigation against PBR and jumpstart Envoy Media Co.”
Trinity Broadcasting Network intensified the blow by filing a countersuit against Merit Street, alleging fraud and breach of contract.
When Merit Street Media launched, Dr Phil promised to take on what Merit TV deemed “Culture War BULL C**P” with his new venture.
The Daily Beast reached out to Merit Street Media for comment, but received no immediate response.
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