Dr. Phil’s Merit Street files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Suing TBN over distribution issues; status of network unclear

In a move that really doesn’t surprise anyone, Dr. Phil McGraw’s Merit Street Media has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is suing partner Trinity Broadcasting Network over distribution and financial issues. 

The bankruptcy petition was filed in the Northern District of Texas, where Merit Street Media is headquartered, with assets and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million, and lists creditors such as DirecTV, Nielsen, and Nexstar, which is also headquartered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Though McGraw’s Peteski Productions, Merit is also suing TBN “for failing to provide clearly agreed upon national distribution and other significant foundational commitments critical to the network’s continuing success and viability,” and accuses TBN of “[abusing] its position as the controlling shareholder,” according to a Merit spokesperson. Merit also cited an inability to secure funding and is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the Professional Bull Riders Association, which accuses Merit of not paying them. 

TBN became an equity partner in Merit and agreed to carry the new network on its dot-two channels, including WWTO Ch. 35.2 in Chicago, launching on April 2, 2024. Targeted to conservative viewers living in middle America, Merit consisted of newscasts, reruns of Steve Harvey’s most recent talk show, true crime shows (including one hosted by Nancy Grace), and original episodes of Dr. Phil Primetime, a sequel to his long-running syndicated talk show. Merit also secured carriage on numerous cable and streaming platforms and developed an app to stream its programming. A report surfaced that Chicago religious independent WJYS would carry the channel at launch, but a deal never happened. 

In the lawsuit, Merit claims its channel “has nowhere to send its broadcast signal and nowhere to air its programming no matter how great it may be.” But a check made Wednesday evening showed Merit programming still available on WWTO. 

Given its expense, launching Merit from scratch was a tall order for McGraw in this day and age amid the decline of linear TV, as viewers continue to drop their cable subscriptions. Four months after its launch, Merit laid off approximately 30 percent of its workforce, or around 40 employees, and did not offer any severance packages, as Texas is a right-to-work state. 

Merit made headlines in January after McGraw arrived in Chicago with federal immigration czar Tom Homan on a cold Sunday morning to livestream an ICE raid to promote his fledgling network. The move came under considerable criticism from city officials and activists as footage aired on Dr. Phil Primetime. 

At a recent upfront event, Merit claimed it reached 30 million viewers in the first quarter of 2025, according to Nielsen and first-party data culled from various viewing platforms. But in Variety’s 2024 ranking of the most-viewed cable networks, Merit averaged only 27,000 viewers per week – roughly the same size as south suburban Lansing. Some questions were also raised about high viewership numbers for the TCL Boxing League – a promotion most fight fans have never heard of. 

And while cable networks and satellite providers carry Merit, they probably weren’t happy that the network was also available as a streaming app on Amazon Fire, Roku, and other devices. Comcast reportedly dropped the channel a few weeks ago. 

The future of Merit is unclear, as the network announced Wednesday it would now rely on “library programming,” including reruns of Dr. Phil’s old show, but didn’t elaborate. This likely means there would be no more live programming – news or otherwise – on Merit for the foreseeable future, as TV listings on Merit’s website show mostly reruns of Dr. Phil’s talk shows.