TV psychologist and talk-show host Dr. Phil McGraw’s Fort Worth-based Merit Street Media declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday and filed a lawsuit against its partner, Trinity Broadcasting Network.
The bankruptcy was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas. A bankruptcy hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
The lawsuit alleges that its business partner, Trinity Broadcasting of Fort Worth, destroyed its television network and forced the bankruptcy declaration.
According to court documents, Trinity Broadcast Network showed an “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 which has, since its launch in April of 2024, delivered its viewers with cutting edge reports, interviews, and in-depth analysis of national importance.”
The suit alleges that the network is going off the air because Trinity Broadcasting Network refused to honor its commitment and transfer its “must carry rights” and provide national distribution of programming for Merit Street.
In June the Dr. Phil Show was placed on an “indefinite hiatus,” according to a LinkedIn post by a former employee.
McGraw initially ended the show in 2023, shortly before announcing that he would start a new Fort Worth-based media company, Merit Street Media. The new show, “Dr. Phil Primetime,” launched in April 2024.
In August 2024, 40 to 50 employees were let go as part of “ongoing consolidations of departments and roles in efforts to achieve efficiencies at the highest level.”
According to the lawsuit, TBN saddled Merit Street Media with “unsustainable debt of over $100 million.
In November, the Fort Worth-based Professional Bull Riders parted ways with Merit Street Media over a contract dispute involving payments of rights fees that were owed to the organization.