This is The Craig Bushon Show — where we don’t just follow the headlines… we read between the lines to get to the bottom of what’s really going on.
Today’s story has it all: celebrity ambition, a bold media play, a courtroom showdown, and a hard crash back to reality. It’s the story of Dr. Phil — Phil McGraw — and how his media venture, Merit Street Media, went from a national launch to a bankruptcy liquidation in record time.
But this isn’t just about Dr. Phil. This is about power, partnerships, and what happens when branding gets ahead of the business plan.
The Setup: From Daytime to Prime Time
Dr. Phil stepped away from his long-running syndicated talk show with a mission: to create a new network that would challenge what he called “a culture under siege.” In 2024, he launched Merit Street Media in partnership with Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), promising one of the largest startup cable rollouts in modern history.
The network leaned heavily on his brand and message, airing cultural commentary, true crime, and nightly news programming aimed at a conservative, values-driven audience. But behind the spotlight, cracks were already forming.
The Timeline of Trouble
April 2024: Merit Street Media officially launches. Big promises. Big expectations.
August 2024: About a third of its workforce is laid off. Early signs of financial strain.
November 2024: Professional Bull Riders ends a rights deal, citing unpaid fees.
June 2025: Another wave of layoffs hits. Production stalls.
July 2025: The company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming its partner TBN sabotaged the network’s rollout. Estimated liabilities: $100 million to $500 million.
Late 2025: Creditors push back. A judge questions whether the filing was made in good faith. That Chapter 11 reorganization path? Gone. The case gets converted to Chapter 7 — liquidation. Game over.
Inside the Court Filings
The bankruptcy documents paint a messy picture. Internal communications showed preferential payments to certain creditors while others were left out. Allegations flew both ways: Merit Street claimed TBN failed to provide adequate production facilities and distribution. TBN countered with mismanagement claims.
Production woes were documented — from teleprompter failures to makeshift control rooms that looked more like a patch job than a national network. Creditors accused Dr. Phil’s team of using bankruptcy to shield assets and set up a new venture, Envoy Media, in the wings. A judge eventually ruled that the Chapter 11 filing didn’t pass the smell test. Merit Street was ordered to be liquidated.
Why This Was Doomed from Day One
Cable Is Dead
The numbers don’t lie. In 2024, over 6.5 million U.S. households cut the cable cord, according to Nielsen. Launching a brand-new linear cable network in that environment is like building a Blockbuster store in the Netflix era. The consumer has moved on. Ad dollars have moved on. The audience simply isn’t there anymore.
Audience Mismatch
Dr. Phil built his empire in syndication-era daytime TV — a different world, a different viewing culture. His target audience skews older, but the conservative cable space is already saturated with players like Newsmax and One America News Network, who dominate the 55+ demo. There was no clear path to scale or pull significant market share away from entrenched networks with loyal viewers.
A Cost Structure That Never Made Sense
While audience trends were shrinking, spending was exploding. Merit Street reportedly committed to:
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$25 million a year for Dr. Phil’s own contract
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$40 million in studio buildouts that never scaled to match revenue
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Zero streaming strategy — no connected TV app, no scalable digital platform, no distribution plan beyond linear cable
This isn’t a blueprint for growth. It’s a financial time bomb. In a market where streaming drives reach, engagement, and ad revenue, Merit Street bet everything on the wrong horse.
Enter Envoy Media: A Second Act
Even as the court was untangling Merit Street Media’s financial wreckage, Dr. Phil was already moving to launch a new venture: Envoy Media. Announced publicly in July 2025, Envoy was pitched as a “next-generation storytelling platform” — not a traditional cable network.
Unlike Merit Street, Envoy has been positioned to lean heavily on digital delivery and direct-to-consumer streaming. Dr. Phil’s camp emphasized partnerships with streaming platforms, podcast integrations, and cross-promotional opportunities with other prominent media personalities. Among the rumored collaborators are Steve Harvey and other syndicated entertainment figures, aiming to bring “trusted, personality-driven content” to digital audiences.
But the timing raised eyebrows. The quick pivot — launched while Merit Street creditors were still fighting for repayment — has already drawn scrutiny. Some creditors claim the new venture may overlap with assets or strategies from the failed network, though no formal legal findings have been made to date.
For Dr. Phil, Envoy Media represents an attempt to rebrand and adapt. For critics, it’s proof he saw the writing on the wall before the collapse.
Lessons in Fire and Ashes
Branding alone doesn’t build a business. Dr. Phil’s name had power, but it couldn’t carry the infrastructure cost of a modern media network.
Partnerships can save or sink a company. When TBN didn’t deliver on key distribution commitments — according to Merit’s claims — the foundation cracked. And when partners turn adversaries, the legal and financial cost can crush everything.
Media isn’t what it was 20 years ago. Launching a cable network in 2024 was a bold move — maybe too bold. Streaming fragmentation and declining traditional TV viewership made it a brutal market to enter.
Governance matters. The judge’s ruling underscored this: when a company plays games with bankruptcy filings, the law catches up fast. Preferential payments, poor structure, and weak oversight burn bridges in the courtroom.
Why This Matters Beyond Dr. Phil
This isn’t just gossip about a TV personality. It’s a playbook of what not to do — whether you’re a nonprofit, a startup, or a mission-based media platform.
Mission doesn’t replace math. Partnerships need airtight contracts. Infrastructure matters as much as messaging. And no brand, no matter how powerful, is bulletproof without execution.
The Road Ahead
Merit Street Media is being liquidated. Creditors are lining up. Lawsuits against TBN are still pending. Meanwhile, Dr. Phil is already moving forward with Envoy Media — a venture that reflects a more modern strategy, but one that’s launching in the shadow of a courtroom battle and a failed empire. Whether Envoy avoids the same pitfalls remains to be seen.
But one thing is certain: the courtroom doesn’t care about celebrity. It cares about facts, structure, and accountability.
This is The Craig Bushon Show — where we don’t just follow the headlines… we read between the lines to get to the bottom of what’s really going on.
Disclaimer: This op-ed represents editorial analysis based on publicly available court filings, financial disclosures, and media reports. All individuals and entities mentioned are presumed innocent of any wrongdoing unless proven otherwise in a court of law. This content is for informational and commentary purposes only.
