Dr. Phil Sues TBN Over Failed Partnership, Seeks Damages After Bankruptcy Filing
The Trinity Broadcasting Network was sued last Wednesday by a media company started by TV personality Phil McGraw, whose eponymous talk show “Dr. Phil” captivated 10 million U.S. viewers weekly during 21 seasons on television.
The lawsuit, filed in the Dallas division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, claimed TBN saddled McGraw’s enterprises with more than $100 million in financial obligations while not delivering promised production and distribution services.
The lawsuit, filed in the wake of McGraw-affiliated Merit Street Media filing for bankruptcy protection, seeks unspecified monetary damages from Fort Worth, Texas-based TBN, including punitive damages.
The Christian broadcaster bills itself as the world’s largest Christian network, available in 98% of U.S. households. It holds a 70% stake in Merit Street, which launched in 2023 to provide McGraw’s brand of television programming to cable and broadcast audiences.
The venture launched amid declarations of mutual admiration, but soon fell apart, the lawsuit stated. Merit Street is seeking damages from TBN and TCT Ministries, another Christian broadcaster.
When the joint venture launched in April 2024, TBN president Matt Crouch said: “The mission of Dr. Phil and Merit Street Media is to teach people how to walk out the Gospel every day in the real world in practical, useful ways. Merit Street is all about communicating the principles of Jesus in a way people can see and understand. For all of us here at TBN, this is a dream come true.”
At that launch, McGraw promised “practical modern-world” teachings cautioning, “We won’t preach the Gospel, but we’ll do our best each day to model it in an authentic way.” He added: “I hope everyone who watches TBN understands that what we are providing through Merit Street is a fortification of the ministry of TBN. We’re fellow-travelers on a very important mission.”
In a promotional image from early 2024, Phil McGraw (bottom right) and his wife, Robin, appear with TBN President Matt Crouch and his wife, Laurie. (Video screengrab)
Things fell apart soon after that, the Merit Street lawsuit claims. Instead of delivering on promised distribution and other commitments, TBN allegedly saddled Merit Street with tens of millions of dollars in debt, according to the filing.
“TBN assumed full responsibility for all behind-the-scenes operations to produce Dr. Phil’s programming. Specifically, TBN agreed in the Joint Venture Agreement to provide ‘(a)ll production services associated with “Dr. Phil” programming.’ It further agreed that its production services would be ‘first class quality,’ in a ‘comparable manner to the quality of other … syndicated television programming,’” the Merit Street filing stated.
Instead, the complaint alleges, TBN provided what the plaintiff termed “substandard production services,” including malfunctioning teleprompters, an incomplete control room operating from a truck, basic editing software (Adobe Premiere instead of Avid), nonfunctional studio screens, a dysfunctional cell phone app, poor cell service and insufficient technical support.
What’s more, TBN defaulted on $30 million in promised payments to Peteski Productions Inc., another McGraw venture, which produced programming for Merit Street including programs featuring legal expert Nancy Grace, survivalist Bear Grylls and the Professional Bull Riders.
“These failures by TBN were neither unintended nor inadvertent,” Merit Street’s complaint stated. “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 which has, since its launch in April of 2024, delivered its viewers with cutting-edge reports, interviews, and in-depth analysis of national importance.”
In its bankruptcy filing, Merit Street Media said its assets and liabilities were each in the range of $100 million to $500 million.
One of those liabilities is a $25 million debt to TCT Ministries, also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The complaint alleges TBN assigned a $25 million promissory note executed by Merit Street to CrossSeed, a nonprofit “closely connected” to the broadcaster. CrossSeed in turn transferred the note to TCT Ministries, which the Merit Street lawsuit alleges is also linked to TBN.
Attorneys for TBN and Merit Street Media did not immediately respond to comment requests from The Roys Report (TRR).
This piece is republished with permission from The Roys Report.
Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the New York Post and was for three years the faith and family reporter for The Washington Times. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.