Professional Bull Riders (PBR), the world's largest bull-riding league, has filed an objection to the bankruptcy proceedings of Dr Phil McGraw's media network, claiming it is owed $181 million.
McGraw launched Merit Street Media, a conservative-leaning cable network, in April 2024. Barely a year later, the network filed for bankruptcy and initiated a lawsuit against its distribution partner Trinity Broadcasting for breach of contract earlier this month.
In its lawsuit, Merit Street claimed Trinity “reneged on its obligations and abused its position as the controlling shareholder,” leaving the network over $100 million in debt. PBR, which pulled its programming from the network last November, has been attempting to hold McGraw personally responsible for the money it says it is owed.
McGraw's lawyers have rejected the idea that he should be personally liable, according to The Dallas Morning News. Late last week, they asked the court to strike a provision in the bankruptcy case known as an interested parties release, which could protect non-debtor parties such as McGraw and his company Peteski Productions from creditor claims.
PBR ended its relationship with Merit Street just months after signing a four-year contract, citing failure to make rights fee payments. In a statement, the league said: “PBR honoured its contract with Dr Phil's Merit Street Media, delivered on every performance metric, and brought more than one million viewers to the new network. Dr Phil and his company completely reneged on the deal just five months in.”
Chip Babcock, an attorney for Peteski Productions, described the league's objection as “more appropriate fodder for the press than the Court,” adding: “To the extent they are relevant to any issue in the case we are confident the judge will deal with it appropriately.” The Independent has contacted Merit Street Media for comment.
