Dr. Phil Plots ‘Citizen Journalism’ Comeback After His Anti-Woke Network Implodes
Dr. Phil is returning with a new viewer-focused app—barely two weeks after his Merit Street Media went bust.
NBC/Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Image
Dr. Phil’s anti-woke Merit Street Media only collapsed two weeks ago. Now, the TV doctor has unveiled Envoy Media, a “citizen-journalism” venture promising real-time viewer engagement.
“As always, my commitment and that of the Envoy network team is to focus on real people, facing real challenges, seeking real solutions,” Dr Phil McGraw said in a statement reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
“By talking about things that matter to people who care, presenting facts, encouraging people to think critically, they can make up their own minds. Our disruptive technology will engage Envoy viewers at an unprecedented level in real time.”
McGraw—better known as Dr. Phil—first gained national attention as Oprah Winfrey’s no-nonsense court psychologist in the late 1990s, then parlayed that exposure into his own eponymous daytime talk show in 2002, running for 21 seasons and making him one of TV’s most recognizable advice gurus.
Dr. Phil McGraw has moved away from TV advice shows towards "anti-wokery" and is now starting a "citizen journalism" platform.
Getty Images
Alongside best-selling books and spin-off series, he’s more recently ventured into right-leaning media with the ill-fated Merit Street network and now Envoy Media.
McGraw has also grown increasingly cozy with President Donald Trump, lavishing praise on him during the White House’s National Day of Prayer ceremony on May 1, 2025, following up a notably sympathetic Mar-a-Lago “softball” interview that aired on June 6, 2024.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Dr. Phil McGraw as he delivers remarks during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden at the White House on May 1, 2025 in Washington, DC. McGraw has grown closer to Trump through his "anti-woke" and "citizen journalism" projects.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
He shadowed ICE raids in January, and last week sat alongside Trump and Senator Ted Cruz at a flood-relief roundtable in Kerrville, Texas, where he praised the former president’s response efforts and offered words of comfort to storm-stricken residents.
According to McGraw, Envoy will stream “live, balanced news, original entertainment programming, and immersive viewer experiences” from a new 50,000-square-foot studio complex outside Dallas. Steve Harvey, McGraw’s longtime friend and Merit Street collaborator, is already on the talent roster.
The app’s headline feature will “provide an opportunity for citizen journalists to share news and stories from their communities while seamlessly integrating curated user-generated content on a national scale,” the company said.
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Envoy rises from the rubble of Merit Street, McGraw’s one-year-old cable channel launched to combat what he called a “cultural ‘woke’ assault.”
At Merit Street’s 2024 launch, McGraw promised the service would be “a resource of information and strategies to fight for America and its families, which are under a cultural ‘woke’ assault as never before.”
But the network averaged fewer than 50,000 primetime viewers before filing for Chapter 11 and suing distribution partner Trinity Broadcasting Network earlier this month.
Envoy says a linear channel will debut later this month and that fresh distribution and talent deals are “imminent.”
The Daily Beast contacted Dr Phil for comment.
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