Contract Breach Causes PBR To Move On From Dr. Phil to New Broadcast Platforms

PBR terminates relationship with Dr. Phil’s Merit Street Media following breach of contract.

Dr. Phil on stage with PBR World Champion Cassio Dias / Bull Stock Media

Last May, in unveiling a major partnership with PBR Dr. Phil McGraw did everything to ingratiate himself to PBR fans but ride a bull. 

In his familiar Texas twang, he said the gritty, humble cowboys were inspirational, perfect for a network with “merit” in its name. He declared that their sport was good, wholesome family entertainment perfect for his viewers. He complemented PBR fans for being “our people.”  

Not even a half year later, the partnership wrecked like Man Hater whipping Cassio Dias to the dirt inside Cowtown Coliseum, to use a bull analogy.   

What happened? Dr. Phil’s Merit Street stopped paying their bills.  

Not long after the announcement of the deal, which would complement PBR’s longstanding partnership with CBS, was made with great fanfare at Merit Street’s sprawling new studios in Fort Worth, Texas, trouble was brewing at the network. 

In early August, Merit Street laid off close to 50 people, according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram. 

One employee said there was no severance pay because none of the employees had been on the job long enough. Some had relocated to their new jobs, according to media reports.

Not long after, Merit Street stopped paying PBR for the right to carry its programing. 

According to a recent social media post, PBR then “had no choice but to terminate the agreement, take back our content and find a new home for the broadcasts.”

“PBR has parted ways with Dr. Phil’s Merit Street Media because they breached our contract by failing to pay rights fees owed, giving us no choice and very little time to find a new home for PBR,” the post read. “We apologize for this inconvenience, which is outside of our control, and will share further information about additional viewing options when available.” 

When the new Unleash The Beast season opens this weekend in Tucson, the event will be available live and for free on RidePass on Pluto TV, PBR’s YouTube channel, PBR’s mobile app, and PBR’s app on connected TVs, including Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku and Google TV, according to PBR’s Facebook post.  

CBS Talent Craig Hummer and Kate Harrison / PBR

PBR’s broadcast team remains the same, led by play-by-play man Craig Hummer, with Cooper Davis and Cord McCoy alternating as color analysts and Kate Harrison as sideline reporter. Matt West is home recovering from a leg injury.

In a letter sent to employees obtained by SI, PBR said “this is a surprising and highly disappointing turn of events, and we went above and beyond to ensure that the fans’ viewing experience wasn’t interrupted by this unforeseen and unreasonable breach, including subsidizing the production to ensure that fans continued to receive coverage of the PBR Teams Championship. 

“We will continue to put our fans first…asking for their patience in a matter outside our control as we plan for a comprehensive solution with viewing options complementing CBS, PBR’s primary media partner since 2012. CBS has an agreement with PBR through 2030 to carry our events on the CBS Television Network and Paramount+, increasing to 25 hours annually. CBS continues to set the bar for Western sports events coverage and athlete storytelling with PBR broadcasts that reached more than 31 million viewers in 2023.” 

PBR took a chance on a startup network and delivered big time.

From the Merit Street partnership’s inception until its termination, all PBR programming reached 2.4 million total unique viewers which accounts for 31% of Merit Street’s total viewing universe, according to PBR’s note to partners. Nearly 1.2 million of those viewers came to Merit Street exclusively to watch PBR, resulting in an +18% increase in the network’s reach – all accomplished in the span of one 13-event PBR Teams season.

In announcing the partnership in May, Dr. Phil said all the right cowboy things. 

Now it appears he was all hat, no cattle.  

Despite this, fans stand to benefit with Unleash The Beast events now available live and free on a variety of new easy-to-access platforms beginning this weekend. 

After the story was published, Merit Street Media reached out.

In a statement Merit Street Media said: “Merit Street agreed to work out its differences with PBR in a confidential proceeding which is ongoing. We were therefore surprised that PBR would publicly accuse us of violating our agreement when the facts are in dispute. And we are astonished that PBR has demanded that its programming be immediately removed from our network while discussions are ongoing. Merit Street will vigorously defend itself in the proceedings.”

We will continue to update fans as the story progresses but as of now, the PBR will still be available live and free on various platforms.