Born in Oklahoma: Dr. Phil set to launch new media platform

Phillip McGraw from Vinita, Oklahoma

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My dad used to say, 'You wouldn't worry so much about what people thought about you if you knew how seldom they did. --Phil McGraw

Dr. Phil set to launch new Media programs

In December 2023, Dr. Phil announced the launch of his new multi-platform media outlet known as Merit Street Media.

The outlet will launch on April 2, 2024 and will consist of television outlets and digital content focusing on news and true crime, including Dr. Phil Primetime as a flagship program.

When I was practicing psychology, I used to tell myself if I ever get to where I'm just doing this for the money or I'm just going through the motions, I'll quit. --Phil McGraw

Religious broadcaster Trinity Broadcasting Network will serve as a distribution partner for Merit Street Media. It will also feature programming with Nancy Grace and Chris Harrison.

Proud Oklahoman

Sometimes you just got to give yourself what you wish someone else would give you. -- Phil McGraw

Phillip Calvin McGraw was born in Vinita, Oklahoma on September 1, 1950. Seven months before he was born, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin declared that the State Department was infiltrated with communists, and three months before Phillip was born, North Korea invaded South Korea and captured Seoul, leading to the Korean conflict.

Phillip's parents were Joseph and Anne Geraldine.

Joseph was an equipment supplier in the oilfields of North Texas. Phillip was the middle child and only boy in the family. He played football at the University of Tulsa but completed his degree in psychology at Wichita Falls, Texas.

In the meantime, his father Joseph completed his own degree in psychology and opened a private practice in Wichita Falls, where son Phil joined him briefly before selling his share of the company in 1991.

If I was on the air and was just kind of a plain-vanilla personality that took the safe road and the safe way trying to please all of the people all of the time, I'd been gone in two weeks. --Phil McGraw

The year before this, however, he started a trial consulting firm staging "dry runs" of a court room trial in which he would examine which parts of a lawyer's strategy would work. The tv show Bull was based on Phil's experiences at the consulting firm.

Dr. Phil on the path to being a celebrity

Oprah used Phil's consulting firm and was so impressed that she invited him back on her show and Dr. Phil was on his way to becoming a household name.

I've learned a tremendous amount from Oprah. --Phil McGraw

In 2019, Phil, his son and his producers won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding News Program in 2019, and in 2020, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Dr. McGraw is the author of nine #1 New York Times best sellers, published in 39 languages with more than 50 million copies in print. He is extremely entrepreneurial, working closely with his oldest son, Jay, they have created a revolutionary telemedicine system to deliver medical and psychiatric care via smart phone or computer. “Doctor on Demand” (DOD) has taken the telemedicine industry by storm and was voted the most innovative and disruptive new technology at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.--Dr. Phil's website

Now, Dr. Phil will once again be a part of regular television programming as he produces media content with a focus on news and true crime, just in time for the 2024 Presidential election season.

I'm one of those that believes you can't be one kind of a man and another kind of president. --Phil McGraw

Today, Dr. Phil lives in Beverly Hills with his wife Robin. Together, they have helped thousands of people find resources to get help, both with mental health issues and domestic violence assistance.

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