Layoffs with ‘no warning’. What’s going on at Dr. Phil’s Fort Worth media company?
Many of them moved across the country to start what they believed were stable, well-paying jobs. Then on Friday, after just a matter of months, they were told they didn’t have jobs anymore.
The layoffs at Dr. Phil’s media company, Merit Street Media, were first reported by Mediaite on Friday. By Monday, several of those laid off were already sending out résumés.
Popular TV psychologist and talk show host Phil McGraw ended his long-running show “Dr. Phil” in early 2023 and announced later that year that he would start a new Fort Worth-based media company with news and a new talk show. “Dr. Phil Primetime” launched on April 2.
The employees were laid off as part of “ongoing consolidations of departments and roles in efforts to achieve efficiencies at the highest level, which unfortunately resulted in some layoffs,” according to a statement sent by Merit Street to the Star-Telegram.
While a source within the company told the Star-Telegram fewer than 40 people were laid off, another source who was among those terminated said it was closer to 50. The source who was laid off, a producer who had been with the network since before it went on air, said the downsizing came as a shock.
The former producer said it was a traumatic event, with human resources staff pulling aside one employee at a time throughout the day. Employees who were laid off would return to their desks and begin packing up. Often they were in tears, and many employees who hadn’t been called in for a meeting with HR yet were also crying.
The former employee, who asked not to be named for fear of being blacklisted as they searched for a new job, said nobody was receiving severance pay as part of the layoff and were told their insurance would run out at the end of the month. The source still with the network said no severance was offered because none of the employees had been employed long enough.
“We were just let go from a job out of nowhere ... no warning, no anything,” said another former Merit Street Media employee who also asked to remain anonymous.
Some of the former employees reported having moved to Fort Worth from states “more than 12 hours away” just a few months ago. They had no idea how they were going to pay rent on 12- and 15-month leases they recently signed.
Other former employees had just wrapped up a taping when they were called in for a “powwow” and told they had been let go. “That’s what she called it, a powwow,” the former employee said.
Two of the former employees had already applied for new jobs and become each other’s competition by Monday morning. Others were still reeling from the news. Several already had the #OpenToWork logo on their LinkedIn profile photos on Monday.
“It’s overwhelming, and I can’t even think about next steps,” said another who also asked to remain anonymous. “I’ve never been fired or let go from any job in my entire life, and I’ve never been in a position where I felt this vulnerable in terms of if I’m going to be able to keep a roof over my head.”
An internal email shared with the Star-Telegram said the company eliminated a “small number of positions that were deemed redundant as our reorganization took shape.”
The email from Joel Cheatwood, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Merit Street, said the layoffs didn’t mean the company was done growing.
“It is with great sadness that we have to say goodbye to some of our colleagues,” Cheatwood said in the email. “While our focus as a business must always be on achieving higher quality and greater efficiency, we must also acknowledge the significant impact these decisions can have on individuals.”
Cheatwood wrote that the network will no longer have producers for specific shows, they’ll all work collaboratively on all programming. He said separate planning for news, entertainment, sports and other programming on the channel was an outdated approach that hindered productivity.
One former employee said they weren’t sure about that. Many employees now aren’t sure what their jobs will be, and they expect to have more work to do across more areas. The former employee said that would make it harder for employees to be specialized and could cause volatility in work schedules, reducing efficiency.
The way the layoffs were handled has also already impacted morale at the network, a former employee said. The former employee said morale was already noticeably damaged on the day layoffs were happening, and the former employee has heard from employees still there that everyone is on edge. Some still employed told the former employee they don’t feel like their jobs are safe and that anxiety from witnessing layoffs has stayed with them.
The Star-Telegram also spoke to a Merit Street freelancer who was not let go, but said he disagreed with how the layoffs were conducted.
“It’s so sad, it’s unthinkable,” he said.
The freelancer said that while the layoffs were taking place, a large buffet had been set up for talk show guests, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who was at the Merit Street studios to tape a roundtable discussion with Dr. Phil and others “about whether God spared the life” of former president Donald Trump during the assassination attempt last month.
“It was basically this split screen of everybody’s getting laid off, and all of the higher-ups are having this big, massive celebratory buffet for, like, the new direction of the network,” he said. “So I think that also rubs people the wrong way.”
Also in attendance for the taping was Matt Crouch, president of Merit Street Media partner Trinity Broadcast Network.
A TBN blog post from March titled, “Where Values & Vision Meet: TBN & Merit Street Media,” states that “Dr. Phil underscores the enduring importance of shared values in shaping a just and prosperous society.”
The layoffs came as no surprise to Mansfield native Carson Taylor, who now lives in California. He was hired by Merit Street Media for an editor job in July, but was told on Aug. 1 that his hiring had been canceled.
“From my point of view, it’s extremely disturbing and disappointing to see such television industry titans with years of experience run a production company like such amateurs,” he said in a written exchange. “Especially with Dr. Phil’s mental health background. To uproot people from other states, offer them a relocation package and their dream salary and then turn around and have nothing.”
This story was originally published August 12, 2024 at 3:22 PM.
