Professional Bull Riders Splits Media Rights Between CBS, Dr. Phil’s Merit Street Media
Professional Bull Riders sells a substantial chunk of media rights to Phil McGraw's Merit Street Media in hopes of boosting the sport's visibility
Merit Street Media, Dr. Phil's cable TV channel, to carry bull riding events
Merit Street Media cable channel will offer coverage of Professional Bull Riders events as part of a four-year deal with the organization.
Apparently Dr Phil's Merit Street Network will air Bull Riding. Note there are parts of the country where Merit Street has a local affiliate like KOFY-TV 20 San Francisco.
Starting this summer, McGraw’s Merit Street Media cable channel will offer coverage of Professional Bull Riders (PBR) events as part of a four-year deal with the organization.
Some PBR events currently air on CBS, where they will remain through 2030. The remainder will be relegated to Merit Street Media, which time-shares with Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) on some cable and satellite systems and over-the-air broadcast channels.
“I think we’ll bring viewers to bull riding, and I think bull riding will bring viewers to us,” McGraw said in an interview with entertainment trade publication Variety.
Under the deal, Merit Street Media will offer PBR Teams events, PBR “Unleash the Beast” and 50 episodes of the analysis program “PBR Now.” Some of those shows and events were previously aired on the CBS Sports Network.