Welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Thursday, June 3. In today's briefing, Dr. Phillip C. McGraw's Merit Street Media filed for bankruptcy in Dallas.

Dr. Phil's upstart TV network files bankruptcy. Merit Street Media, a year-old television network and streaming service backed by TV personality and counselor Dr. Phillip C. McGraw, has filed for bankruptcy and is going off air, saying that a joint-venture partner reneged on a deal to provide nationwide distribution.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based business, which launched in April 2024, sought protection from creditors Wednesday after its partner, Trinity Broadcasting of Texas, improperly saddled it with more than $100 million in liabilities, according to Merit Street Media’s filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.

The chapter 11 proceedings include a breach-of-contract lawsuit that Merit has filed against the worldwide Christian television network Trinity, which allegedly agreed to provide distribution and production services at no cost while Merit would provide the content.

Del Monte Foods' bankruptcy follows liability management deal. Packaged-foods maker Del Monte Foods, a U.S. unit of Del Monte Pacific, filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, after a pullback from a pandemic-driven surge in consumer demand for groceries.

The Walnut Creek, Calif.-based company had struggled with a decline in demand for its canned fruits and vegetables following galloping demand that continued into 2023, according to a court filing by Jonathan Goulding, chief restructuring officer at Del Monte Foods. The company has also battled increasing interest burdens on more than $1 billion in debt in recent years, he said.

The company, which counts Contadina and College Inn among its stable of popular grocery brands, saw annual interest expenses nearly double over the last five years to $125 million, well above the company’s annual Ebitda.

A series of debt transactions the company undertook last year with a majority of its lenders, including a $240 million capital raise, landed the company in a lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court filed by excluded lenders. The two lender groups ultimately settled, with the company agreeing to pay down the loans.

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