Nancy Grace will host a new true crime show on “Dr. Phil” McGraw’s new Texas-based cable TV network, Merit Street Media, which launches later this month.
The 64-year-old former prosecutor and primetime host’s new show, “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace,” will be part of a daily true crime block, Mr. McGraw announced earlier this month.
“Her new program is part of a four-hour block including two hours of ‘Cops’ and ’Jail,‘ followed by ’True Crime: Dr. Phil,' and classic episodes where I investigated headlining cases.”
“Grace aims to bring closure and justice to families still grappling with the pain of unresolved tragedies,” the release said.
The 64-year-old had planned to become an English professor but changed paths after her fiancé was murdered in 1979. Instead, she earned her degree in constitutional and criminal law from New York University.
She went on to serve as a special prosecutor in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, Georgia, before being hired to host the show “Closing Arguments” on Court TV.
“I am so proud to be part of Dr. Phil’s new endeavor, Merit Street Media,” Ms. Grace said in a statement. “I can now take the mission to fight crime and let the voices of crime victims be heard to an incredible new platform. As a crime fighter and victim of violent crime myself, this message is my life’s work,” Ms. Grace continued.
The hour-long show will air Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. ET beginning on Feb. 26.
The true crime lineup also includes body language experts and behavior analysts Mark Bowden, Greg Hartley, Chase Hughes, and Scott Rouse, who are known collectively as “The Behavior Panel.”
‘Back to Middle America’
Mr. McGraw, 73, has partnered with Texas-based Trinity Broadcasting Network to launch Merit Street Media with studios near Fort Worth.“I love this place. I’ve got great friends here, we have a beautiful home here, and we'll keep it. So, being here feels right to me.”
Before his television career, Mr. McGraw earned his doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of North Texas in Denton.
After participating in a post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at the Wilmington Institute, he practiced clinical psychology in North Texas.
The network will be anchored by his new show, “Dr. Phil Primetime,” which brings the same format to which viewers have grown accustomed but in a nightly timeslot. The show is set to premiere at 8 p.m. ET on Feb. 26.
Last year, Mr. McGraw ended his daytime talk show “Dr. Phil” after 21 years with CBS Media Ventures.
‘This has been an incredible chapter of my life and career, but while I’m moving on from daytime, there is so much more I wish to do,” he said in a statement last year, as reported by numerous outlets.
Mr. McGraw rose to fame with his featured segment on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in the late 1990s. In 2002, he launched the “Dr. Phil” show, where he tackled topics including addiction, relationships, and behavioral health, among others.
