He is a winner of the 2007 Rose d'Or award for The Pyramid, a competitive talk show created by Castor Multimedia, a TV production company of which Merlić is currently the CEO.

[1][4] Its concept was to show news segments from other television stations from the region, which generated high ratings, but proved politically controversial during the wartime.

[1][2] Slikom na sliku was under constant political pressure until its cancellation in 1996, which was, according to Merlić, initiated by the Office of the President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman.

In 2009, Merlić, alongside singer Nina Badrić and actor Enis Bešlagić became a judge of the Supertalent, which is the Croatian version of the licensed show Got Talent.

[5] Merlić is married to Croatian journalist and television presenter, Željka Ogresta, with whom he has three children: Maja, Marta and Matej.