Disney vs. Charter, Secret Climate Costs, “Donor Daddy” Dish

Happy Labor Day and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon compilation of Puck’s best new reporting.

Today, we lead with Dylan Byers’ readout on the inside chatter surrounding CNN’s incoming chief Mark Thompson, and whether he can resuscitate the ailing network with his truly sui generis executive skill set.

Plus, below the fold: Tara Palmeri gets Teddy Schleifer on the horn to trade inside observations on the G.O.P.’s “Donor Daddies” and their ’24 machinations. Baratunde Thurston sagely essays on the hidden costs of the climate crisis. And on a special holiday edition of The Powers That Be, Jon Kelly and Dylan Byers discuss Disney’s battle with Charter and what it presages about the decline of Pay TV. Then, they offer their candid reactions to Thompson’s CNN appointment.

DYLAN BYERS

And so the Mark Thompson era officially begins at CNN…

TARA PALMERI

Republican Super PACs are betting big money on finding a candidate who can unseat Trump. On today’s episode, Tara speaks with Teddy Schleifer about why these “Donor Daddies” keep making the same mistakes.

BARATUNDE THURSTON

One way or another, we’re paying for climate change.

PETER HAMBY & JON KELLY

In a special holiday edition of Media Monday, Jon Kelly and Dylan Byers discuss Disney’s battle with Charter and what it truly presages about the linear decline. And then, naturally, they also dig further into the forthcoming Thompson Era at CNN.