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PREVIEW VERSION
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Tariff Red Flags, Ghibli’s A.I. Warning, Zaslav’s Shaky Empire
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Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon digest of Puck’s best new reporting.
First up today, Eriq Gardner examines the latest twists in three high-stakes legal sagas: Sony’s precedent-setting victory against CBS over Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune distribution rights; Newsmax’s attempt to leverage Fox’s $787 million Dominion settlement to escape its own defamation nightmare; and Elon’s battle over whether an A.I.-generated Tesla ad
ripped off Blade Runner 2049.
Plus, below the fold: Peter Hamby gets his hands on exclusive data showing why Trump’s deportation message is losing power with voters. Marion Maneker illuminates what Lévy Gorvy Dayan’s latest show reveals about the art market’s historical turn. Sarah Shapiro explores whether
Rebecca Hessel Cohen’s collab-centric business strategy is diluting the LoveShackFancy brand. And exclusively for Inner Circle members, Julia Alexander breaks down John Malone’s challenge in pitching Formula One’s U.S. media rights.
Meanwhile, on the pods: John Ourand and Axios’s Sara Fischer examine the market’s voracious appetite for women’s sports rights. Matt
Belloni rings up Michael Wolff on The Town to chat about Hollywood’s response to his head-spinning David Zaslav profile in New York. And on The Powers That Be, Kim Masters and Peter reveal why entertainment execs are starting to sweat Trump’s influence on the industry.
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Eriq Gardner
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Several days ago, a Los Angeles judge ruled that Sony has the green light to do whatever it pleases with Jeopardy!
and Wheel of Fortune’s distribution rights. While it’s exceedingly rare for a contractual hiccup to become grounds for outright termination, that’s precisely what’s happened here. And if Sony can yank back control of two of the most iconic brands in the history of television from CBS, what’s stopping others? Meanwhile, Eriq reports on the latest twists in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Newsmax, which a judge just sent to trial, and offers an update on
Alcon Entertainment’s lawsuit aimed at Tesla, Elon Musk, and WBD over a promotional image that allegedly looks a bit too much like a still from Blade Runner 2049.
Read Now
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Peter Hamby
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Trump is just coming off what were unquestionably the worst weeks of his presidency so far, having launched a trade war
that’s made voters question whether he’s actually up to the task of lowering costs and supercharging the economy as promised. As Peter reports, he’s attempting to redirect the national conversation toward immigration, perhaps the only remaining issue where Trump has credibility with the American voter. But therein lies the problem: Since the election, according to fresh polling from Echelon Insights, immigration has tumbled down the voting public’s list of concerns—while anxieties about
the economy and prices have only grown.
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Marion Maneker
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Last Thursday, Marion visited the Lévy Gorvy Dayan gallery on opening night of its new show, The Human Situation:
Marcia Marcus, Alice Neel, Sylvia Sleigh. The show’s theme is the overlapping interests, preoccupations, and destinies of female artists hailing from slightly different generations. For dealer Brett Gorvy, the show has already been a success: The works by contemporary artists have already all sold, and there’s talk of some institutional interest. Marion also chats with Saara Pritchard, who conceived the show, about ways to further recontextualize these artists for the 21st century, and
dissects how their various markets have evolved in recent years.
Read Now
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Sarah Shapiro
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LoveShackFancy is the decadent, aspirational vision of Rebecca Hessel Cohen, who launched the brand in 2013 after
failing to find sufficiently girlie bridesmaid dresses for her wedding. While LSF is intentionally not for everyone, it’s been remarkably successful, generating an estimated $100 million in annual revenue across 20 storefronts. But, as Sarah notes, the distinctiveness of the brand has also lent itself to an unusually aggressive partnership and licensing strategy. How far can LSF push its collaborations before it overextends itself?
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Julia Alexander
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Back in 2022, ESPN was reportedly shelling out around $90 million per year for U.S. media rights to Formula One. With
the sport’s recent cultural resurgence and a red-hot media rights market, F1 owner Liberty Media had ambitions to double that—aiming for a deal worth up to $180 million. But so far, no one’s biting. Analytics firms like Ampere Analysis have valued the league’s U.S. rights closer to $100 million, and as Julia notes, Liberty’s sales pitch has fallen flat due to the sport’s time zone problems as well as U.S. viewership numbers that lag behind the sport’s social media enthusiasm and a broader
cultural hype machine. So, ultimate price aside, which major entertainment company is best positioned to make a play for F1?
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John Ourand
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Axios’s Sara Fischer returns to the pod to discuss the meteoric rise of women’s sports. From the emergence of the new
LOVB volleyball league and the Professional Women’s Hockey League, to Willow Bay and Bob Iger’s bold investment in Angel City FC, Sara breaks down why women’s sports rights are being viewed as a huge asset in today’s sports media climate. Plus, John digs into the looming battle over UFC rights just as its exclusive negotiating window with ESPN closed without a new deal.
Listen Now
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Matthew Belloni
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Matt is joined by journalist Michael Wolff to discuss his recent profile of Warner Bros. Discovery C.E.O. David Zaslav
for New York magazine. They talk about whether—despite the bad press—Zaz is actually doing a good job running WBD, the Hollywood he wants to live in versus the one he’s actually in, and what it means to be a media mogul in 2025. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the pending merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global.
Listen Now
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Peter Hamby
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Kim Masters
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Kim Masters joins Peter to discuss the anxieties in Hollywood regarding Trump’s influence over the town’s executives and
entertainment businesses, before turning to the latest chatter surrounding the fate of Warner Bros. film studio co-heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. After the success of their new Minecraft movie, are they one more sleeper hit away from avoiding what seemed to be an inevitable defenestration?
Listen Now
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_01JRZS4MKKTDKW458DK152XDJR.png "Trump Plays the Hits, and Takes Some")
_01JRZS4PWYGX07JFB1Z99TX6C9.png "The Marcia Marcus Bull Market")
_01JRZS4N86HZRHENJMT0HNR630.png "LoveShackFancy’s Royalty Play")
_01JRZS4P4FWCDWKMC90ECC06B1.png "F1 and Done")
