Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Julia Alexander investigates an under-the-radar Hollywood parlor game: Will anyone buy Roku? The ubiquitous operating system comes preinstalled on tens of millions of TVs, its streaming service has quietly become the second-fastest-growing platform behind YouTube, and the company just turned profitable for the first time since Covid. Could David Ellison or Ted Sarandos soon find themselves in yet another bidding war?

Plus, below the fold: John Ourand examines Netflix’s pact for Japanese rights to the World Baseball Classic for signs of its future with MLB. Lauren Sherman spotlights former D.T.C. darling Everlane’s hunt for new financial backers. And Abby Livingston digs into the high-stakes Cornyn–Paxton primary showdown in Texas—and how it’s evolving into a cautionary tale for the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw square off on The Town for an Academy Awards postmortem. On Fashion People, Lauren is joined by stylist Jamie Mizrahi, Who What Wear’s Hillary Kerr, and The Ringer’s Amanda Dobbins to discuss the highs and lows of the Oscars red carpet. And on The Grill Room, Julia and Dylan Byers debate the increasingly uncanny worlds of generative A.I. and prediction markets.

HOLLYWOOD

The ubiquitous free streaming service that comes preinstalled on a third of TVs could massively amplify distribution for a company like Comcast, Netflix, or even the world-conquering WarnerMount. But did Ellison already miss his moment?

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SPORTS

The streaming giant used the World Baseball Classic’s huge Japanese audience to test live sports, while MLB gained a deep-pocketed streaming partner ahead of its 2028 rights talks.

FASHION

For a moment, Everlane was valedictorian among its class of pandemic-era D.T.C. basics brands. But its story lost momentum, and Millennial customers largely moved on—as has the cheap money. Now, insiders say, Everlane is looking for a new financial backer as it tries to right the ship.

WASHINGTON

Senator John Cornyn is fighting for his life in the Texas Republican runoff against a deeply flawed opponent. He’s also a symbol of what ails his party in the Trump era—and a cautionary tale for why money can’t fix everything.

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HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to recap the Academy Awards, including what the show was like from inside the theater, and to give their biggest winners and losers of the night. Then they discuss Universal Studios guaranteeing theaters a minimum of five weekends of exclusive play for new movies starting immediately, and eventually moving to seven weekends starting in 2027.

FASHION

Lauren is joined by a panel of industry experts—stylist Jamie Mizrahi, Who What Wear’s Hillary Kerr, and The Ringer’s Amanda Dobbins—to discuss the best and worst of the Oscars 2026 red carpet, and the night’s biggest trends. They also weigh in on how the increasingly common pay-to-play dynamic between brands and stars has changed the entire game of getting dressed.

MEDIA

Julia and Dylan dive into the increasingly uncanny world of generative A.I.—from the rise of A.I.-generated content flooding social media feeds to the technology’s influence on Iran war coverage. They also discuss whether tech companies are sleepwalking toward a regulatory reckoning—and why the Oscars may soon look a lot like a sportsbook thanks to the rise of prediction markets.

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