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

First up today, Bill Cohan taps into what Wall Street is really saying about Skydance’s finally consummated $8 billion deal for Paramount Global—how often does the market see a deleveraged recap?—and what it portends for how the stock might trade. Plus, David Ellison’s grand vision to compete with Netflix, David Zaslav’s second-quarter debt-reduction journey, and much more.

Then, below the fold: Dylan Byers goes behind the scenes of Ellison’s post-merger victory tour. Leigh Ann Caldwell chats with G.O.P. strategist Brendan Buck about K Street in the Trump era and uncovers a startling twist in the Ken Paxton–John Cornyn Senate primary struggle in Texas. Marion Maneker considers the Pearlman plan to reimagine museum philanthropy. Julie Davich previews Monterey’s “Super Bowl on steroids” for car collectors. And Sarah Shapiro digs into exclusive ShopMy data revealing the top 10 sales-driving items from across the internet last month.

Meanwhile, on the pods: John Heilemann rings up Democratic congressman Robert Garcia on Impolitic to discuss whether the party should abandon “respectability politics.” On The Varsity, John Ourand and college football analyst Josh Pate break down his unique distribution deal with On3/Rivals and Yahoo. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Jon Kelly assess the challenging points of leverage between ESPN, Fox, and their new social media star frontmen for college football coverage.

P.S.: This Thursday, August 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. PT, Julia Alexander will host a panel in West Hollywood with the exceptional casting directors behind a handful of Apple TV+’s award-nominated series: Debby Romano (Shrinking), Melissa Kostenbauder (The Studio), and Rachel Tenner (Severance). Limited seats are available, and if you’d like to attend, click here to RSVP. We hope to see you there.

WALL STREET

News and notes on the viability of David Ellison and Gerry Cardinale’s Paramount promises, plus Zaz’s stock conundrum.

MEDIA

Media coverage of David Ellison’s post-merger victory tour has largely focused on his plans for CBS News, looming synergies at Paramount, and his relationship with Trump. But all this may understate the true scale of Ellison’s ambition: to transfuse New Paramount with his dad’s tech and turn a legacy creative business into… a platform.

WASHINGTON

A lively conversation with Brendan Buck, the former top G.O.P. aide turned strategist, about the new risk calculus on Capitol Hill and whether Congress is edging closer to abdicating its powers to the White House.

WASHINGTON

The Cornyn campaign is at a critical juncture as the Texas senator falls behind A.G. Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican primary, hurting his chances at clinching an endorsement from Trump. But Paxton may actually need Cornyn to improve in the polls to keep other challengers at bay…

ART

Henry and Rose Pearlman’s grandson has developed an innovative plan to exit their collection from Princeton and divvy up the works across the country on a rotating basis. It may provide an economic and community-engagement model for foundations to follow.

ART

Several of the world’s most collectible cars are coming up for auction this week in Monterey, including onetime owner Larry Ellison’s McLaren, estimated at $23 million, a 1961 Ferrari Spider (also at least $20 million), and a rare yellow Ferrari F50 once owned by Ralph Lauren.

FASHION

In this new monthly feature, Line Sheet and ShopMy will reveal exclusive data about the hottest items in internet shopping, and what’s actually driving buyers to the checkout cart. The July results (no surprise) underscore the enduring power of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale—with special insights on the influencer economy.

WASHINGTON

John welcomes second-term Democratic congressman and former mayor of Long Beach, California, Robert Garcia, to talk about the party’s imperative to move away from “respectability politics” in order to combat the Trump 2.0 agenda. Garcia explains why the Texas redistricting fight transcends the particulars of the Lone Star State—serving as a central part of Donald Trump’s plan to not just steal the 2026 midterms, but also stay in office past 2028—and why the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is still gathering steam.

SPORTS

Josh Pate, college football’s favorite late-night philosopher, joins the pod to break down his new distribution deal with On3/Rivals and Yahoo. Josh also retraces his winding path through the sports media ecosystem and addresses a host of other topics affecting the college sports business.

MEDIA

Jon Kelly and Peter Hamby reunite to discuss some of the overlooked complexifiers in David Ellison’s conquest of Paramount. They also assess the challenging points of leverage between ESPN, Fox, and their respective college football media heroes, Pat McAfee and Dave Portnoy.

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