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

First up today, Julia Alexander reveals why Netflix’s potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and TV library is a strategic necessity for the dominant streamer rather than a mere luxury. Indeed, there’s undeniable upside to owning, instead of licensing, a significant chunk of its own content. And perhaps more importantly, the $83 billion deal would also prevent David Ellison from buying Warners and withholding all the titles that keep Netflix users glued to the screen…

Plus, below the fold: Leigh Ann Caldwell explains how Speaker Mike Johnson ended up in the G.O.P. doghouse. Marion Maneker tours Manhattan’s centennial exhibitions for the artist Robert Rauschenberg. Dylan Byers and Julia chat with Yahoo C.E.O. Jim Lanzone about kick-starting the former internet powerhouse. And Sarah Shapiro considers the demise of fashion trend forecasting.

Meanwhile, on the pods: John Ourand is joined by USA Sports president Matt Hong on The Varsity to break down the group’s push into digital media. On Impolitic, John Heilemann and former G.O.P. strategist Rick Wilson discuss the love lost between Trump and MAGA diehards. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Jon Kelly uncover Netflix’s secret kryptonite.

Prior to its $83 billion deal to acquire the studio and HBO Max, the streamer had never spent more than $700 million on an acquisition. But Netflix saw an opportunity to own, not license, a significant chunk of its content—and, perhaps more importantly, to block David Ellison from taking it away.

In a sudden inversion of political fortunes, the Senate minority leader is no longer in the party’s doghouse, while the House speaker is facing revolts within his own caucus.

STARRING

George Clooney

GOLDEN GLOBE® NOMINEE

Adam Sandler

GOLDEN GLOBE® & CRITICS CHOICE AWARD NOMINEE

· 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY BY

Noah Baumbach & Emily Mortimer

CRITICS CHOICE AWARD NOMINEES

 ___

The Making of JAY KELLY: An Extended Behind-The-Scenes Look

[WATCH ON NETFLIX]

"A Fully-Formed Knockout."

- Los Angeles Times

 ___

For more on JAY KELLY visit film.netflixawards.com

In celebration of the centennial of Robert Rauschenberg’s birth, two new museum shows in New York explore the work of an artist who always seemed both ubiquitous and somewhat forgotten.

Don’t waste your tears on Yahoo, the Internet 1.0 relic that collapsed into Verizon and then the warm embrace of private equity. C.E.O. Jim Lanzone explains how the Apollo-owned company is poised to make the most of its post-search distribution, and why niche is the new scale.

News and notes on the emerging industry color stories, the biggest influencer SKUs, and the dawn of the Substack uniform (if you know, you know…).

STARRING

George Clooney

GOLDEN GLOBE® NOMINEE

Adam Sandler

GOLDEN GLOBE® & CRITICS CHOICE AWARD NOMINEE

· 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY BY

Noah Baumbach & Emily Mortimer

CRITICS CHOICE AWARD NOMINEES

 ___

The Making of JAY KELLY: An Extended Behind-The-Scenes Look

[WATCH ON NETFLIX]

"A Fully-Formed Knockout."

- Los Angeles Times

 ___

For more on JAY KELLY visit film.netflixawards.com

USA Sports president Matt Hong joins John to talk shop about the post-Versant-spin era. He breaks down the significant push into digital, their big investment in women’s sports like volleyball and the WNBA, why NASCAR has more gas left in the tank, and how USA is trying to keep one foot in linear TV while sprinting toward a very digital future.

John welcomes lapsed Republican strategist and Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson back to the show to discuss the mounting signs that, less than one full year into his second term in office, Donald Trump has reached his sell-by date—and the implications of Trump’s political decline for the MAGA-fied Republican Party.

Jon Kelly and Peter reunite to discuss all the reasons that Netflix actually needs Warner Bros. and HBO Max. Yes, the company may have definitively won the streaming wars, but it also finds itself in the middle of a two-front battle between insurgent FAST platforms like Tubi and social platforms like YouTube and TikTok.

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