Happy Friday and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting. Here’s what you need to know…

A MESSAGE FROM UNITEDHEALTH GROUP

For many families, navigating appointments, providers and costs can feel confusing and unpredictable. UnitedHealth Group is working to make health care both easier to navigate and more affordable. By using the company’s digital tools, parents can find nearby providers and view expected costs before ever scheduling care. Having this clear information in one place empowers them to make confident decisions and often save hundreds of dollars each year.

Learn more.

Meanwhile, on the pods…

HOLLYWOOD

For linear television networks, NFL rights have never been less affordable or more vital. The Shield has the networks over a $16 billion barrel, forcing them to cut elsewhere just to stay in the game. Unless Brendan Carr decides to put Roger in his place…

SPORTS

Everyone’s favorite TNT Sports boss opens up about the NCAA tournament, losing their NBA rights, the evolution of the network—and, of course, the ParaBros merger likely to close this fall.

WASHINGTON

The president has defied political gravity so many times that he’s often assumed to be invincible. But Trump’s Iran war is inescapable, his approval rating is plummeting—and his rambling White House address exposed that he’s less powerful than ever.

A MESSAGE FROM UNITEDHEALTH GROUP

Health care can feel stressful and complicated – especially when patients lack clear information about their care or what it will cost. This uncertainty can create barriers to getting the right treatment. By offering intuitive digital tools with upfront information, UnitedHealth Group is making health care easier to navigate. This empowers patients to make confident decisions, often helping them save hundreds of dollars each year.

Learn more. 

FASHION

Everyone is talking about where Vitale could land after his brief but wondrous stint at Versace. But what opportunities are actually out there?

MEDIA

An essential conversation with Puck’s in-house A.I. sage, Ian Krietzberg, on the value and limits of automation, the audience and trust that A.I. can never reproduce, and yes, that Fortune reporter using A.I. to post hundreds and hundreds of articles.

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by film producer Todd Garner to discuss whether movies are actually getting longer. Todd provides a study of over 3,600 films from 1980-2025 to reveal which genres have gotten longer over the years and by how much. They discuss a surprising trend among action films, why auteur-driven films are getting longer, and the increase in the percentage of movies over two and a half hours. Todd provides his expertise as an experienced producer and executive in Hollywood to help outline what the movie length discussions are like among studios, how they differ from streamers, and whether this is a problem for movie theaters.

SPORTS

Eriq Gardner joins Peter to explore a hypothetical in which the NFL hands officiating over to A.I. as the league barrels toward a potential replacement-ref situation when its current C.B.A. expires. Then they discuss F.C.C. commissioner Brendan Carr’s latest salvo arguing that leagues should lose antitrust protections as they push more games behind streaming paywalls.

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