A Moveable Buffett, Post-Navalny Russia, Streaming M&A Murmurs

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon digest featuring Puck’s latest reporting.

First up today, Peter Hamby rifles through an exclusive poll spotlighting the key demographics Biden must court before November’s general election showdown—and why the White House, perhaps unwisely, doesn’t seem to be sweating their current lack of enthusiasm.

Plus, below the fold: Julia Alexander chronicles how NBCU’s streamer finally found its groove. On The Town, Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw dig into the fresh M&A chatter surrounding Peacock and Paramount+, and why Warren Buffett dramatically cut his stake in Shari’s heirloom. And on The Powers That Be, Julia Ioffe joins Peter to explain the complex foreign policy reverberations following the gut-wrenching death of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

PETER HAMBY

Exclusive new polling from Echelon Insights, in partnership with Puck, shows a significant Democratic enthusiasm deficit among two key demographics: Gen Z and Black voters. So why isn’t the White House all that worried?

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

[WATCH] In Conversation with Hugh Jackman
Academy Award® & SAG Award® Nominees Bradley Cooper & Carey Mulligan discuss their preparation and performances in Maestro. Moderated by Hugh Jackman.

[WATCH] In Conversation with Will Arnett
Director, Writer, Producer & Actor Bradley Cooper (Leonard Bernstein) is joined by Actress Carey Mulligan (Felicia Montealegre Bernstein) in a conversation moderated by Will Arnett.

[WATCH] Academy Award® Nominee Kazu Hiro
Transforms Bradley Cooper into Leonard Bernstein
Director, Writer, Actor & Producer Bradley Cooper walks through the incredible transformation to become Leonard Bernstein with Prosthetic Makeup Designer Kazu Hiro.

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For more on Maestro, go to film.netflixawards.com

JULIA ALEXANDER

NBCU’s once forlorn streamer is having a real moment, thanks to the NFL and a couple new hits. But if the service truly wants to survive the streaming wars, it should drop its pretensions of prestige and embrace full Bravo-ization.

MATTHEW BELLONI

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss Peacock’s strong start to 2024 and the prospect of a possible joint venture or “commercial partnership” with Paramount+. They run through the logistics of a merger, the critical role live sports rights play, Warren Buffett’s sale of a third of his stake in Paramount Global, and who is most to blame for Paramount’s struggles.

PETER HAMBY & JULIA IOFFE

Julia Ioffe joins Peter to discuss the gut-wrenching death of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny—how it reverberated through the Munich Security Conference, how his wife Yulia has boldly taken up his political legacy, and whether his end has shattered any hope of a bright post-Putin future for Russia.