Bari’s Sidekick Shortlist & Murdoch’s $22B Roku Coup

S.B.F.’s Last Chance, Bibi’s Trump Fallout, Glossier’s Survival Strategy

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting. Here’s what you need to know… and stick around for more on Lachlan Murdoch’s big move in the streaming wars.

What I’m Hearing: Fox’s $22 billion acquisition of Roku—the operating system that reaches more than 100 million households globally—happened at the perfect moment for Lachlan Murdoch. Julia Alexander breaks down a surprise twist in the streaming wars. [Read More]
In the Room: Finding a deputy to help Bari Weiss run a combined CNN–CBS News is a real challenge: The candidate needs real TV news experience, a pliable journalistic backbone, and the willingness to play a loyal number two. Dylan Byers has the latest on the unicorn search, and why the Paramount front office has ruled out the obvious internal candidate. [Inner Circle Exclusive]
Dry Powder: Now that the Second Circuit has rejected Sam Bankman-Fried’s final appeal, can anything besides the Supreme Court or a Trump pardon save him from his 25-year sentence? Bill Cohan dissects S.B.F’s dwindling options and rarefied status as the one white-collar fraudster the president won’t save. [Read More]
The Best & The Brightest: The biggest casualty of Trump’s Iran détente may be Benjamin Netanyahu, whose once-formidable sway in Washington has faded along with American support for Israel. Peter Hamby gets his hands on exclusive new polling on how Bibi lost America. [Read More]

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

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Line Sheet: Glossier C.E.O. Colin Walsh inherited a business in retreat and has embarked on the unglamorous work of getting Glossier back into the black. Rachel Strugatz assesses whether the brand that defined Millennial beauty can survive its previous management’s mistakes. [Read More]
Wall Power: The success of New York’s May sales was supposed to loosen collectors’ purse strings, but dealers and data tell a more complicated story. Marion Maneker reveals a quiet shift underway in the art market’s middle tier. [Inner Circle Exclusive]

Meanwhile, on the pods…

The Powers That Be: Ian Krietzberg and Peter discuss why Trump put the kibosh on Anthropic’s powerful new Fable model, how C.E.O. Dario Amodei dropped the ball, and whether the whole freak-out is overblown. [Listen Here or Watch Here]

And now, a little more on Fox’s serious streaming play…

HOLLYWOOD

The New Mayor of Roku City

It’s strange that it took so long for someone to buy Roku, the ubiquitous streaming-device maker whose operating system runs smart TVs in more than 100 million households globally. After all, as of March, the Roku Channel accounted for 3 percent of all connected-TV viewing in the U.S., and has since become the fastest-growing platform behind YouTube. So Lachlan Murdoch seized the opportunity: On Monday, Fox announced it was acquiring Roku in a deal valued at $22 billion, putting an end to the company’s long stretch on the streaming sidelines.

As Julia reports, Murdoch’s patience paid off. While rivals poured tens of billions into the streaming wars, Fox instead leaned on ad-supported, non-prestige assets like Tubi and Fox Nation. “We chose, and continue to choose, focus over scale for scale’s sake,” Lachlan told analysts, “deliberately sidestepping the arms race that defined—and challenged—the subscription streaming industry.” And yet, Roku is more than a streamer: Like Amazon’s Prime Video Channels, it’s a distributor for other services with significant advertising upside, which could turn Fox into a $9 billion-a-year ad player. With subscription fatigue mounting and consumers hunting for bundles, Fox may have found its path into the distribution business at exactly the right moment.

Click here to read Julia’s full story.

MEDIA

Dylan Byers

The Big Cibrowski

David Ellison’s search for the right executive to help Bari Weiss run her two-headed CNN–CBS News monster might require a unicorn—someone with solid television news experience, a pliable journalistic backbone, and the willingness to play the loyal number two. In other words, he needs a supersized Tom Cibrowski.

WALL STREET

William D. Cohan

S.B.F.’s White Whales

With his request for a new trial now officially rejected by the Second Circuit, Sam Bankman-Fried’s dwindling hope for salvation is down to the Supreme Court or Trump. Alas, S.B.F. may be the only white-collar fraudster the president isn’t open to pardoning.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

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WASHINGTON

Peter Hamby

To Bibi or Not to Bibi?

The biggest casualty of Trump’s Iran détente may be Benjamin Netanyahu, whose once-considerable sway in Washington has faded just as Americans’ support for Israel has fallen sharply, according to exclusive new polling for Puck.

FASHION

Rachel Strugatz

To Have Loved and Glossier

C.E.O. Colin Walsh inherited a beauty unicorn in retreat and is now doing the unglamorous work of turning Glossier back into a business. But can the brand that epitomized Millennial beauty survive previous management’s mistakes?

ART

Marion Maneker

The Middle Market’s Big Shift

While the big money has returned, auction houses are reducing estimates for cheaper works to entice buyers and minimize their losses. Now, the latest data reveals a big shift is taking place in the middle market, too.

A.I.

Peter Hamby

Ian Krietzberg

The Powers that Be Daily, Starring Peter Hamby

Inside the White House–Anthropic War

Ian Krietzberg and Peter get to the bottom of why Trump put the kibosh on Anthropic’s powerful new Fable model, how Dario Amodei screwed the pooch, whether the freak-out is overblown, and what it all means for the rest of us.

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