Putin’s Loyalty Crisis, Upfront P.R. Drama, a Sports TV Blowup

Happy Friday and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your pocket guide to the latest reporting from Puck.

Today, we lead with Matt Belloni’s candid assessment of the P.R. spin and ad-speak obfuscation that cast a pall over this year’s annual TV upfronts in New York.

Then, below the fold: Tara Palmeri rides shotgun with G.O.P. ’24 tease Chris Sununu as he details his private thoughts on the shadow primary. On The Powers That Be, Julia Ioffe joins Ben Landy to decipher the tensions between Russia’s mercenary leader Evgeny Prigozhin and Putin, plus how Republicans have turned the Pentagon into a political punching bag. And on The Town, Matt Belloni and Endeavor executive V.P.s Hilary Mandel and Karen Brodkin talk through the groundbreaking TV deal they brokered for Phoenix’s basketball franchises.

MATTHEW BELLONI

An honest assessment of the P.R. spin, wishful thinking and outright obfuscation in a slimmed-down, mostly star-free ad pitch week.

TARA PALMERI

The perennially on-the-precipice candidate offers his most candid thoughts yet on the White House, DeSantis, and whether he’ll soon face his “good friends”—Mike, Tim, Asa, and Nikki—on the debate stage.

BEN LANDY & JULIA IOFFE

Julia Ioffe joins Ben to decipher the souring relationship between the Kremlin and Evgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Russia’s mercenary army, over the battle for Bakhmut. Then they break down how Republicans turned the Pentagon into a political punching bag.

WILLIAM D. COHAN

Insights into a REIT headache, and some of the craftiest investors who are seeing around the corner.