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 the latest industry chatter surrounding the NBC divorce.

Meanwhile, on the pods…

And now, a little more on the anxiety inside NBC News…

MEDIA

At a Kennedy Center afterparty on Sunday night, Netflix C.E.O. Ted Sarandos was asked whether the streamer would ever get into TV news. According to a guest who was present, he “firmly slammed the door” on the possibility, citing “the problems it can cause with global governments who are unhappy with the coverage.” The very next morning, Comcast C.E.O. Brian Roberts announced plans to split up Comcast and NBCU—unleashing a torrent of industry chatter that Netflix might make a play for the soon-to-be-spun-off media assets. Among 30 Rock insiders, however, the news raised a pressing question: What would happen to NBC News?

After all, as Dylan reports, Universal’s film and television studio, the sports rights, and the theme parks all have obvious strategic value to a range of potential acquirers. But while NBC News throws off relatively modest profits, it’s also weighted down by an expensive newsgathering operation and political risks that few seem eager to assume. Perhaps, some media executives told Dylan, NBC’s TV and streaming assets will eventually fall to private equity, which would break it up and sell the pieces. For NBC News talent who stayed on the NBCU side of the Versant split, the writing on the wall is getting harder and harder to ignore…

Click here to read Dylan’s full story.

WASHINGTON

Michael Bennet, Diana DeGette, and the Democratic old guard all learned the same painful lesson on Tuesday: Voters want fighters, and they’re ready to punish any incumbent exhibiting a whiff of complacency.

FASHION

As we near the halfway point of 2026, Rachel Strugatz answers readers’ burning questions about Rihanna’s next move, the Armani ownership sweepstakes, Estée Lauder’s M&A appetite, and more.

ART

Sotheby’s parlayed its blockbuster Joe Lewis collection into an unlikely June success—a London auction that defied expectations and further amplified the heat on a slowly rising market.

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by Steve Buck, chief strategy officer at EntTelligence, to discuss how many people are actually going to the movies and clarify the difference between admission versus box office. Steve reveals whether rising box office grosses are matched by actual attendance, whether ticket price increases and premium large-format screens are actually juicing box office totals, the demos and genres that are overindexing, and some surprising political affiliations of moviegoers.

WASHINGTON

Julia Ioffe joins Peter with fresh reporting on J.D. Vance’s increasingly pointed criticism of Israel as the U.S. works through its ceasefire deal with Iran, explaining how Vance is playing to a nationalist populist base that’s grown deeply skeptical of American involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts.

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