1. The latest carriage dispute that sports fans have to deal with comes from YouTube TV.
The service revealed on Wednesday that customers would be losing channels under the Paramount umbrella on Thursday. Here is the list of channels YouTube TV subscribers will not have access to:
I have to believe Paramount and YouTubeTV will strike a deal before March Madness, but here are all the channels YouTubeTV subscribers are losing starting today. pic.twitter.com/lAwd8e3fgY
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) February 13, 2025
Sports fans who use YouTube TV immediately went into a panic because access to CBS will be cut off just as college basketball becomes relevant. Selection Sunday is March 16 and the NCAA tournament kicks off on March 20. CBS will also air a variety of conference tournament games the week before.
And CBS has the championship game this year on April 7.
Meanwhile, YouTube TV is offering an olive branch to its customers. Here’s what the streaming service said in an email to consumers:
“It’s our goal to restore Paramount content to YouTube TV, but if we do not come to an agreement and their content is unavailable for an extended period of time, we’ll offer our YouTube TV subscribers an $8 credit. You can still watch Paramount shows and movies by signing up for their streaming service, Paramount+, starting at $7.99/month.”
That should make for a wonderful NCAA tournament viewing experience having to flip between YouTubeTV for the games on TNT, TBS, and TruTV and those on CBS.
While I get the panic among sports fans over this news, my advice would be to stay calm and don’t worry about this one.
It would be beyond shocking if YouTube TV and Paramount did not come to an agreement before the tournament. I don’t have official stats, but it does seem like 99% of carriage disputes get settled at the very last minute.
2. It’s Thursday so that means it’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina day. The latest episode features an interview with golf insider from Skratch, Dan Rapaport.
Rapaport talks about his new weekly show, Dan on Golf, how golf media has changed over the years, the explosion in golf’s popularity on YouTube and gambling’s role in the increased interest in golf.
Rapaport discusses what the TGL needs to fix, the relationship between LIV and the PGA Tour and the contract issues LIV will soon face. Rapaport also drops a very early Masters prediction, explains Bryson DeChambeau’s turnaround and much more.
Following Rapaport, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York, joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment.
This week‘s segment kicks off with a discussion about the Super Bowl halftime show, the overall Super Bowl telecast and the end of the NFL season. Other topics discussed include Hubie Brown’s final game as an NBA analyst, Dick Vitale’s return behind the mic, Bill Maher’s take on watching the NFL on streaming services and the report about the Jets telling Aaron Rodgers he could no longer appear on Pat McAfee’s show. We also have a follow-up conversation on Sal’s “ratty” sneakers.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
And if you missed it earlier this week, there was an episode of SI Media with Jimmy Traina with John Ourand that featured a full breakdown of Fox’s Super Bowl broadcast.
3. I get that Saquon Barkley is just trying to be a good guy and say something nice here, but I need to push back.
Saquon Barkley did not understand the booing for Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl, he told Howard Stern. pic.twitter.com/BI0YJPWxHK
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 12, 2025
First, why should an NFL fan care if Taylor Swift made the game bigger? Why is that relevant or important to an NFL fan? And not for nothing, but overall regular season ratings were down in 2024 from 2023.
Also, she did not make the game bigger. She made the Chiefs bigger. The Swifties are not watching the Jaguars play the Titans at 1 p.m. on Sunday. They watch the Chiefs. And if Travis Kelce retires, they’ll stop watching the Chiefs.
So please stop with the “Taylor Swift made the game bigger” nonsense.
4. Good job by Mark Cuban here. I told you in Wednesday’s Traina Thoughts about the Mavericks fan who got kicked out of Monday’s game for having a “Fire Nico” sign, referencing Mavs GM Nico Harrison on the Luka Doncic trade.
Well, Cuban gave the fan his courtside seats to Wednesday’s Warriors-Mavericks game.
Mavs fan ejected from Monday’s game is sitting courtside tonight courtesy of Mark Cuban.
— Meredith Yeomans (@YeomansNBC5) February 13, 2025
story: https://t.co/jmJj3SzJAu @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/9yPBOngF5O
5. Just a completely ridiculous quote from Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic on Wednesday night after he got all salty because Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson threw down a dunk with the Cavaliers up 129–108 in the final seconds.
Tristan Thompson wins it for the Cavs pic.twitter.com/Ve88Gitvie
— Dylan🔮🪼 (@dillybar2145__) February 13, 2025
“What Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful,” said Rajakovic. “I’m not going to stand for that, for sure. I’m really glad our guys, our players, from Jamal [Shead], he was on the court, and Scottie [Barnes] and everybody else, they stood up for themselves. I love when my team stands up for themselves. That was no class act.”
It’s a completely meaningless dunk and losing 131–108 is no different than losing 129–108. Rajakovic has to have more important things worry about, like his team being 17–38, instead of something so totally frivolous.
6. Luka Doncic’s debut game for the Lakers drew 2.01 million viewers on Monday. It was the fifth-most watched NBA game of the season. Clearly, the 10:30 p.m. ET start time did not help draw in more viewers.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: We are featuring vintage Saturday Night Live clips here as a lead up to Sunday night’s three-hour 50th anniversary show. Today, we bring you James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub Party.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as YouTube TV Customers Get Disturbing News About Potential March Madness Problem.
