YouTube TV customers receive worrying news about potential March Madness issue

1. The latest transportation conflict sports fans are facing comes from YouTube TV.

The service revealed Wednesday that customers would lose their channels under the Paramount umbrella on Thursday. Here is the list of channels that YouTube TV subscribers will not have access to:

Sports fans who use YouTube TV immediately panicked because access to CBS will be cut off just as college basketball becomes relevant. Selection Sunday will take place on March 16 and the NCAA Tournament will begin on March 20. CBS will also broadcast a variety of conference tournament games the week before.

And CBS is hosting 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:

“Our goal is to restore Paramount content to YouTube TV, but if we cannot reach an agreement and their content is unavailable for an extended period of time, we will 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.”

This should make for a wonderful NCAA Tournament viewing experience, having to switch between YouTubeTV for games on TNT, TBS and TruTV and those on CBS.

Even though this news freaks sports fans out, my advice would be to stay calm and not worry about this one.

It would be beyond shocking if YouTube TV and Paramount didn’t come to an agreement before the tournament. I don’t have official statistics, but it seems that 99% of transportation disputes are resolved 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 Skratch golf insider Dan Rapaport.

Rapaport talks about his new weekly show, Dan on golfthe evolution of golf-related media over the years, the explosion of golf’s popularity on YouTube, and the role of gambling in the increased interest in golf.

Rapaport discusses what the TGL needs to resolve, the relationship between LIV and the PGA Tour, and the contractual issues LIV will soon face. Rapaport also drops a very early Masters prediction, explains Bryson DeChambeau’s turnaround and much more.

After Rapaport, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment.

This week’s segment begins with a discussion of the Super Bowl halftime show, the overall Super Bowl broadcast, and the end of the NFL season. Other topics covered 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 on the Jets telling Aaron Rodgers he could no longer appear on Pat McAfee’s show. We also have a follow-up conversation about 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 YouTube channel.

And if you missed it earlier this week, there was an episode of SI Media with Jimmy Traina and John Ourand that featured a full analysis of Fox’s Super Bowl broadcast.

3. I understand that Saquon Barkley is just trying to be a good guy and say something nice here, but I have to respond.

First, why should an NFL fan care if Taylor Swift made the game bigger? Why is this relevant or important to an NFL fan? Not for nothing, but overall regular season ratings were down in 2024 compared to 2023.

Furthermore, she didn’t make the game bigger. She made the Chiefs bigger. Swifties won’t be watching the Jaguars take on the Titans on Sunday at 1 p.m. They monitor the leaders. And if Travis Kelce retires, they will stop monitoring the Chiefs.

So please stop with the “Taylor Swift made the game bigger” nonsense.

4. Good work by Mark Cuban here. I told you on Wednesday’s Traina Thoughts about the Mavericks fan who was kicked out of Monday’s game for having a “Fire Nico” sign, referring to Mavs general manager Nico Harrison over the Luka Doncic trade.

Well, Cuban gave fans his courtside seats for Wednesday’s Warriors-Mavericks game.

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.

“What Tristan did was unclassy and disrespectful,” Rajakovic said. “I’m not going to tolerate that, that’s for sure. I’m really happy that our guys, our players, from Jamal (Shead), he was on the field, and Scottie (Barnes) and everyone, they defended. I like when my team defends. It wasn’t a class act.”

It’s a completely meaningless dunk and losing 131-108 is no different than losing 129-108. Rajakovic needs to worry about more important things, like his team being 17-38, instead of something so totally frivolous.

6. Luka Doncic’s first game for the Lakers drew 2.01 million viewers on Monday. It was the fifth most-watched NBA game of the season. Obviously, the 10:30 p.m. ET start time didn’t help attract more viewers.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: We highlight vintage Saturday evening live clips here in preparation for Sunday night’s three-hour 50th anniversary show. Today we bring you James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub Party.

Make sure to find previous editions of Traina Thoughts and consult the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify Or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X And Instagram.