YouTube TV’s streaming service is on the verge of a major shift, impacting college basketball viewers around the country – including Tennessee fans.
According to a blog post from YouTube on Wednesday, YouTube has been “working hard to reach a fair agreement with Paramount that allows us to keep their channels, including CBS and CBS Sports, on YouTube TV without passing on additional costs to our subscribers.”
YouTube also says that despite “good faith negotiations,” an agreement has not been reached yet.
The post states that after Feb. 13, 2025 (Thursday), “all Paramount content, including CBS and CBS Sports, will be unavailable on YouTube TV.”
For our members: We work hard to bring you the content you love, delivered the way you want. Despite our best efforts, we’ve been unable to reach a fair deal with Paramount to keep their channels on YouTube TV and their channels may be unavailable tomorrow.…
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) February 13, 2025
Paramount, on the other hand, says that “YouTube TV is attempting to pressure Paramount to agree to unfavorable and one-sided terms” and that YouTube TV “is prioritizing their own interests over a fair agreement.” Paramount also has stated that they have made a “series of offers” and that “the comprehensive deal Paramount is proposing would continue our relationship with YouTube TV, enabling them to give you access to our leading broadcast and cable networks at a fair price.”
So why is this concerning for college basketball games?
Because while negotiations could still work out over the next month, the fear of YouTube TV viewers not being able to watch March Madness games on CBS is a nightmare scenario for any college hoops fan.
Tennessee played in four March Madness games last season with two of those contests broadcasted on CBS networks. The Vols’ second-round matchup against Texas and Elite 8 matchup against Purdue both took place on CBS while the Saint Peter’s and Creighton games were on TNT/TBS.
CBS is also set to broadcast the Top 16 bracket reveal, both Final Four games, and the National Championship game this spring.
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Without being in the TV business, it seems like both sides want to get this done so that they don’t miss out on the millions of potential eyeballs for ratings during March Madness coverage.
This is not the first time something like this has happened in the television business with YouTube TV. YouTube pulled Disney-owned networks (including ESPN) from their service in December 2021 after failing to reach a new deal. Public backlash ensued over the weekend, and YouTube TV was quickly able to strike a new deal with Disney just two days later. That deal did result in YouTube TV subscribers paying $15 per month more, but viewers did get their Disney-owned channels back.
According to Joe Pompliano’s X post on Thursday, YouTube TV has also raised its monthly price by $10 from $73 to $83 moving forward.
For all YouTube TV subscribers like myself… These are troubling times. Boy, do we not want to lose our CBS March Madness coverage. Perhaps not the time to panic yet, but it certainly is a situation to monitor starting on Friday when the Paramount networks are dark on the service.
