1. YouTubeTV only has approximately 10 million subscribers, but the vast majority of them must be sports fans because ESPN\u2019s ratings have taken a hit since all of Disney\u2019s channels were pulled from the streaming service last Thursday.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s Monday Night Football game featuring the Cardinals and Cowboys drew 16.1 million viewers, a stunningly low number considering the presence of Dallas, which draws ratings no matter what.<\/p>\n
The previous week\u2019s game between the Commanders and Chiefs drew 17.6 million viewers. The week before that, the Bucs and Lions delivered 18.8 million viewers. And as a year-over-year comp, last year\u2019s Week 9 Monday Night Football game (Buccaneers at Chiefs) pulled in 20.6 million. <\/p>\n
The difference from 2024 to 2025 is even more drastic when you consider that this season, Nielsen is using a different methodology that has ratings up across the board for all sports.<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s ratings hit was also felt on the college football side. Here are the viewership numbers from last Saturday:<\/p>\n
Here was ESPN\u2019s viewership numbers the previous Saturday:<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, College GameDay had two million viewers this past Saturday. The week before? ESPN’s iconic Saturday morning pregame show drew 2.5 million people.<\/p>\n
As I\u2019ve said before, I have no dog in this fight because I don\u2019t have YouTubeTV and I will be #Cable4Life, but it\u2019s pretty remarkable that ESPN\u2019s ratings would take this kind of a hit considering YouTubeTV\u2019s subscriber base is 9.4 million people.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also remarkable to me that I\u2019ve seen so many people put all the blame for the carriage dispute on Disney. Taking sides between Disney and YouTube is just bizarre to me. Trust me when I tell you both sides are at fault because both sides are fighting to get every possible penny they can OUT OF YOU. <\/p>\n
I never thought the carriage dispute would actually lead to Disney channels getting pulled from YouTubeTV. I certainly never thought the carriage dispute would last through a Monday Night Football game. As of this writing, I\u2019d be surprised if it continued through the weekend, keeping another Saturday of college football off the air once again.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019ve been wrong every step of the way, so if you\u2019re a YouTubeTV subscriber, you better be prepared to miss more football this weekend.<\/p>\n
2. If you read this column regularly or follow me on social media, you know that I hate watching sports on streaming services. So I can\u2019t tell you how much it warmed my heart on Wednesday to hear this rant from J.J. Watt.<\/p>\n
Basically just became best friends with @JJWatt<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/BYSrdEJq82<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) November 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n 3. I like all of these people, so this is not personal. But I just want to know if they are at all embarrassed by this ridiculousness, because while they are obviously getting paid well, it\u2019s beyond cringe.<\/p>\n #Ad<\/a> Alright @stephenasmith<\/a> \u2026.you got me this time \ud83d\ude05 But I\u2019m coming back stronger \u2014 who\u2019s joining me in the @solitairecash<\/a> #BeatStephen<\/a> challenge?! Download and let\u2019s see who can top his score \ud83d\udc40\u2663\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/b8609UIPr8<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n #ad<\/a> Getting in practice before the game instead of during it @stephenasmith<\/a> <\/p>\n Anyone else think they can #BeatStephen<\/a>\u2014try at @solitairecash<\/a> and post your score pic.twitter.com\/eWJDtr4BxT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mina Kimes (@minakimes) November 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n #Ad<\/a> @stephenasmith<\/a> who\u2019s the winner now?! Who else wants the sweet taste of @solitairecash<\/a> victory? Download, join in #BeatStephen<\/a> and don\u2019t forget to share your score pic.twitter.com\/04hyvzTc8A<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Laura Rutledge (@LauraRutledge) November 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n #Ad<\/a> Congratulations. I know this just made your day @stephenasmith<\/a>, huh? You better enjoy this moment because this going to be the first and last that I lose to you at @solitairecash<\/a>. Shout out to all the other real winners out there\u2026 download, get playing and #BeatStephen<\/a>. Show\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/T2LE3eOFF4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) November 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n 4. The Athletic\u2019s Andrew Marchand broke the news<\/a> Wednesday that Drew Brees is essentially replacing Mark Sanchez at Fox. Sanchez isn\u2019t officially out of a job, but Brees will take Sanchez\u2019s place on Fox\u2019s No. 3 crew alongside play-by-player Adam Amin.<\/p>\n When I saw this news, my first thought had nothing to do with Brees. It was, \u201cWhere has the follow-up coverage been regarding the Sanchez story?\u201d It\u2019s kind of wild that we still don\u2019t know all the details about the incident. Unless I missed something, the current story we know is Sanchez got mad at a guy who was coming to a restaurant to pick up cooking oil, parked his truck, and they had a confrontation and Sanchez ended up getting stabbed. Something there does not add up.<\/p>\n As for Brees, it will be interesting to see how much he\u2019s improved from that one playoff game he called for NBC in 2022, which was ROUGH to say the least.<\/p>\n 5. It\u2019s a little late this week, but here is this week\u2019s edition of the best segment on sports television: Bad Beats.<\/p>\n Bad Beats \u2014 Stanford Steve (@StanfordSteve82) November 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n 6. This week\u2019s SI Media With Jimmy Traina will be delayed by a day, unfortunately. A new episode will drop early Friday morning. In the meantime, if you missed any recent episodes, use this time to catch up because I\u2019ve had a great run of guests.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Ringer\u2019s Bryan Curtis<\/p>\n \u2022 Fox\u2019s Greg Olsen<\/p>\n \u2022 SiriusXM\u2019s Chris \u201cMad Dog\u201d Russo<\/p>\n 7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: On this date in 1997, Cosmo Kramer became a talk show host.<\/p>\n Be sure to\u00a0catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts<\/a>\u00a0and check out the\u00a0Sports Illustrated Media Podcast\u00a0hosted by Jimmy Traina on\u00a0Apple<\/a>,\u00a0Spotify<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Google<\/a>. You can also follow Jimmy on\u00a0X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Week 10 pic.twitter.com\/qcBz4D7Oev<\/a><\/p>\n