A CBS special report about Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis replaced a March Madness commercial break on Friday, and even though it didn’t force viewers to miss the Florida Atlantic-Northwestern game, many weren’t thrilled about the timing of the somber update regarding the Princess of Wales’ health.
“Special Report? Do not interrupt my March Madness,” one user wrote on X.
Another user added, “We don’t interrupt March Madness for this update. We fought a war over this!”
With 5:19 left in the second half, Florida Atlantic called a timeout after a 3-pointer cut the Wildcats’ lead to four points.
At first, there was a GEICO commercial, before the network cut to Norah O’Donnell in a CBS studio for the report about a video that depicted Middleton announcing that she’d been diagnosed with cancer and started chemotherapy, which CBS then reported began in February.
“The surgery was successful,” Middleton said in the video. “However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present.”
The entire special report lasted about two minutes, and the network brought viewers back to the FAU-Northwestern game at Barclays Center — with the horn signaling the end of the timeout and the clock still at 5:19.
Still, some viewers turned the distressing health update into a chance to comment about the unexpected pivot during the network’s NCAA Tournament coverage, with first-round games continuing Friday after an opening day that featured stunning upsets by No. 14-seed Oakland and No. 11-seed Duquesne — as well as a near-upset, and controversial ending, between No. 13 Samford and No. 4 Kansas on Thursday night.
“The real March Madness will be the millions of college basketball fans who will go to war with Britain if they ever interrupt the NCAA Tournament again,” another viewer wrote on X.
Florida Atlantic, which orchestrated a run to the Final Four last year, lost to Northwestern in overtime, with the Wildcats securing a likely matchup against No. 1 Connecticut on Sunday.