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CBS cut away from its March Madness coverage to air Kate Middleton’s statement revealing she has cancer in a rare break from the network’s NCAA programming.
The broadcaster had over five minutes left in Northwestern’s game against Florida Atlantic on Friday afternoon when the news broke.
The break lasted a few minutes before it returned to the game.
It marked the first exit from the NCAA basketball tournament since CBS stopped its broadcast of the 2003 first-round games to provide news coverage of the United States’ March 20, 2003, invasion of Iraq.
College basketball fans didn’t actually miss any of the action on the court as the broadcast went to a commercial break when the special report broke.
CBS cut away from its March Madness coverage to air Kate Middleton’s statement
There were over five minutes left in Northwestern’s game against Florida Atlantic
Like most major broadcasters in the US, the network paused its normal coverage to show the video of the Princess of Wales addressing the public to announce her diagnosis.
Presenter Norah O’Donnell came on screen to break the news that Catherine had just revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer.
The broadcast then showed about 30 seconds of the princess’s video announcement.
Speaking from a bench surrounded by daffodils and spring flowers, she said: ‘In January I had major stomach surgery in London and at the time my condition was thought to be non-cancerous. The operation was successful. However, tests after the operation showed that there had been cancer. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of pre-emptive chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.
‘Obviously this has come as a huge shock and William and I have done everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.’
After airing the short clip, the network immediately returned to the NCAA Tournament game, which still had about five minutes left.
The game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Florida Atlantic Owls appeared to be in timeout when coverage resumed.
At the time, Northwestern held a narrow four-point lead over Florida Atlantic in the close matchup between No. 9 and No. 8.
Northwestern held a narrow four-point lead over Florida Atlantic at halftime
The Princess of Wales with her children in her Mother’s Day portrait
The Wildcats went on to seal a 77-64 victory after scoring 19 points in overtime in the first round.
It is the first time CBS’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament has been interrupted since 2003, when news of heavy U.S. bombing in Iraq broke during the first round of play.
As large explosions rocked Baghdad, signaling the start of a heavier phase of U.S.-led air war, the network switched to its CBS News coverage instead of the college basketball programming scheduled to air.
The network switched its coverage of the tournament to ESPN and ESPN 2 after the cable channels agreed in advance to assist CBS with programming in the event of 24-hour coverage of the war in Iraq.
Catherine’s cancer was only discovered after she underwent major stomach surgery at the London Clinic in January. Kensington Palace has said it will not share details about what type of cancer the princess has or what stage it is, and has asked people not to speculate.
It is understood that the King – who is also currently undergoing cancer treatment himself – and the Queen have both been informed of the news.
At the time of her abdominal surgery in January, Kensington Palace said it was not cancer. They have confirmed again this evening that this is the case and that no test had confirmed the presence of cancer. However, post-operative tests subsequently showed that cancer ‘had been present’.
Tonight’s announcement will send shockwaves around the world and came after weeks of speculation – and wild conspiracy theories – about her health.