In the fourth week of Live Nation’s antitrust trial, key defense witnesses took the stand as the concert giant continued to make its case to the jury — and the company also accused its biggest competitor of using underhanded tactics to prevent a key witness from testifying.

You’re reading Billboard’s weekly Live Nation trial recap, a weekly one-sheet of everything that happened in the monopoly case against the concert giant. Stay tuned here each Friday for all the testimony and big events you might have missed.

WHAT HAPPENED: After the state attorneys general wrapped up their case last week, Live Nation continued presenting its own case to the jury this week — trying to persuade them to reject the narrative that the company is an illegal monopolist that bullies music venues into using Ticketmaster.

The blockbuster trial has been chugging along in Manhattan federal court since early March. It was initially led by the U.S. Department of Justice, but the feds reached a settlement with Live Nation a week into the trial. New York, California and dozens more states said that deal wasn’t strong enough and have moved ahead with the trial, with the goal of breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

This week was a relatively short one in the trial, with no jury testimony on Wednesday (April 1) or Thursday (April 2) as the judge and the parties dealt with legal issues. The trial will continue Monday (April 6), with the potential for closing statements and the start of jury deliberations at some point in the next week.

WHO TESTIFIED: Weeks after the ex-boss of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center testified that he believed Live Nation had threatened to withhold major artists if the venue switched from Ticketmaster to SeatGeek, the arena’s current top exec took the stand and pushed back on that story.

Laurie Jacoby, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, testified Tuesday about problems during SeatGeek’s tenure as the venue’s ticketer, including with on-sales for concerts by The Strokes and My Chemical Romance, according to Inner City Press. She told jurors those issues made it hard to attract and retain acts, which was what ultimately prompted the venue to switch back to Ticketmaster.

Other Live Nation witnesses similarly countered earlier testimony. In the first week of the trial, an exec at the NHL’s Minnesota Wild told jurors that he’d stuck with Ticketmaster because he feared the “catastrophic” problem of losing Live Nation concerts. But on Monday, as reported by MLex, an official at the NHL’s Washington Capitals testified that Ticketmaster is a “great business partner.”

“Their professionalism and the way they treat partners is outstanding,” said Jim Van Stone, president of business operations at Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the NBA’s Washington Wizards and D.C.’s Capital One Arena. “Ticketmaster … that has met all our needs. We believe in the fact that an exclusive relationship [with Ticketmaster] is better for us.”

Also testifying this week was expert witness Eric Budish, a University of Chicago professor, who said Ticketmaster has a genuine competitive edge against rival ticketing services, per MLex. But during cross-examination, he also admitted to having been paid more than $1 million by Live Nation for his services as an expert economic witness in the case.

Perhaps the biggest fireworks of the week came not in the form of live testimony to the jury, but in legal filings to the judge. In a scathing motion filed Thursday, Live Nation demanded sanctions (judicial punishment) against the states over accusations that AEG had secretly supplied them with a “dossier of personal information” about a former employee, which they then exploited to prevent him from testifying.

“This blatant attempt to dissuade a witness from providing truthful testimony through intimidation is intolerable,” Live Nation’s lawyers wrote, asking the judge to inform jurors that AEG and the states have been “closely coordinating” and that they had tried to suppress testimony that AXS was “never of comparable quality to Ticketmaster.”

WHY IT MATTERS: Jacoby, Van Stone and Budish’s testimony goes to the very heart of Live Nation’s defense: That it has secured its massive market share over the past 15 years not through anti-competitive behavior, but by simply being better than its rivals.

Threats to Barclays Center if it went with SeatGeek? No, Jacoby said — Ticketmaster was just the better ticketing option for the arena. Improper use of exclusivity contracts to make it harder for venues to switch? No, Van Stone said — exclusivity is just what some venues themselves prefer.

The sanctions motion serves that same argument. Live Nation alleges that the reason AEG and the states went to such lengths to suppress the ex-employee’s testimony is because it would have shown that AEG’s AXS ticketing system was simply not as good as Ticketmaster — something Live Nation says would “fundamentally undermine plaintiffs’ case.” If granted, it would send a powerful message to jurors that the government was worried that argument might succeed.

Longtime YouTube executive Tuma Basa, who most recently served as the company’s director of Black music & culture, has announced his departure after eight years at the streaming giant.

“After eight great years at YouTube, I’m taking a leap of faith and stepping into my next chapter,” Basa wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday (April 2). “Thank you to the Music Team at YouTube, the leadership, the artists, the managers, the labels, the producers, the continents, the city specialists, the uploaders and YouTubeLovers and even the Gen AI haters that made this run.. a great run. Murakoze Cyane, Asante Sana, Siyabonga, Amesegenalew, Gracias, Obrigado, Merci Beaucoup.”

Basa was born in Zaire (now Congo) to a Rwandan family, but spent his childhood in Iowa after his father entered the graduate studies program at the University of Iowa; he then relocated to Zimbabwe as a teenager. During his tenure at YouTube, which he joined in 2018 as director of urban music, Basa became known for spotlighting African artists, including Nigerian star Burna Boy, and helping fuel their growth in the U.S.

Initially harboring aspirations to start a rap career under the name B.2ma B., Basa eventually pivoted to the executive track and landed music programming roles at BET, MTV and REVOLT. In 2015, he joined Spotify, where he served as global programming head of hip-hop. While at the streaming giant, he rose to prominence in part for curating the service’s popular Rap Caviar playlist.

Billboard reached out to YouTube for comment on Basa’s departure.

Radio conglomerate Urban One is asking a court to throw out Brian McKnight’s defamation lawsuit over broadcasts on The Rickey Smiley Morning Show and a North Carolina local station.

A lawyer for the network says in a Friday (April 3) motion to dismiss that the R&B singer has no legally viable claims for defamation. The January lawsuit took issue with programs on two Urban One affiliates last year: his ex-wife’s appearance on the North Carolina-based satellite station FOXY 107.1, and Rickey Smiley’s excerpted rebroadcast of an interview given by the musician’s son.

The FOXY 107.1 appearance in January 2025 featured Julie McKnight, who was married to Brian from 1990 to 2003. Julie, who was promoting her book Mama Bear: Beautifully Blended, stated during the interview with FOXY’s Karen Clark that Brian was “negative” during their late son Niko’s cancer treatment, and that she and her children had “stepped away” from the singer due to harmful behavior.

Friday’s motion argues that Urban One can’t be held liable for anything said by Julie, who has never been an employee of the network. And nothing that Clark herself uttered during the interview rises to the level of defamation, says Urban One’s attorney.

“The Ms. Clark statements identified by plaintiff cannot reasonably be interpreted as stating actual facts about plaintiff,” writes Lauren Nichols of the firm Troutman Pepper Locke. “The alleged ‘defamatory statements’ are not truly factual statements — most are merely questions. And any statement not solely a question, is at most an expression of opinion.”

According to Urban One, Brian fares no better in bringing a defamation claim over Rickey Smiley’s December episode featuring clips from an outside interview given by his son, Brian McKnight Jr. In these clips, the younger Brian said his father refused to tell Niko he loved him before Niko died from cancer.

Urban One says these claims fail, too, because Brian “does not identify any specific statements or content from this video that plaintiff asserts are defamatory.” Plus, the company notes that because Brian is a public figure, he has to meet the higher burden of showing that someone intentionally lied (a standard known as “actual malice”) in order to advance the case forward.  

“Even assuming the statements made by Urban One were indeed statements of ‘actual fact,’ not opinion/hyperbole, and could be defamatory (they cannot), plaintiff does not allege any facts that Urban One knew, or should have known, the statements were false or that any statements were made with a reckless disregard for the truth,” reads the dismissal motion.

Urban One is urging a federal judge in Raleigh, N.C., to toss the lawsuit outright before any evidence discovery or trial. Brian’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment on the motion.

The R&B singer, known for chart-topping songs like “Anytime” and “Back at One,” has been on somewhat of a defamation lawsuit spree since Julie published Mama Bear at the beginning of 2025. He has pending libel claims against his ex-wife for passages of the book that characterize him as emotionally abusive and neglectful towards their children.

Brian also sued singer/songwriter Jaguar Wright last year over a slew of Instagram videos stating that he was physically abusive to Julie as well as to sex workers during their marriage. Brian denies all claims of mental or physical abuse.

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From 68 teams to the Final Four, the 2026 March Madness tournament is nearing its conclusion. However, before an NCAA college basketball champion is crowned, four teams must make it through a highly-anticipated semifinal round. Tipping off this weekend, No. 2 UConn will face No. 3 Illinois before a No. 1 seed showdown between Michigan and Arizona taking place on Saturday, April 4.

How to Watch the March Madness Final Four, At a Glance:

With zero perfect brackets remaining, the March Madness tournament has been a surprising thriller so far. With the first few rounds over, college basketball fans have witnessed their share of major upsets, including No. 9 Iowa knocking off No. 1 seed and defending champions Florida, No. 12 High Point stunning upset over No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 11 Texas defeating No. 3 Gonzaga. Top seeded Duke almost made it to the Final Four before UConn freshman Braylon Mullins hit a 35-foot buzzer-beater to send them home.

Now, Michigan and Arizona are the last remaining No. 1 seed teams and they have to face each other this weekend. Who will win? Who will have the next major upset? Who will take home the coveted NABC National Championship Trophy? You’ll have to tune into the Final Four find out.

Keep reading on for our guide to watching March Madness and learn about how you can take advantage of a few free trials to watch all the college basketball you want without paying a dime.

Where to Watch Every 2026 March Madness Games Online:

Watching March Madness can be tricky, but with our guide basketball fans can choose the right streaming platform to watch their favorite teams play. Fans can take advantage of multiple streaming services that offer free trials, so you can stream the college tournament for free. Signing up to streamers like DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV, you can get right into the Final Four action.

DirecTV is offering a five-day free trial, which will let you watch CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV for free. The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network is included in all of the streaming packages. In addition to unlimited DVR storage, you’ll get access to local channels and the ability to stream on as many devices as you want.

Another great option for fans to watch the Final Four is on Sling TV. The streaming services offers three different packages to choose from, such as Orange, Blue and Orange + Blue. The Orange Package is tailored for sports and family channels, while the Blue package has a focus on news and entertainment channels. However, both come with TBS to watch March Madness games online and start at $45 per month. If you want best of both worlds, users can combine both packages and get everything Sling has to offer.

Please note: Pricing and channel availability varies from market-to-market.

For the most content options, Hulu + Live TV gives you access to the entire Hulu library in addition to more than 95 live TV channels — including CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV for just $82.99 per month.

And, unlike the rest of the options, you can also expand your content library by bundling Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited. You’ll not only have all of the Hulu library to watch, but also exclusive and original programming available exclusively on ESPN Unlimited.

Max has multiple subscription tiers: ad-supported, commercial free and ultimate ad-free. Max’s paid subscriptions start at $10.99/month for the basic ad-supported streaming, or $18.49/month to watch ad free. With HBO Max you can watch each channel broadcasting March Madness games, including CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV.

The Premium ad-free package is $22.99 per month and includes 4K Ultra HD quality, 100 downloads to watch on the go and you can stream on up to four devices at once. You can also bundle Max with Hulu and Disney+ for $19.99/month for ad-supported streaming on up to two devices at once and $32.99/month for ad-free streaming.

Here’s the Remaining 2026 March Madness Schedule:

Don’t want to miss a game? We’ve compiled the full Final Four schedule for March Madness below, include dates, times and channel broadcast.

Saturday, April 4 (Final Four)

Monday, April 6 (National Championship Game)

Where to Buy 2026 March Madness Tickets Online

Want to cheer on your team in person? Here’s where you can find 2026 March Madness tickets available at StubHub, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek and Gametime.