CBS Apologizes for Cutting Off Billy Joel Special at Worst Possible Moment — Will Rebroadcast Full Concert

Billy Joel performs during Billy Joel's 100th show at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

CBS has apologized for cutting off the last few minutes of Sunday night’s Billy Joel concert broadcast and now says it will re-air the show with the final minutes intact.

Viewers were furious that the show, Billy Joel: The 100th — Live at Madison Square Garden, abruptly ended just as the singer was belting out the final verse of his hit song “Piano Man.”

The broadcast, which was announced in Feb., was filmed on March 28 at Madison Square Garden and featured his 100th performance at the venue. But the celebration of Joel’s big night was overshadowed by CBS’s “mistake.”

Viewers in half the country from the Central and Eastern times zones were furious when the show cut to local news before Joel was finished singing his signature song.

Many took to social media to express their outrage:

The next day, CBS offered an apology for the rude ending of the broadcast and blamed it all on a “network programming timing error,” according to USA Today.

“A network programming timing error ended last night’s Billy Joel special approximately two minutes early in the Eastern and Central Time Zones,” the network said in a statement.

The network went on to say that it will re-play the show and will include the missing minutes.

“We apologize to Mr. Joel, his fans, our affiliated stations, and our audience whose viewing experience was interrupted during the last song. Due to the overwhelming demand from his legion of fans, Billy Joel: The 100th — Live at Madison Square Garden will be rebroadcast in its entirety on CBS on April 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT,” CBS added, The Hollywood Reporter wrote.

The ire over the ending of the was immediate. Fort Wayne, Indiana, news anchor Rex Smith even took to his X account to apologize to his own followers in the Midwestern state for seeing his face pop up right in the middle of Joel’s hit song.

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Authored by Warner Todd Huston via Breitbart April 16th 2024