Billy Joel's CBS concert special was a little less celebratory than planned when it was cut off early during his signature song.
The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden - The Greatest Arena Run of All Time was taped on March 28 to coincide with Joel's 100th consecutive show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was slated to begin at 9 p.m. and run until 11 p.m. on CBS.
Billy Joel fans were already thrown off when the network's live coverage of the Masters golf tournament delayed the beginning of the concert special's airing. However, they were even more disappointed when the late start time meant that the grand finale was cut short.
Just as the legendary singer was getting into his iconic single, "Piano Man," the song was cut off for most viewers and replaced with the local news. The program switch left most of the audience enraged, after they had waited two hours to get to the beloved song.
"IDK whose decision it was to cut off the end of the #BillyJoel concert for local news (AFTER starting 30 min late!) but it's unacceptable. #BillyJoel100 is an iconic moment in history, & all we wanted to do was 'forget about life for a while' & you destroyed it," one distraught viewer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The error seemingly only affected viewers in Eastern and Central time zones, cutting them off just before the final verse.
"#BillyJoel #MSG #100 concert not only starts a half hour late, but then you cut off the last 3-4 minutes for local news to start at 1130? Are you serious. Absolutely pathetic decision making, on an event that's been advertised for MONTHS, and you f- it up," another disgruntled fan wrote, further telling the network to "f- off."
The extensive advertising for the special was discussed further by a former CBS employee who witnessed the botched special, stating: "CBS has been promoting the Billy Joel concert special every two minutes for WEEKS. So what better way to air it than to preempt it for a half hour and then cut him off MID-PIANO MAN? C'mon guys," she wrote. "Disclaimer here that I spent three wonderful years with CBS and I love the network dearly... but as a media professional, I am straight up confounded by this decision."
Since the concert was interrupted for the local news, a news anchor caught wind of the heat and took to social media to apologize for the instance.
"I apologize to the people who were enjoying Billy Joel singing on TV then all of a sudden had to see my face. I'd have picked Billy Joel over me, too. I'm not even the Rex Smith who is the famous singer/actor," Cleveland broadcast journalist Rex Smith wrote, noting that he is not sure why it happened but assures fans that the network will investigate.
CBS has since responded to the backlash, apologizing for the cut-off and announcing that they will rebroadcast the special in its entirety on April 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
"A network programming timing error ended last night's Billy Joel special approximately two minutes early in the Eastern and Central Time Zones. We apologize to Mr. Joel, his fans, our affiliated stations, and our audience whose viewing experience was interuppted during the last song. Due to the overwhelming demand from his legion of fans, The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden - The Greatest Arena Run of All Time will be rebroadcast in its entirety on CBS on April 19th at 9:00PM ET/PT."
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