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WASHINGTON — Fans of the “Piano Man” who tuned in to the CBS taped concert special, “Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden,” were listening to the performer’s namesake song when the program suddenly cut to black and then went to local news on Sunday night.
Phone calls, Facebook messages, and emails expressing frustration and confusion flooded into local CBS TV stations immediately across the country.
The concert was originally scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Eastern but was pushed to just after 9:30 p.m. because of ongoing coverage of the Masters golf tournament.
The entire situation left many people confused. Because local news broadcasts began after CBS cut the Billy Joel special early, many took the brunt of viewers’ frustrations, but local TV stations did not have control of airing the concert in full.
CBS on Monday afternoon issued an apology and explained exactly what happened.
“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 interrupted during the last song.” the statement said. “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 19th at 9:00 p.m..”
For fans who’d like to watch Joel’s complete concert sooner — or just watch the grand finale of “Piano Man” — CBS posted the program on its website for free at CBS.com.
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