CBS reschedule Billy Joel special following disastrous coverage
On March 28th, Billy Joel performed the 100th and final show in his final residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden. CBS taped the show for broadcast under the title Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden on April 14th, but fans hoping to catch the show on television encountered a series of unfortunate technical glitches.
The coverage cut out during the 74-year-old singer’s performance of fan favourite ‘Piano Man’. Following a tirade of criticism on social media, CBS has now issued an official apology. “A network programming timing error ended last night’s Billy Joel special approximately two minutes early in the Eastern and Central Time Zones,” CBS stated.
The broadcaster understands the frustration encountered by fans and the performer. “We apologise to Mr. Joel, his fans, our affiliated stations, and our audience whose viewing experience was interrupted during the last song,” the statement continued.
Although the moment may have passed for some fans, CBS has scheduled an airing of the recorded footage “due to the overwhelming demand” from Joel’s “legion of fans”. Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden will be rebroadcast in its entirety on CBS on April 19th at 9:00PM ET/PT.
The announcement comes after viewers bemoaned the subpar coverage and also noted that CBS rubbed salt in the wound with the inclusion of far too many commercial breaks. Additionally, the live event was delayed by half an hour due to the 2024 Masters golf tournament coverage running overtime.
Some broadcasters whose coverage was affected by the cut-out made personal statements via social media. “As a man who grew up right next to Billy Joel’s hometown, who went to The Last Play at Shea, it was my duty to apologise to everyone about cutting off our telecast of Billy Joel tonight,” Evan Closky, sports director at 10 Tampa Bay, wrote on X.
Closky seemed to cite the Masters coverage as the cause of the glitch. “Not to get into the weeds, but there was a special report after the Masters and it wasn’t accounted for by the powers that be beyond this building,” he added.
At present, Billy Joel has not issued a statement regarding the fractured broadcast but has shared CBS’s apology and rebroadcast announcement on his official X account. See the post and watch footage from one of Joel’s recent Madison Square Garden shows below.
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