MACON, Ga. — Fans of the "Piano Man" who tuned in to the network's 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 including at 13WMAZ.
Joel’s fans reached out to 13WMAZ, upset over the decision to pull the plug in the middle of him belting out his signature song at Madison Square Garden.
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.
Monday afternoon, CBS issued a statement and apology and said it would re-air the concert, in its entirety, on Friday, April 19 at 9 p.m.
“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 at CBS.com.