Off The Record

CBS Forced To Issue Official Apology To Billy Joel After Cutting His 100th MSG Concert Special Short

Published on April 17, 2024

Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden was a Sunday night spectacular that CBS shortened by few minutes after weeks of promotion.

The network apologized and said they will re-air the entire special because the fans weren’t happy.

Joel set a record with this concert, his 100th performance at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Enthusiastic viewers who had turned in on Sunday, April 14 started the evening off badly when the special was 30 minutes late because the Masters Tournament in 2024 was going into overtime.

Fans then had to put up with a set list that was “extremely out of order” and a ton of ads.

The cherry on top, though, came when viewers in the Eastern and Central time zones discovered that the special had ended suddenly in the middle of Joel’s well-known “Piano Man.”

“Just an absolute disaster by CBS tonight producing the Billy Joel concert. Ineptitude at its finest. Start it late and cut it off early. Just horrible. #BillyJoel100,” an angry viewer wrote.

“@CBS You just might to re-schedule Billy Joel’s concert that your affiliates cut short to go to local late night news. We fans are not happy. And there are a lot of TV, etc viewing options other than you….You need to bring him back,” wrote another.

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. @CBS @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/ugcEyLmuGL
— Join Me @ Post.news! (@LynneJMcCartney) April 15, 2024

“WTF — CBS New York of all places!!😠… You cut off the ending of the Billy Joel 100th show right at the ending of Piano Man!! Where’s the end of the show??” yet another dissatisfied fan wrote.

After the disastrous special, CBS was compelled to issue an apology.

According to CBS, a statement stated that “network programming timing error ended last night’s Billy Joel special approximately two minutes early in the Eastern and Central Time Zones,” as reported by Deadline. “We apologize to Mr. Joel, his fans, our affiliated stations, and our audience whose viewing experience was interrupted during the last song.”

On Friday, April 19, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, the special will air again on the network.