NEW ORLEANS — After promoting a concert by Billy Joel for the longest time, CBS pulled the plug early in the east and central time zones as the Piano Man was singing his signature song in the concert's finale.
WWL Louisiana's phones, Twitter mentions and Facebook messages lit up with disappointed and angry viewers who felt as if the waiter removed their dessert course before it was finished.
Monday afternoon, CBS issued a statement and apology and said it would re-air the concert, in its entirety, on Friday, April 19 at 8 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," said the statement from the network. "We apologize to Mr. Joel, his fans, our affiliated stations, and our audience whose viewing experience was interrupted during the last song. 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 8:00PM CST.”
When the finale was interrupted, Joel fans gave WWL Louisiana an earful.
"I was enjoying the Billy Joel concert that was televised on CBS in the evening of April 14, 2024. The concert was not finished when WWL news rudely broke into the concert to deliver the news. I wonder if other CBS affiliate stations around the country did the same thing," said one Facebook message, that was representative of the reaction and was one we could publish without choice words.
CBS has not officially said what caused the cutaway as of Monday morning, but much of the national media has stories about it.
The abrupt ending of the concert then switched to WWL Louisiana's 10 pm news, which gave some the impression that the local station had made the switch.