Sunday night’s CBS broadcast of Billy Joel’s landmark 100th concert at Madison Square Garden ended in frustration for fans across the Eastern and Central time zones. The excitement turned to dismay when, during Joel’s iconic performance of “Piano Man,” the broadcast abruptly cut to black, leaving viewers in the dark and disconnected from the communal sing-along.
The interruption was caused by an overlap with the network’s extended coverage of golf’s Masters Tournament, which pushed the entire schedule later than planned. Despite the delay, the broadcast was unexpectedly truncated to accommodate local news, causing an uproar among viewers.
Evan Closky, sports director of 10 Tampa Bay, expressed his regret over the incident on social media. He explained that the cutaway was due to a scheduling oversight related to the post-Masters special report, an error made beyond the control of local affiliates.
Fans flooded social media to vent their frustration, drawing parallels with the infamous 1968 “Heidi” game incident, where NBC switched from a live football game to a scheduled film, causing viewers to miss an exciting sports finale. The incident left Billy Joel enthusiasts lamenting what could have been a flawless broadcast of a milestone event in the singer’s career.
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