Billy Joel concert special reairing Friday, April 19, on CBS after original broadcast was cut off

By Michael Balderston
published

CBS offering a redo after the special ended during performance of "Piano Man."

Billy Joel performing on stage during Billy Joel: The 100th - Live at Madison Square Garden
Billy Joel: The 100th - Live at Madison Square Garden (Image credit: James Devaney/CBS)

Turn the lights back on, CBS is giving fans another chance to watch its recent Billy Joel concert special after a programming error abruptly cut the original airing a few minutes short for many viewers. The reairing of Billy Joel: The 100th — Live at Madison Square Garden is set for Friday, April 19, at 9 pm ET/PT on CBS.

The special originally aired on Sunday, April 14, as a two-hour special in celebration of Joel's record-breaking 100th consecutive performance at Madison Square Garden and saw the iconic musician perform many of his classic songs. He closed out with what is arguably his most popular tune, "Piano Man," however the song was cut off midway through, leading many fans to voice their displeasure on social media.

CBS released a statement saying it was a programming error for those in Eastern and Central time zones, apologizing to both Billy Joel and his fans, and subsequently announcing details about the reairing.

This changes up CBS's Friday night primetime lineup a bit, with the special airing instead of Fire Country season 2 and Blue Bloods season 14. The good news is that it was always the plan for those shows to air reruns on April 19, so the schedule tweak is not impacting any new episodes of the popular CBS dramas. If you're a fan of the other CBS Friday show, S.W.A.T., a new episode of S.W.A.T. season 7 is airing in its usual time of 8 pm ET/PT on the network.

Honestly, CBS probably isn't complaining about having to reair the Billy Joel concert special, as the original broadcast of the show was watched by 5.7 million viewers. Per Nielsen viewing data, that makes it the fourth most-watched TV special in 2024 to date, trailing the Oscars, the Grammys and The Golden Globes. It also bested some big music-centric specials from 2023, including Barry Manilow Christmas and Christmas at Graceland.

If you don't want to wait for CBS to reair the special on April 19, Billy Joel: The 100th — Live at Madison Square Garden is available to stream right now on Paramount Plus, but of course, you must be a subscriber in order to watch it.

Michael Balderston
Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.