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CBS' Huge Billy Joel Gaffe Leaves Viewers Aghast & Angry
Imagine having a televised concert so big you hype it on air for months. Now imagine what happens if you screw it up at literally the last minute.
That's what CBS is dealing with on Monday, after its much vaunted "Billy Joel In Concert" special wound up cutting off the artist's most famous song in the middle, went to black and then turned things over to affiliates for their local news. Joel was right in the middle of his signature "Piano Man," when the screen cut off in mid-lyric and never came back.
It all stems from CBS' delayed coverage of The Masters, which ran 30 minutes over, delaying the start of the concert. I was watching the network out of curiosity at the start of the show and was frankly stunned when they did a two minute "Special Report" on the Israel-Iran conflict, which was by then 24 hours old and offered absolutely no new information at all. Why they did that is beyond me, but it was enough to help cut the Piano Man off, as the network guaranteed their affiliates an 11:31 PM news start time.
I didn't see Global, which also had this show but started it at its scheduled time of 9 PM but I'm guessing they didn't have this issue. It's one time watching it on Canadian TV was better than the originating network.
As the usual suspects screamed bloody murder on social media, CBS has yet to address the disaster. One pundit compares it the infamous Heidi Bowl from decades ago on NBC, when the network cut away from the final moments of an important football game for a previously scheduled movie - only to have the contest completely turned around at the last minute, and no one saw it.
You can see this latest faux pas here.
CBS Cut Off Billy Joel's Concert in the Middle of Piano Man. What Happened Next Was Even Worse
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Re: CBS' Huge Billy Joel Gaffe Leaves Viewers Aghast & Angry
My PVR of it ended during Piano Man when it went black and I added 30 minutes to the 2hr recording. Limited to only 30 extra minutes, I recorded the next 1/2 hour show and it wasn't the concert. I don't know how the recording grid is set up or by whom, but it depends on reliable programming from the source to be accurate and this one was typical CBS following a long sporting event, it didn't account for the extra time at all and you just know it's going to run late.
Last edited by SpinningWheel (April 15, 2024 9:52 am)
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Re: CBS' Huge Billy Joel Gaffe Leaves Viewers Aghast & Angry
RadioActive wrote:
One pundit compares it the infamous Heidi Bowl from decades ago on NBC, when the network cut away from the final moments of an important football game for a previously scheduled movie - only to have the contest completely turned around at the last minute, and no one saw it.
The equivalent of the Hockey Night in Canada National News incident that got Dave Hodge fired.
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Maybe CBS will show the concert again soon. Programming is repeated later in the week on some occasions. Global ran the program at 9pm and all of Piano Man was included. This was maybe the highlight of the concert.
Global also chose to do something rare on broadcast TV. They actually ran all of the credits at the end with no overlap of promo or squeeze screen to include ads. They just ran the credits full screen, not speeded up but for all to read and it was kind of nice. Perfect end to a wonderful concert.
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I had Tracker set to record at 8 PM on CBS. When I saw The Masters had gone way overtime, I added at least another half hour on my DVR. It's my biggest TV pet peeve - you set your recorder for the schedule and then sports - football, golf and basketball are the worst offenders - goes way too long. Each and every weekend.
It's almost a regular Sunday night occurrence. It's kind of sad that the old "set it and forget it" DVR mode is gone on that night. You almost have to do your homework and be alert if you want to be sure your recording doesn't miss the ending.
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Thread Starter- SpinningWheel
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Re: CBS' Huge Billy Joel Gaffe Leaves Viewers Aghast & Angry
Maybe CBS will show the concert again soon. Programming is repeated later in the week on some occasions. Global ran the program at 9pm and all of Piano Man was included. This was maybe the highlight of the concert.
Global also chose to do something rare on broadcast TV. They actually ran all of the credits at the end with no overlap of promo or squeeze screen to include ads. They just ran the credits full screen, not speeded up but for all to read and it was kind of nice. Perfect end to a wonderful concert.
It's online at CBS (RA provided the link) but you need a VPN for the USA. Looks to me like they only chopped 2 minutes or so.
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Re: CBS' Huge Billy Joel Gaffe Leaves Viewers Aghast & Angry
Maybe CBS will show the concert again soon. Programming is repeated later in the week on some occasions. Global ran the program at 9pm and all of Piano Man was included. This was maybe the highlight of the concert.
Global also chose to do something rare on broadcast TV. They actually ran all of the credits at the end with no overlap of promo or squeeze screen to include ads. They just ran the credits full screen, not speeded up but for all to read and it was kind of nice. Perfect end to a wonderful concert.It's online at CBS (RA provided the link) but you need a VPN for the USA. Looks to me like they only chopped 2 minutes or so.
True, but the damage has been done. CBS should have been prepared for the Masters to run overtime. As was mentioned they had also been hyping this concert for a long time and that it would run at 9pm. Never should have scheduled it on Sunday in the first place since their Sunday schedule almost always gets screwed up.
As mentioned it was great to be able to look at the credits with all the information on the songs and music in the background with all of the thank you's to individuals and communities in the NY area.
Anyway I watched it on Global, and a much better experience with the program running at 9pm as advertised.
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I agree, CBS should have known the Masters would run overtime. It always, always, does. They should have scheduled it for another night or a different Sunday. This is totally on them. The fact they've yet to respond to this debacle also speaks volumes. If it hadn't been on Global, this might be a good "Touchdowns & Fumbles" topic on CFRB next Friday.
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Thread Starter- mace
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From what I have read online, some viewers in the Midwest did get to see the entire concert. WTHI in Terre Haute, Indiana and KMOV St.Louis did not cut away for local news. Don't know how that would be possible if this was a network decision.
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Likely a different time zone by an hour. So they didn't have to cut away for a delayed late news.
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Thread Starter- RadioAaron
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From what I have read online, some viewers in the Midwest did get to see the entire concert. WTHI in Terre Haute, Indiana and KMOV St.Louis did not cut away for local news. Don't know how that would be possible if this was a network decision.
I watched the second hour first, from Portland, and saw the whole song.
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One pundit compares it the infamous Heidi Bowl from decades ago on NBC, when the network cut away from the final moments of an important football game for a previously scheduled movie - only to have the contest completely turned around at the last minute, and no one saw it.
The equivalent of the Hockey Night in Canada National News incident that got Dave Hodge fired.
Much as I’ve admired Hodge’s career work, there were those who might have felt it was Hodge who got Hodge fired.
Last edited by mike marshall (April 15, 2024 1:53 pm)
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CBS has finally addressed this broadcast boo-boo, and after apologizing to viewers, has decided to rebroadcast the entire concert at 9 PM this Friday.
‘We apologize’: CBS vows to reair Billy Joel milestone concert after ending is cut off
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Thread Starter- RadioActive
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This move by CBS would initially seem to present an interesting dilemma for two Canadian networks - somewhat ironically, the same pair that were affected by the original Joel special.
Since CBS is showing a new SWAT at 8 PM on Friday night, that shouldn't be a problem for Global, which simulcasts it. But at 9 o'clock, they scheduled an episode of Fire County, which will be pre-empted and not shown south of the border. Do they sub with a repeat or something else? Actually, it may not matter, since this episode of the show is already a rerun. So Global in effect gets the show all to itself in North America as a result.
Then at 10, CTV is scheduled to show "Blue Bloods," which is normally on CBS Friday nights. Luckily for them, the Eye Network was supposed to follow their previous Fire County with yet another rerun of the same show, so nothing is lost there, either.
All those repeats may be one reason it was so easy for CBS to reschedule this two hour special. The only thing viewers will be missing are shows they've presumably already seen.
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Thread Starter- paterson1
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Interesting as well, tomorrow evening CTV and City TV have no simsub. CTV didn't have any Saturday night, Sunday night and none tomorrow. Simsub will always be with us, but ever since COVID the Canadian networks generally don't seem to have as much or as consistent in prime time.
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Re: CBS' Huge Billy Joel Gaffe Leaves Viewers Aghast & Angry
A similar issue happened to me this past weekend, my local IP didn't allow enough time for the conclusion of Curb Your Enthusiasm's final episode and my PVR stopped just as Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were meeting prior to the court hearing . I have read a synopsis online of the ending, but after watching all 12 seasons faithfully over the years, it was disappointing. Unfortunately, Sunwire up here does not have an on demand service in operation yet, although they assure me it is in the future. HBO is not showing a repeat of the finale on my next two week schedule.
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A similar issue happened to me this past weekend, my local IP didn't allow enough time for the conclusion of Curb Your Enthusiasm's final episode and my PVR stopped just as Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were meeting prior to the court hearing . I have read a synopsis online of the ending, but after watching all 12 seasons faithfully over the years, it was disappointing. Unfortunately, Sunwire up here does not have an on demand service in operation yet, although they assure me it is in the future. HBO is not showing a repeat of the finale on my next two week schedule.
I do not condone piracy in any way, but since you already subscribe and therefore pay to see "Curb," here's a link to the final episode. You can go to the part you missed and finally see it what way. Can't guarantee it works, but it won't cost you anything to try. Good luck!
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Re: CBS' Huge Billy Joel Gaffe Leaves Viewers Aghast & Angry
The full version of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" that CBS cut out of last Sunday has appeared online. You can see it here.
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Thread Starter- Radiowiz
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Re: CBS' Huge Billy Joel Gaffe Leaves Viewers Aghast & Angry
The full version of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" that CBS cut out of last Sunday has appeared online. You can see it here.
Saw it Friday night, thanks! There was nothing else all that much interesting on TV last night.
Glad CBS did this. Looks good on them!
I was actually worried as the last minute was approaching and the music was still singing on.
I honestly thought CBS was going to cut something off again, but nope! Everything fit perfectly!
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.
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Remember the controversy last April when a mistake cut off the last song of Billy Joel's heavily hyped MSG concert on CBS?
The singer has finally broken his silence on the big snafu and says he doesn't even like being on TV in the first place.
“I’ve never been really happy with the way music is presented on television. I think for TV people, it’s really all about the visual. If you’re looking at a television set, you’ll see a big screen and a little tiny speaker and that should tell you enough about where their priorities are. They have a hard time getting the audio right, and they also don’t really know how to present new music. I wasn’t surprised that it got cut off short because I’ve always kind of been cut short by TV.”
Billy Joel on Why He 'Wasn’t Surprised’ by His CBS Concert Special Snafu: ‘I’ve Always Kind of Been Cut Short by TV’
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