BY THE NUMBERS: The Beatles on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’

Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter

February 9th, 2020 9:42 AM

One of the biggest events in TV history took place 56 years ago today.

After landing at New York’s JFK Airport two days prior, The Beatles made their American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, and music was never the same.

In honor of this iconic moment in pop culture history, here are some important statistics every music lover should know:

• Date of performance

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  The Beatles first performed on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' on February 9, 1964. The Fab Four would then perform on the variety show three more times. The second time was on February 16, 1964. The third time was February 23, 1964. Finally, the fourth time was on August 14, 1965.

• Distance from Heathrow Airport to JFK Airport

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  The distance from Heathrow Airport to JFK Airport is 3,446 miles. Coincidently, The Beatles were met by about the same amount of fans as there were miles separating Heathrow and JFK. It's still amazing to look at those photos of fans waiting for The Beatles to land. In a post 9/11 world, something like that is unheard of now.

• People who tuned in to watch

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  A staggering 73 million people tuned in to see The Beatles' for performance on 'Sullivan.' Fun fact: Their second performance on February 16 attracted 70 million viewers. Another fun fact: The venue now known as the Ed Sullivan Theater has a seat capacity of 728. CBS received 50,000 ticket requests for The Beatles' first performance.
• Percentage of American households that tuned in:

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  Going back to the viewer numbers: 45.3% of American households watched that first performance from The Beatles on 'Sullivan.' Nearly half of the entire United States watched this live! Those kind of numbers are insane! Few other events truly united the country quite like this.

• Songs played

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  The Beatles performed five songs during their first appearance on 'Sullivan.' Their mini-set was broken into two parts. The first part featured “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You” and “She Loves You.” The second part featured “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”

• Moments in TV history that matches The Beatles On ‘Sullivan’

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  Zero. Seriously, there really isn't another music moment quite like this in history. The timing of The Beatles was truly something else. Never forget that the U.S. was still in mourning after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Beatles brough incredible joy to a country -- specifically its youth -- that was so desperately needed.

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Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter

Category:

• Music

Tags:

the beatles