Paul McCartney 1964

Paul McCartney 1964, age 21, hand drawn during rehearsals on February 16, 1964 at the Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach, FL for the live performance of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show that evening.

At 8 o’clock on February 9th 1964, America tuned in to CBS and The Ed Sullivan Show.
But this night was different. 73 million people gathered in front their TV sets to see The Beatles’ first live performance on U.S. soil.
The television rating was a record-setting 45.3, meaning that 45.3% of households with televisions were watching. That figure reflected a total of 23,240,000 American homes.
The show garnered a 60 share, meaning 60% of the television’s turned on were tuned in to Ed Sullivan and The Beatles.

Their 2nd appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show was a week later (February 16), this time broadcasting from Miami Beach. The Beatles rehearsed at 2pm that afternoon.

That night at 8pm, when it was time for The Beatles to perform, a teaming throng of teenagers blocked the group’s access to the ballroom.
As security guards wedged a passageway through the crowd for The Beatles, the show was being broadcast to America. Unaware of the delay in New York, Ed Sullivan was about to introduce them.

Jim Moffitt, Asst. Director recalls; “Ed is saying ‘And now, here are—(a beat)—The Beatles right after this.’ And he went to a commercial. And during the commercial, finally at the end, The Beatles broke through, they came running up the aisle, they got hooked up, and I believe there was one microphone that didn’t get hooked up.
But you couldn’t tell because all you could hear was the screaming.”

The Beatles plowed through “She Loves You,” “This Boy” and “All My Loving” for their first set.
The boys returned to close the show with performances of “I Saw Her Standing There,” “From Me to You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

The second show also attracted 40% of the American population.

The band performed 4 times on the Ed Sullivan Show, their final show was on September 12, 1965.

The four historic Beatles appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show attracted an audience of a 250 million people.

In terms of percentage of America’s population, the first two shows remain the highest viewed regularly scheduled television programs of all time.

The final appearance of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, like those in February 1964 aired in black and white.
However, at the end of the evening, Sullivan broke the news that the following week, his show would start broadcasting in color.

So The Beatles were just a week from having their performance captured and preserved forever in color.

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