The King of Rock and Roll teamed up with TV’s reigning variety
program, as Elvis Presley appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show”
for the first time on September 9, 1956.

After earning big ratings for “The Steve Allen Show,” the
Dorsey Brothers “Stage Show” and “The Milton Berle Show,”
Sullivan finally reneged on his Presley ban, signing the
controversial singing star to an unprecedented $50,000 contract
for three appearances.

With 60 million viewers—or 82.6 percent of TV viewers at the time—tuning in, the appearance garnered the show’s best
ratings in two years and became the most-watched TV
broadcast of the 1950s.

   Ed Sullivan

Bernard Shaw (May 22, 1940 – September 7, 2022)

Shaw was an journalist and news anchor for CNN from 1980 until
his retirement in March 2001. Prior to his time at CNN, he was a
reporter and anchor for WNUS, Westinghouse Broadcasting, CBS
News, and ABC News.

Bernard Shaw died at a hospital in Washington, D.C. after
contracting pneumonia.