The peak of TV attention can be assigned an exact date: Sunday, September 9, 1956, when Elvis Presley made his first appearance on television, on CBS’s Ed Sullivan Show. Its 82.6 percent share of US viewers has never been equaled or bettered.
Elvis Presley helped make the Ed Sullivan show the legendary institution it became when he made his notorious debut on September 9th, 1956, when he treated the crowd to a provocative rendition of ‘Don’t Be Cruel’.