On This Day: American Bandstand Debut

Rate a record, and it's The Beatles?
By Frances Langum — August 5, 2025

[Above, some 1964 teens rate both sides of a 45rpm record by The Beatles.]

In late spring of 1957, ABC asked its owned-and-operated stations and affiliates for programming suggestions to fill their 3:30 p.m. ET time slot. In Philadelphia, WFIL was already pre-empting ABC programming with Bandstand. Clark presented the show to ABC president Thomas W. Moore, and after negotiations, it was picked up for national broadcast, becoming American Bandstand on August 5, 1957, hosted by Dick Clark.

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