SANTA MONICA, Calif.—Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) and SOFA Entertainment have announced that the digital channels of "The Ed Sullivan Show" have surpassed one billion total views across all channels, including YouTube, Apple Music and Facebook.
The legendary variety show has also reached the 500K YouTube subscribers milestone and has racked up more than 250 million views on its YouTube channel since June of 2020 when the show expanded its reach exponentially via a global digital rights agreement between UMe and SOFA Entertainment Inc.
The library encompasses the show's historic 23-year primetime run on CBS. Scores of rarities were made available digitally for the first-time including iconic entertainers and influential figures from music, comedy, sports, film, dance, opera and Broadway, the companies said.
Across YouTube/Apple Music/Facebook, the most-viewed clips include The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" (58.5M streams), Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" (53.8M streams) and "Don't Be Cruel" (47.6M streams), Ike & Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" (47.5M streams), The Temptations' "Get Ready/Stop! In The Name of Love/My Guy" (34.8M streams), Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" (27M streams), Janis Joplin's "Maybe" (25.4M streams), and The Mamas & The Papas' "Words Of Love" (20.7M streams), "California Dreamin'" (17.8M streams), and "Creeque Alley" (16M streams).
"UMe and SOFA Entertainment's goal was to bring the incredible performances from The Ed Sullivan Show to the streaming era and to new audiences," comments Bruce Resnikoff, UMe president and CEO. "We are extremely proud to have reached these milestones as a result of our collaboration and we're excited about the future."
"Ed Sullivan was responsible for so many pivotal music and culturally significant television moments. These milestones underscore the overwhelming positive response we have seen as fans have embraced streaming these amazing performances and revitalized the brand," adds Josh Solt, CEO of SOFA Entertainment.
"Our decades-long relationship with UMe has been crucial to successfully making these historic and memorable segments available for people around the world to enjoy," adds Andrew Solt, Founder of SOFA Entertainment.
In 1990, Andrew Solt founded SOFA Entertainment Inc. and acquired The Ed Sullivan Show from the Sullivan family.
