THE HUNTLEY BRINKLEY REPORT * NBC Television Network * NOVEMBER 18, 1963

THIS DAY in POP MUSIC HISTORY

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In the United States, November 18, 1963, on a Monday evening, the Beatles were given their first American television exposure, coast-to-coast. It was seen on NBC-TV during a broadcast segment of the Huntley Brinkley Report.

“Dispatches from Britain have been talking about a ‘new sound,’ for awhile we thought the new sound was Prime Minister Douglas Hume . . .” Chet Huntley lamented as he opened this special report. Narrating the NBC visual with his reporting, NBC correspondant David Newman referred to the Liverpool Beatles fans as “children,” detailing one account also when fans were screaming, watching (“not heard”) the Beatles perform while “under police protection,” having almost created, as he described to NBC television viewers that evening, “. . . a near riot.”

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