He looked like Richard Nixon and spoke like a Dalek with a mouthful of marbles, but for 20 years Ed Sullivan was the biggest musical tastemaker in American TV, and thus the world. From 1948 to 1971 his TV show was required viewing for anyone who wanted to see the hot new artists sing live, not miming, as well as a rota of established family favourites. And on Tuesday (Radio 2, 10.30pm) one of them, the comedian Joan Rivers, who appeared 19 times, tells the story in Ed Sullivan and the Gateway to America.

The Gateway? Sounds a bit grand? But not if you consider that one appearance on Sullivan’s Sunday night show could attract an audience greater than from years of nonstop touring. Simon Cowell should have that much power. He bullies nonentities; Sullivan could – and, on occasion, did – bully the stars. He told Bo Diddley what to sing and then, when he didn’t, bounced him off the show. He told Bob Dylan not to do his satirical Talking John Birch Blues and Dylan stalked off the set, never to return.

But he also provided the two greatest acts in pop with their crowning moments. In 1956 Elvis Presley appeared and 82 per cent of the viewing population tuned in. Then, in 1964, Sullivan went one better, but this time with a breaking act in America. The Beatles, despite being at No 1, could have gone either way when they appeared on three consecutive Sundays. Afterwards, when 73 million record-buying Americans had seen them, they were gods. And Ed Sullivan had made them so.

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