It has been 50 years since The Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, signifying their official US debut and instant takeover of American pop culture.

To celebrate the historic performance's 50th anniversary, Apple has quietly launched a new channel on Apple TV called The Beatles. As you might have guessed, the channel highlights footage from The Beatles' three consecutive landmark appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.

If you're wondering why Apple has spotlighted The Beatles versus any other band in pop culture history, keep in mind that the channel also promotes The Beatles' US albums and their recent arrival on iTunes for the first time. In addition, Steve Jobs, Apple's late CEO, was a a huge fan of The Beatles.

Jobs notably once referred to The Beatles as a perfect model for business. "They were four guys that kept each other’s negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts," Jobs said. "Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people." 

You can access Apple TV's new channel and The Beatles' original 14-minute performance free of charge, starting today. You might notice the channel's UI features recycled campaign imagery from an old iTunes advert (above). It is not clear when Apple will remove the channel, so turn on your set-top boxes now.