Short answers, pulled from the story.
American Bandstand premiered locally as Bandstand on WFIL-TV Channel 6 in Philadelphia in late March 1952. It was created and initially hosted by Bob Horn as a television extension of his radio show of the same name on WFIL.
Dick Clark hosted American Bandstand from 1957 until the end of its ABC run in 1987 and remained as executive producer through the show's final broadcast on USA Network in October 1989. He served as the show's primary presenter for over three decades.
American Bandstand moved to the ABC Television Center in Los Angeles on the 8th of February 1964. The move was prompted by WFIL-TV relocating to a new Philadelphia facility that had no studio large enough to accommodate the show.
Prince, the Jackson 5, Sonny and Cher, Aerosmith, and John Lydon's PiL all made their American television debuts on American Bandstand. The show served as an early national television platform for a wide range of musical acts.
American Bandstand was canceled in 1989 after a sustained ratings decline driven by competition from MTV and other music programs. By the late 1980s, its format of teenagers dancing to Top 40 hits was widely viewed as outdated compared to programs offering music videos and artist interviews.
Rate-a-Record was a recurring segment in which Dick Clark asked two audience members to score two records each on a scale of 35 to 98. Clark then averaged their scores and asked them to justify their ratings, giving rise to the catchphrase "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it."