Johnny Carson Clips Are Coming to iTunes

The popularity of Johnny Carson goes on, and so does the business of Johnny Carson, as new ways are introduced to access highlights from the late-night host’s 30-year career on “The Tonight Show.”

Starting Tuesday, for the first time, fans of the show can go to Apple’s iTunes store and for $1.99 pull up everything from specific shows to special compilations, like Mr. Carson interacting with animals or a full hour of the best stand-up comedy performances from the show.

At the same time, a collection of some of the best interviews Mr. Carson conducted during his tenure is available in a special series on the TCM cable channel, introduced by one of Mr. Carson’s many devoted late-night heirs, Conan O’Brien. The guests include the royalty of show business, from Fred Astaire to Robin Williams.

The new deal with iTunes was made possible by the decision several years ago to digitize more than 4,500 hours of “Tonight” editions, during the period 1972 to 1992. As television historians know, the first 10 years of Mr. Carson’s run were erased by an NBC engineer.

But Jeff Sotzing, the president of the Carson Entertainment Group (and Mr. Carson’s nephew), has found continuing ways to make the material available to fans and, increasingly he said, to people looking to find a family member’s moment of fame with Johnny.

Mr. Sotzing said the Apple deal sprang from such a request, when a man who appeared on the show as a boy doing bird calls was looking for his big television moment. The digitization of the material has made it possible to find segments based on certain key words, so Mr. Sotzing was easily able to help.

Then he received some help in return when the man suggested that his wife, who specialized in placing media on hand-held and other devices, might be of use. That woman, Kristin McDonnell, became Mr. Sotzing’s consultant and helped put together the Apple deal.

Beyond the highlights, the deal also includes alert tones for cellphones. You can get Johnny saying, “Call your mother,” or ‘Happy Birthday.”

The Carson material has also become easily searchable for all kinds of media requests, Mr. Sotzing said. He recalled that the David Letterman show had sought on several occasions to find a “Tonight” appearance by Al Franken to coincide with a guest shot with Mr. Letterman.

“I had a database at the time and there was no appearance by Al Franken,” Mr. Sotzing said. “I told them it was an urban myth.”

But after the material was fully digitized, Mr. Sotzing found the moment easily. Mr. Franken had appeared in the audience in a “Stump the Band” segment.

“And now he’s a U.S. senator,” Mr. Sotzing noted. “It’s amazing what you can find.”