Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to May's original story than Marks' song, which had not yet been written. It was reissued in 1951 with the song added. May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, adapted the story of Rudolph into a song. Gene Autry's recording of the song hit No. 1 on the "Billboard" pop singles chart the week of Christmas 1949. Autry's recording sold 2.5 million copies the first year, eventually selling a total of 25 million, and it remained the second best-selling record of all time until the 1980s. DC Comics, then known as National Periodical Publications, published a series of 13 annuals titled "Rudolph the
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special) Couple of Misfits". The special has been edited to make more time for commercial advertising by shortening some musical numbers. When "Rudolph" was first issued on VHS, Betamax, and LaserDisc by Family Home Entertainment and Broadway Video from 1989 to 1997 under the "Christmas Classics Series" label, the 1965 rebroadcast print described above was used. All current video prints of "Rudolph" by Classic Media are a compendium of the two previous telecast versions of the special. All the footage in the current versions (starting with the 1998 VHS by Sony Wonder) follow the original 1964 NBC broadcast (without the original