Week of July 1, 1986

The Supreme Court grants strong new support for affirmative action plans for

hiring and promoting minorities, rejecting the Reagan Administration’s contention

that only the actual victims of discrimination are entitled to special job

preferences. After eight years of battle over affirmative action, employers may

give minorities preference in hiring and promotions as long as whites do not

suffer in an immediate way, such as losing their jobs.

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev says he hopes that his

recent letter to President Reagan containing new proposals for

curbing nuclear weapons will break the deadlock in U.s.-Soviet

arms control talks.

President Reagan and First Lady Nancy officially re-open the

Statue of Liberty, which had been closed since May of 1984

due to reconstruction.

Cannot redraw boundaries - The Supreme

Court declares political gerrymandering unconstitutional for

the first time, ruling that a winning party cannot blatantly

redraw voting boundaries to give itself a partisan advantage.

A Cuban refugee wielding a two-foot sward goes berserk on

the Staten Island ferry carrying tourists and commuters in

New York Harbor. He killed a man and a woman and

wounded 12 others before a retired policeman stopped him a

gunpoint.

An experimental 343-foot airship made from a blimp and

parts of four helicopters catches fire and crashes near the

same spot of the famed Hindenburg (NJ) at Lakehurst. One

of five crewmembers is killed.

The Health and Human Services Department announces that the federal

government will pour $100 million into a major nationwide research program to

search for drugs effective against AIDS.

In London - A dapper jeweler suspected of melting down the gold bars in the $39

million Brinks 1983 robbery is arrested after stepping off a plane from Rio de

Janeiro. John Palmer who earned the sobriquet “Goldfinger” was detained at the

airport.

Week of July 1, 1986

Reasons To Get A Phone Mate Telephone Answering Machine

Former Foreign Minister Arturo Tolentino proclaims himself acting president of

the Philippines and with the backing of hundreds of rebellious army and Marine

Corps troops, commandeered the Manila Hotel as his “official seat of the

government.”

Exiled Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos, whose war heroism and financial

dealings are under close scrutiny, denies in an angry letter to a Manila

newspaper that he cheats in golf. Columnist Dindo Gonzalez of the Business

day newspaper had accused Marcos of signing false golf scores to lower his

handicap.

John J. Sirica, the tough-minded federal judge who guided the Watergate

scandal from a third-rate burglary to the resignation of President Richard Nixon,

says he is retiring. “I’m just tired,” said Sirica, now 82.

Week of July 1, 1986

Media - Allen H. Neuharth - the colorful chairman of

Gannett steps down. “We think the band is playing. It’s

a good time to change the guard.” Neuharth built

Gannett into a media giant. Some though, are amazed

he’s stepping down before his “USA Today” national

newspaper is yet to show a profit. He’ll be replaced by

president John Curley. Neuharth had been Gannett

president since 1970.

Advertising trend - Seen - new wave TV

commercials which ad pros say are now aimed at

grabbing emotions rather than feeding information.

Some are min-epics that evoke patriotism romance or

a particular life style in just 30 seconds. “It’s gotta be

entertaining. You can’t say ‘Look here, this is the widget,’ anymore. You have to

make the widget fly into space and come back down” said one executive. These

new-wave commercials are aimed at affluent baby boomers and feature either a

catchy new jingle or a hit song from the 1960’s. Many attribute the new creative

approaches to the influence of MTV. Also, a remote control, combined with cable

TV has given viewers the option of switching to other shows ruing a commercials,

something the industry calls “zapping.” On videocassette machines, viewers skip

fast-forward or “zip” through recorded commercials. Thus zippers. “If there’s any

kind of trend, it’s that music has finally reached the status of being as important

as the picture.”

Sports - Martina Navratilova wins her 5 th singles crown at Wimbledon, this time

defeating Hana Mandikova.

Radio news -

Howard Stern, the often controversial New York City

DJ/talker, will be syndicated by DIR to other stations. Stern,

who joined rocker WXRK (New York) late last year, has seen

his ratings rise from a 1.2 to a 3.4 and up to a 5.2 share in

the recent ratings. “The Howard Stern Show” will mix music

and talk equally. At WXRK, Stern plays about 6 songs per

hour. The national show will be weekly only. Rock columnist Lisa Robinson will

contribute music news to the show, which has already lined up interviews with

David lee Roth, Cyndi Lauper and Phil Collins. DIR is best known as the

producer/distributor for the “King Biscuit Flower Hour.” Stern is following a pattern

with high-profile DJ’s and national weekly shows: Rick Dees at KIIS-FM, John

Lander at KKBQ Houston and Scott Shannon from Z-100 all have national

Week of July 1, 1986

weekly shows, but Stern’s will present or lean heavy personality and will not

emphasize the music.

Entertainment news -

Ventriloquist Paul Winchell wins a $17.8 million

verdict in a decade-long fight against Metromedia

Inc. which he claims destroyed the only remaining

tapes of his “Winchell-Mahoney Time” Kid’s show

of the 1960’s, in a dispute over syndication rights.

Music news -

MTV is airing five exclusive clips culled from the

“Secret Policeman’s Other Ball” benefit concert

and tagging all the clips with Amnesty International’s 800 toll-free number in an

effort to keep contributions coming in.

Boy George denies his brother’s claim that he is a heroin addict. “I’m fit enough

to run the London marathon,” the singer told journalists.

At Manor, Texas - more than 40,000 pop music fans

brace the sticky South Texas heat to share the Fourth of

July with some 75 Farm Aid II stage performers ranging

from Waylon Jennings and the Blasters, Los Lobos, the

Beach Boys, Johnny Paycheck and of course, Willie

Nelson. Also performing - Motley Crue, Joe Walsh and Bon Jovi. VH-1 and

Westwood One radio carried the entire Farm Aid Ii concert while MTV also did

some coverage.

Television news -

ABC confirms that talk show host Dick Cavett is returning with a new weeknight

show to follow “Nightline.”

Home satellite dish owners (C-band) who have been

tuning to CNN and CNN Headline News will now need a

descrambler. The nation’s estimated 1.7 million home

dish owners will now have to buy the box for $395 and

pay $25 a year to receive the CNN services. HBO and

Cinemax began scrambling last January 15. Scrambling

has sparked protests from many home dish owners, who

complain they’ll be charged too much to se the programs

they used to get free. Most will pay a fee, but they fear they’ll pay more than say

cable subscribers because the decoders won’t unscramble all the networks. CNN

announced a venture with HBO, saying customers calling HBO to subscribe can

Week of July 1, 1986

order CNN at the same time. A similar deal is expected to be reached with

Showtime and the Movie Channel, which began scrambling their signals May 27.

CBS says it will cut up to 600 jobs in its broadcasting division as early as this

week as part of its overall cost-cutting program. The cuts are the most extensive

at CBS in 15 years. The cuts come in the face of slow growth of ad revenues.

“Countdown to Liberty weekend” - as all networks get geared to hone the stature

of Liberty’s 100 th birthday party. All of this was evident on network morning

shows all

week.

Week of July 1, 1986

A.C. Nielsen reports that the CBS Evening News has slipped to #3 in network

newscasts. “Nightly News,” anchored by tom Brokaw last month snapped the

213-week winning streak that Dan Rather’s newscast had enjoyed.

The Goodwill games from Moscow begin their 16-day run on Ted Turner’s

WTBS.

Wednesday night television -

CBS - Foley Square, Charlie & Company, Airwolf, West 57 th , (late night) T.J.

Hooker

NBC - Highway to Heaven, Gimme a Break,

You Again? St. Elsewhere, Tonight Show

ABC - Liberty Weekend Preview, Hardcastle

and McCormick, Hotel, Nightline

PBS - Justice for All

HBO - Bob Dylan in Concert

Liberty Weekend Preview - With Barbara

Walters and Hugh Downs.

Hot Hits -

Invisible Touch - Genesis

Holding Back the Years - Simply Red

Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel

Nasty - Janet Jackson

There’ll Be sad Songs (To Make You Cry) - Billy Ocean

Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins

Tuff Enuff - Fabulous Thunderbirds

No One is To Blame - Howard

Jones

Your Wildest Dreams - Moody

Blues

When The Heart Rules The Wind -

GTR

Glory of Love - Peter Cetera

Like a Rock - Bob Segar & The

Silver Bullet Band