TV & VIDEO - July 9, 1987

Viewers who tuned in to their favorite daytime TV shows Tuesday found instead the live continuing drama of the Iran-contra hearings, starring Lt. Col. Oliver North. But apparently North’s roguish good looks and the scintillating wordplay of chief House Iran-contra Committee counsel John L. Nields kept the people’s interest anyway. The Washington Post reported that by late afternoon, the CBS network in New York had received only about 300 calls complaining about the testimony coverage. (Previous live Iran-contra hearings coverage had prompted more than 1,000 calls.) At ABC, the count was 378 complaints, while NBC in Burbank and New York logged 12 approving calls, 232 complaining calls and another 780 “inquiries”--737 of which were from metropolitan Los Angeles. The Post also reported that continuous live coverage of The Ollie Show was costing the networks about $1 million each, per day, in lost advertising revenues.