TV & VIDEO - March 13, 1987

News writers picketing the CBS bureau in Washington had company Thursday morning as Reps. John Bryant (D-Tex) and Dennis E. Eckart (D-Ohio) held a sidewalk press conference calling for Congressional hearings to examine the public impact of the corporate restructuring of the major television networks. “We are deeply concerned that, with the rush to profits, the public interest has been trampled,” Eckart said. The lawmakers said Congress should review whether the public-interest standard that the Federal Communications Commission applies to ownership and control of individual television stations should also be applied to the networks.