1. CBS CEO Laurence Tisch boasts that the network's $1 billion bid to acquire MLB network broadcast rights made economic sense based on "values" external to telecasts (Tisch would end up eating those words in the aftermath of the chaotic 1990-93 MLB on CBS marred by increased cable competition and internal shakeups at CBS {notably when Brent Musburger - best known as the longtime host of The NFL Today and who was set to be the network's lead play-by-play voice - was abruptly fired on April 1, 1990 following a power shift at CBS; just weeks before CBS coverage was set to begin})
2. Geraldo Rivera, fresh off the infamous episode of his talk show involving Congress of Racial Equality's Roy Innis and white supremacist John Metzger {son of White Aryan Resistance founder Tom} that led to a brawl and Geraldo taking a chair to the schnozzola, defends his "trash TV" approach to talk which became dominant in talk shows during the 1990s
3. CBS cancels two shows ("Raising Miranda" {this series being the first major project for future "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston} and "The Van Dyke Show" {which starred Dick Van Dyke alongside real-life son Barry; the two would have much more success a few years later with the 1993-2001 series "Diagnosis: Murder"}) and puts three others ("Annie McGuire" {a failing comeback vehicle for Mary Tyler Moore}; "Dirty Dancing" {an adaptation of the 1987 Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey megahit} and the aging "Simon & Simon" {which had already been given only a half-season}) on hiatus
4. FOX announces plans to expand programming to a third night (Mondays) beginning in June 1989
5. Shuffling at NBC News sees "NBC Nightly News" and "Today" reporting directly to NBC News president Michael Gartner; the shows who they had reported to, NBC News vice-president Tim Russert, being promoted to Washington bureau senior vice-president (with "Sunday Today" and the show Russert would eventually become moderator of, "Meet the Press", reporting to him); "Meet the Press" moving from 30 Rock to NBC's Washington studio along with new assignments for Washington-based NBC correspondents Andrea Mitchell (newly assigned to Capitol Hill as Chief Congressional Correspondent) and John Cochran (transferred to the Chief White House Correspondent position vacated by Chris Wallace's exit for ABC)
6. Two new Hollywood production firms launched; one (Patchett-Kaufman Entertainment) focused on TV while the other (The Zanuck Company) would start focusing on film before attempting TV after 6 months
7. NPR seeking outside help to chart its course for the 1990s
8. FCC by 2-1 margin approves effort to give greater flexibility in choosing antenna sites despite the NAB fearing it might hurt FM's quality
9. PacTel CEO Lee Cox says company is focused on acquiring cable services outside its area in partnership with cable operators
10. Cable and phone companies look to expand by raising more interest in foreign cable systems
11. A look at forecasts on the media industry as a whole for 1989
12. FiberView announces flat panel screen prototype
13. Advanced Television Test Center announces broadcasters will have time and treasure needing to test high-definition TV
14. Debate over courtroom cameras in light of the Joel B. Steinberg trial
15. Interview with game-show producer Dan Enright (whose work - often alongside the late Jack Barry - included "The Joker's Wild" but was most remembered for "Twenty One"; one of the shows at the center of the late 1950s quiz show scandals when many of those were revealed to have been rigged)


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