Amending an earlier ruling, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in November 1987 said that stations would be free to air "indecent" material between midnight and 6 A.M. without concern of FCC actions. In the last two years, radio broadcasters especially had come under rising public strain because some disk jockeys had acquired recognition through the use of "shock radio"—vulgar, often sexually oriented comments and stunts. In April, the clash with shock radio caused the FCC to caution broadcasters that it would begin imposing a broader definition of indecency. That warning came in response to broadcasts at three FM stations—KPFK in Los Angeles, WYSP in Philadelphia, and KCSB in Santa Barbara, Calif.

CBS gave up on its poorly rated "Morning Program" less than a year after the show began as competition to the more popular "Today" show on NBC and "Good Morning America" on ABC. In late November, CBS unveiled its new morning show, "CBS This Morning."

During the 1986-1987 prime-time television season and continuing into the 1987-1988 programming schedule, NBC held a commanding lead in ratings over ABC and CBS. The method of measuring the ratings itself became news in September, when viewership was calculated using a new measuring device called people meters. These devices, which require participating viewers to punch a series of buttons on a remote-control device each time they watch television, were thought to give advertisers more accurate information about the ages and types of viewers watching television than the previous measuring procedure. In the old method, a device called a black box recorded when a television set was turned on and what channel it was tuned to but did not monitor who in the household was actually watching.

Mainstream Rock also flourished in 1987, particularly in the heavy metal style. Pop metalists Bon Jovi released Slippery When Wet, which topped the pop albums chart for 7 weeks and the music video chart for 28 weeks. Bon Jovi also helped pave the way for a metal explosion in which seven other metal acts had top-10 hits—Whitesnake, Poison, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Europe, Cinderella, and Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads.

Fox put together a line-up of programs for two nights—Saturday and Sunday—beginning in the spring of 1987, with hopes of gradually adding more programs. Fox affiliate stations were independent stations that were not aligned with NBC, ABC, or CBS. Some Fox shows, including "Married with Children" and "The Tracey Ullman Show," pleased some critics, and actor George C. Scott drew attention for his role in a comedy called "Mr. President." But Fox was hardly competitive with the major networks in ratings.

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