Two Cents

"I got into the medium to change things, to be different, to be funny. And increasingly what's happened is that material I want to do on the air I can't do. ... The rules are changing so rapidly and are so restrictive, especially for me."

Shock jock Howard Stern, to the Los Angeles Times, on his jump to Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006

"It don't mean shit right now. Daddy's won here 10 times."

Dale Earnhardt Jr., cursing live on NBC after his Oct. 3 victory at Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR fined him $10,000 and docked him 25 points, dropping him to second place in the league. NBC instituted a 5-second delay on future NASCAR broadcasts.

"[NASCAR President Mike] Helton made it clear ... that we, as a family sport, were taking this very seriously and adhering to FCC guidelines."

NASCAR spokesman Mike Zizzo, pointing out that the racing league had warned drivers in February about using profanity

"The popularity of [NASCAR] is based on colorful personalities and the fact that everyone can relate to these drivers and their emotions. Now it seems like that's a detriment."

Richie Gilmore, director of competition for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

"Though few viewers noticed, a short shot of a New York City edifice called the Puck Building in last Thursday's [Sept. 30] telecast of Will and Grace on NBC makes it look as if the building is named for an unprintable four-letter word."

Eagle-eyed Chicago Tribune arts critic Sid Smith, digging up dirty words on broadcast television. NBC promised not to use that shot again.

"By the way, I am not going to succeed Sumner [Redstone] … although he is on the short list for Disney."

Disney CEO Michael Eisner, joking with investors in New York last week. He will leave his position in 2006; Viacom CEO Redstone plans to step down within two years.

"Roughly three in 10 committed Bush voters (29%) cite Fox News as their main source of debate news. That is three times the number of certain Kerry voters who cite Fox News as their main source of information about the debate. CNN is the top debate news source among Kerry voters (21%), followed by ABC News (16%)."

From "Debate Coverage Viewed Favorably," a Pew Research Center study released last week

"The series needed Don King to instruct these amateurs in the intricacies of Trickeration 101 and how best to carry $200,000 in small bills around town in a duffel bag, as he did to lure Hasim Rahman from his rival, Cedric Kushner."

New York Times critic Richard Sandomir, on Fox's low-rated The Next Great Champ, which was unceremoniously moved to Fox Sports Net after only four episodes