> Oct. 5:

"They wrote some lines and taught me a style, put a happy face on the script where I should smile, And the key demographics went right off the chart..."

--Bob Schieffer's country ditty about a TV anchorman

> Apr. 10:

"This is a time of amazing change for all of the evening newscasts. The last one has been a year unlike any we've seen across the industry in 20 years."

--Rome Hartman, to David Bauder

> May 24:

"I believed Elizabeth and Bob were the right people at the right time. Unfortunately, some insurgents in Iraq had a different idea."

--David Westin, to Matea Gold

> Jan. 4:

"What's scary right now is the average age of the network news viewer is 60 years old."

--Les Moonves, to Neil Cavuto

> Jan. 7:

"They're talking about giving Katie Couric $20 million. I say take that $20 million you could buy 40 reporters, 40 new reporters."

--Andy Rooney, to Larry King

> Apr. 3:

"Couric shouldn't leave NBC. Doing so would be a terrible mistake... It's clear that while Couric is very good at a lot of things - and she has to be, to be at Today - the CBS Evening News isn't a good fit."

--NY Daily News TV critic Richard Huff

> Jul. 24:

"Alert the media -- they've come up with the secret formula. It's called New Coke."

--An NBC spokesperson, reacting to ABC's decision to drop the "Tonight" from "World News Tonight." ABC responds by saying NBC Nightly News is "losing its fizz"

> Jun. 17:

"Among the places he had sought solace... was in 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' George Clooney's homage to Edward R. Murrow and the CBS News of old, a film that Mr. Rather said he had seen five times in theaters, most recently alone."

--Jacques Steinberg, writing about Dan Rather

> Oct. 30:

"We're like a franchise football team that went out and got a superstar and brought in some big hitters and we expected to be 8-and-0 at this point, and we're not."

--Byron Pitts, to Peter Johnson, talking about Katie Couric

> Nov. 29:

"To be honest with you, I think it's a political statement, not a news judgment."

--Rome Hartman, to Rebecca Dana, referring to NBC's "civil war" stance

> Sep. 26:

"Brian is back where God wanted him to be, at No. 1"

--Bob Wright, referring to Brian Williams' success after Couric's premiere