NBC adds racing delay
Profanity spurs NBC to add delay
Triggering the network's decision was a live interview Sunday with Dale Earnhardt Jr. during which the star driver uttered a choice four-letter word.
Ramifications of the Earnhardt Q&A have spread beyond the Peacock. A Federal Communications Commission source said that the agency is reviewing dozens of complaints about Earnhardt's indiscretion.
"We're disappointed for our viewers to have to do this, but the delay provides a level of protection against anything inappropriate going out over the air," said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, in an unusually frank statement. "We've come to the conclusion that taking this step provides the additional safeguard needed in today's climate."
Ebersol is referring to the baring of Janet Jackson's breast during a live performance at halftime of the Super Bowl in February and ABC's decision two months ago to slap a five-second delay on "Monday Night Football."
As for the FCC's investigation into whether NBC has broken any broadcast indecency laws, don't expect a ruling any time soon. The FCC "moves as fast as the Titanic," one knowledgeable source remarked. (The fine against CBS for Jackson's self-labeled "wardrobe malfunction" came six months after the fact.) No decision is expected on the Earnhardt utterance until at least early next year.
(Susan Crabtree in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.)
