The Sign Off

An editor and I were talking about the way different TV anchors do their sign off. Of course we all know some of the more famous ones like Cronkite’s “And that’s the way it is” or Ron Burgandy’s “You stay classy San Diego”; but what about today’s anchors? Does anyone know their TV sign off?

I checked out some clips and here’s what I found:

Charles Gibson of ABC World News says, “and I hope you had a good day.” He delivers the line in a calm, empathetic tone like you just had a terrible day and he’s there to deliver the news and make you feel better too. When I occasionally watch the World News webcast, Charlie often introduces himself in a funny way like, “I AM Charles Gibson and this is the World News webcast.” It’s like we were questioning if the old man on our iPod screen was the man the show is named after. Or maybe he’s reaffirming who he was as the years catches up to his brain.

Over at CBS, Katie Couric finishes each night of the Evening News with, “Thank You for watching, hope to see you again tomorrow.” Her delivery has a hint of uncertainty that you will return to see her again tomorrow. I love how as the third rated news anchor, it’s like she’s subtely telling you that she hopes she doesn’t lose any more viewers than she already is. She might as well say, “I’m Katie Couric and I hope you don’t switch over to Charles Gibson tomorrow, good night.” Recently she’s thrown in a, “we’ll see you again tomorrow” instead of “hope to see you again tomorrow.” to keep things interesting.

My favorite evening news program is the NBC Nightly News. Brian Williams signs off with, “I am Brian Williams, we sure hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. Good night.” I think the difference between his sign off and Couric’s is that he has a confidence about him that portrays leadership- while Katie often has a dead tone that reflects the dead ratings CBS has. I also enjoy how when you often visit the video page of Nightly News, Williams throws in a freshly updated video welcome that highlights some of the new clips on the page- kinda like a Wal-Mart people greeter telling you what’s on sale.

Well I’m Patrick Pho, and I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Hope to see you again tomorrow. Good night.

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