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ENDING YOUR RADIO SHOW WITH YOUR OWN CATCH PHRASE

Recently I wrote about the bad advice many radio personalities have been given: “Never say goodbye at the end of your show, because that tells people you’re leaving.”

Here’s one solution that works quite well for some jocks:

Come up with a standardized way (which does not necessarily mean saying the same thing verbatim every day) of ending your show.

If you have a humorous on-air style, this will help you:

You might choose to use the same words to end each program.

Casey Kasem got a lot of mileage out of, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”

(No, that’s a bit too schmaltzy to fit my style. But to his everlasting good fortune, Casey is not I.)

Paul Harvey relied on just two words — plus a ton of precipitous silence — to end his program: “Good day!”

Two generations back, American TV journalist Edward R. Murrow ended each report with, “Good night and good luck.”

(Granted, Dan Rather had a lot less success with the bizarre, pretentious “Courage” as his sign-off. But hey, he tried.)

A generation later, it was Carol Burnett tugging on her earlobe at the end of her comedy/variety show. (A signal to her grandmother. I always hated that. But I didn’t watch the show very much, and I’m sure it was a hit with her fans.)

Long ago on Los Angeles radio, I would enjoy the wry remarks of The World Famous Tom Murphy, who often ended his show by saying, “And remember, each day do a little bit more than is expected of you…and pretty soon they’ll come to expect it of you.”

Years later I met Tom and told him how much I used to enjoy that sign-off. Tom told me the story behind it, which I’m sure we’d all be quite amused by if only I could remember it.

But rather than frequently ending his show that way, he should have ended every program with it. Then it would have become his trademark.

Huh??

Didn’t I already say I do not necessarily mean you should say the same thing verbatim every day?

Yes.

But if you say it so often that people wait for you to say it at the end of your show, it’s probably a good idea to give them what they want.

Next Installment: Don’t like ending with your own catch phrase? Some other suggestions you might like instead….

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Chuck Igo September 13, 2011, 9:24 am

    in this day and age of constant downsizing, sometimes saying “bye” at the end of the shift is the only chance you’ll get.

  • Tom Berg September 13, 2011, 2:00 pm

    I still remember the Greasemans sign off…A M F!!! Adios….My Friends!!

  • Jim Robinson November 6, 2011, 2:07 pm

    My Late friend Les Sarnoff at KINK and KGON in Portland use to sign off with “I’m Les Sarnoff, I’ve been Les Sarnoff all morning and I’ll be Les Sarnoff when I when I return at 6 AM tomorrow.” I guess you could call it the Sarnoff sign off. He passed on my suggestion: “More music and Les Sarnoff.”

  • Mark Nicholas November 6, 2011, 3:36 pm

    One of my favorites was Art Roberts on WLS in the 60’s: “This has been a work of art. Excelsior!”

  • Rj Chetan November 12, 2011, 8:50 pm

    I use ” DOnt forget to use protection, Iam talking about seat belts and Helmets”