Broadcaster Osgood to Bid Adieu
August 29 2016 - 12:10AM
Dow Jones News
After nearly 50 years as a mellifluous-voiced radio and
television broadcaster at CBS News, Charles Osgood announced Sunday
that he will retire late next month.
In his typical low-key way and wearing his signature bow tie,
Mr. Osgood told his "CBS News Sunday Morning" audience that he
would be bidding farewell on Sept. 25. The edition will be a
tribute to his legacy on and off "Sunday Morning."
Mr. Osgood, however, said he would make occasional appearances
on the 90-minute weekly program.
"For years now, people—even friends and family—have been asking
me why I continue doing this, considering my age," said the
83-year-old Mr. Osgood. "It's just that it's been such a joy doing
it.…It's been a great run, but after nearly 50 years at CBS…the
time has come."
And then he sang a few wistful bars from a favorite folk song:
"So long, it's been good to know you. I've got to be driftin'
along."
No successor has been named. Among those under consideration
reportedly are "Sunday Morning" colleagues Jane Pauley, Anthony
Mason and Lee Cowan.
Meanwhile, the program continues to be a ratings leader. With a
year-to-date audience of nearly 6 million viewers, it consistently
tops rival Sunday morning news shows.
Mr. Osgood "has one of the most distinctive voices in
broadcasting, guiding each broadcast, making sure the words were
just right, and being a calming, reassuring presence to our
viewers," said CBS News President David Rhodes.
Mr. Osgood is leaving a job only one other person has held since
"Sunday Morning" premiered in 1979.
Charles Kuralt retired in 1994 after molding the position in his
own easygoing image and hosting for 15 years.
Mr. Osgood seemingly had an impossible act to follow. But with
his folksy erudition and his slightly bookish, bow-tied style, he
quickly clicked with viewers who continued to embrace the program
as an unhurried TV magazine that, as before, seemed defined only by
the curiosity of its host and staff.
Even then, Mr. Osgood already was a CBS veteran.
In 1967, he took a job as reporter on the CBS-owned New York
news radio station. Then, one fateful weekend, he was summoned to
fill in at the anchor desk for the TV network's Saturday
newscast.
In 1971, he joined the CBS network.
Since then, he has proved to be a broadcaster who can write
essays and light verse as well as report hard news, a man who has
continued to work in both radio and television with equal
facility.
He once described himself as "a radio guy who finally stopped
being terrified of the camera."
His "Sunday Morning" trademark signoff included: "I'll see you
on the radio."
Mr. Osgood has been an anchor and reporter for many CBS News
broadcasts on both TV and radio.
He has long delivered "The Osgood File" on radio, and will
continue to do so, when, if the mood strikes, he might offer up a
poem or sing another song.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 28, 2016 23:55 ET (03:55 GMT)
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