A tearful Iowa TV anchor whose emotional on-air farewell went viral has attracted scrutiny over the striking similarities between his goodbye speech and the sign-off delivered years earlier by legendary Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen.
Dustin Nolan, the former morning anchor at KWQC-TV in Davenport, Iowa, drew national attention last week after choking up while announcing he was leaving both the station and the news business.
But media industry watchdog FTVLive noted that several of Nolan’s remarks closely resembled lines delivered by Hansen during his celebrated retirement broadcast on Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA in September 2021.
“Nolan’s video was getting all kinds of play, but if it sounded familiar to you, there might be a reason for that,” FTVLive noted.
The similarities went beyond a single phrase.
Both men spoke about television’s duty to make viewers uncomfortable, criticized “sanitized” news, urged audiences to step outside their “bubbles” and ended their farewells with the identical declaration: “There will be no more TV tomorrows for me.”
Among the most notable similarities was Nolan’s declaration that local television should challenge viewers rather than simply comfort them.
“We have to take people out of their bubbles and comfort zones and make them think about the world we all live in,” Nolan said during his farewell.
The line echoed Hansen’s retirement message four years earlier.
“Television has to be more than sitcoms and cop shows. We need to take people out of their bubbles and their safe places and make them think about the world we live in,” Hansen said during his final broadcast.
The parallels didn’t stop there.
During his farewell, Hansen paid tribute to longtime friend Denny Livingston.
“If you don’t have a Denny Livingston in your life, I strongly encourage you to find one. He makes dreams come true,” Hansen said.
Nolan used nearly identical language while praising his wife and co-anchor Jenna.
“If you don’t have a Jenna in your life, I suggest you find one. Because she makes dreams come true in every way another human can’t,” Nolan said.
The closing lines of the two broadcasts also appeared remarkably similar.
“There will be no more TV tomorrows for me,” Hansen said before thanking viewers for watching and signing off with, “Goodnight, and goodbye.”
Nolan likewise told viewers: “There will be no more TV tomorrows for me,” before thanking his audience and ending with, “Good day, and goodbye.”
“It is interesting how many of the lines said are similar,” FTVLive noted.
“The one thing that was clearly different is that Hansen did it all without crying, and after a 41-year career.”
Hansen, a larger-than-life Dallas broadcasting institution, retired in 2021 after more than four decades on local television. His final sign-off was widely praised and became one of the most memorable farewell speeches in local TV news.
Nolan’s farewell generated headlines of its own after clips of the emotional broadcast spread across social media and were picked up by national outlets.
Neither Nolan nor Hansen immediately commented on the comparisons.