Learn English – The usage of “among others”

The only difference between in spite of and despite is the ‘of’.

You don't use "Despite of the reason". You use "Despite the reason"

Despite the pain in his leg he completed the marathon.

It seems to me "in spite of" is a slightly more elaborate form, to be used in more fancy, most formal writing. "Despite" is not informal but not quite that elaborate.

edit: as mcalex mentions, "Despite of" (and even "In despite of") is not incorrect, it's just an almost dead archaic form.

As a native English speaker, that sounds strange to me. I have heard similar phrases where the host uses "has been," but usually in reference to the program, not himself.

e.g.

I'm TotalBiscuit, and this has been The Cynical Brit

In this case, the tense makes sense, because the program is now over, so it makes sense to say, "This has been...". It doesn't make sense to use "has been..." when referring to oneself.

If he signed off with

This has been TotalBiscuit...

I could see that making sense, because it's really a short form of "This has been TotalBiscuit narrating this program," or something similar. But "my name has been TotalBiscuit" makes no sense.