After 30 Years At WFLA, Hite To Leave Anchor Desk

Published: May 24, 2007

TAMPA - He has talked about it for years, but now it's official. WFLA-TV anchorman Bob Hite will retire when his contract expires at the end of the year.

Hite, 59, has been with the station for 30 years and is one of the most popular television personalities in the Tampa Bay area.

During the 11 p.m. newscast Wednesday, Hite told viewers he would step down. Friday is his last night as anchor of the 11 p.m. News Channel 8 broadcast.

WFLA News Director Don North said Hite probably will leave the 6 p.m. newscasts in November, after the ratings sweeps period.

Keith Cate, who has been with WFLA for eight years, will co-anchor the 11 p.m. news with Gayle Sierens, a 30-year WFLA veteran. Cate also will take over the 6 p.m. newscasts when Hite leaves, North said.

Hite told viewers Wednesday night he would continue doing reports off his environment, maritime and military beats, and when "pal and partner" Sierens mentioned his retirement, he scoffed. "I'm just not going to wear a tie so much," Hite said, "and never makeup again."

He plans to work with wife Bonnie's production company and divide his time between homes in the Bay area and Colorado.

North said Hite has been talking about leaving the anchor desk for several years.

"We decided that he should announce it on the last day of the May sweeps," he said. "When you lose an anchor that has been here as long as Bob, it can be difficult, but we have a lot of faith in Keith Cate."

'View' Co-Hosts Wage Angry War Of Words

Watching Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck squabble on ABC's "The View" is nothing new, but Wednesday's dustup seemed particularly nasty with the co-hosts trading accusations and personal digs.

A political discussion over the war in Iraq became heated when an angry O'Donnell decried Hasselbeck for not standing up for her when media outlets suggested that she had called U.S. troops "terrorists" during a previous debate.

O'Donnell and Hasselbeck were shown on a split screen as the argument progressed without commercial interruption.

"Do you believe that I think our troops are terrorists? And you would not even look me in the face, Elisabeth, and say, 'No, Rosie,'" O'Donnell said.

Responded Hasselbeck: "Because you are an adult, and I am certainly not going to be the person for you to explain your thoughts. … Defend your own insinuations!"

O'Donnell, who is leaving the ABC daytime talk show next month, said she wasn't going to fight anymore.

Father's Tell-All Surprises Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey said she was "stunned" to learn her father plans to write a book about her.

"I was upset. I won't say devastated, but I was stunned," Winfrey told New York's Daily News in a story published this week.

Winfrey said she laughed when one of her assistants told her the newspaper was calling to ask about a book her father, Vernon Winfrey, was writing.

"I said, 'That's impossible. I can assure them it's not true,'" she said. "I called him, and it turned out he is writing a book. The worst part of it was him saying, 'I meant to tell you I've been working on it.'"

Today's Birthdays

Singer Bob Dylan is 66. Singer Patti LaBelle is 63. Actress Priscilla Presley is 62. Actor John C. Reilly is 42.

Sources: Tribune reporter Walt Belcher; The Associated Press

Keyword: Hite, to see video of the announcement and to comment.