Produced by Jessica Greene

It's 1977. Jimmy Carter is President, Elvis is dead, and Saturday Night Live is the hottest show in TV. Little did Tampa know, but life was about to change forever in the world of local TV news. After 20 years, many know them as simply Bob and Gayle, but is wasn't always that way.

Bob sailed into town from Philadelphia with a camera in hand, ready to anchor weekends and establish himself as a sea lover in the land surrounding Channel 8. Sometimes looking more like a sailor and fisherman, he explored the sea and its wonders in his 8 Country reports.

Gayle stepped onto the playing field from Tallahassee as a sports reporter with the warmth, smile, and a voice that all pointed to a promising future in front of the camera. She became par of each story, whether it meant firing a BB gun, working up a sweat doing aerobics, or riding on a motorcycle through a fiery barricade. From the beginning, their chemistry was easy to spot.

In 1985, Bob and Gayle shared the main anchor desk for the first time. Twenty years later, Bob says they are like siblings.

Gayle made history on December 27, 1987 as the first woman to ever call play-by-play for the NFL on network television. You couldn't tell then, but as she called the Chiefs' victory over the Seahawks, Gayle was pregnant with the first of three children.

In 1988, Channel 8 delivered another hour of local news…and the rest as they say, was history.


Newschannel 8 Personality biographies