Jordin Wins, While Bob Hite Plans His Exit

What do American Idol champion Jordin Sparks and longtime WFLA-Ch. 8 anchor Bob Hite have in common?

Not much, besides the fact that I was forced to work up stories on both of them on tight deadlines Wednesday night.

It's a sad journalism truism that big news often breaks at a time when you're least prepared to cover it. And Hite's announcement that he was finally going to implement a retirement he had been threatening to take for years -- capping a 30-year career at WFLA and likely kicking off a furious battle for ratings supremacy in local news -- came just as I was all ready to spend the evening drowning in Fox's horribly bloated Idol finale.

First, Jordin's victory. Widely predicted and desperately needed to preserve idol's credibility, her win Wednesday not only kicked off a career I'm sure we'll be watching for some time to come, it preserved that odd friction within Idol itself between singers who are compelling personalities and those that are just great singers.

The fact is, most idol winners are an uneasy compromise between the two values -- something we saw watching the cavalcade of champions perform in what proved to be the only benefit of the finale's two-hour-plus running time: up close looks at Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard, post-Idol.

News reports had already said past winner Fantasia Barrino wouldn't appear due to her commitment to star in The Color Purple on Broadway, but two other million-selling non-winners also didn't show: Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry.

If only Sanjaya could have gotten that memo. His version of You Really Got Me with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry only underscored why America should have voted him off sooner. And Hicks' twitchy whiteguy soul man shtick wore thin midway through his first song -- unfortunately, he had another one coming.

it all added up to a bright, bustling cavalcade of showbiz oddities mostly focused on making you forget you were waiting two hours to hear the answer to one question. Fortunately, this year, idol came up with the right one.

Bob Hite Retires After 30 Years

it started with an email from a friend: Bob Hite had said at 6 p.m. he had a big announcement about his future prepared for the 11 p.m. newscast. I knew right away what it was going to be: he was retiring.

The plan is for Hite to stop doing the 11 p.m. newscasts after this week. At the end of the year, he'll leave regular employment at the station for good, with hopes to come back with the occasional documentary series -- which is what he expects to spend his days doing full time after leaving WFLA.

Calling me at home last night in between shows, Hite avoided using the term retirement. "I'm just getting off the night shift," he insisted, his familiar baritone rumbling the tinny speaker on my cellphone. "I'm not leaving until December."

if there was a specific incident which prompted him to take this step -- just months before his 60th  birthday in august -- Hite didn't say so. instead, he talked about wanting to get off the anchor desk before he got to old to run around filming the documentaries he enjoys putting together in his spare time.

Keith Cate will take over the 11 p.m. slot and fill Hite's slot as the station's top male anchor when he leaves. 

 

 

Comments

[Louise7]

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[Cathy Foertsch Britcher]

Bob and Gail have been a team. I will miss him. I remember when his for sale sailboat was lost by potential buyers...I have had the pleasure of knowing a few folks who were personally involved with Bob. Never have I heard any but the most complimentary comments.
Best of LUCK, Bob. You are a legend!

[Cathy Foertsch Britcher]

Bob and Gail have been a team. I will miss him. I remember when his for sale sailboat was lost by potential buyers...I have had the pleasure of knowing a few folks who were personally involved with Bob. Never have I heard any but the most complimentary comments.
Best of LUCK, Bob. You are a legend!

[Mr Hanky]

I'm with Barbara! He AND Gail Sierens need to go. They would be better off on Fox News. It makes me sick every time they report on our moronic president with such obvious glee and admiration. Good riddance.

[Dan]

The Idol show has 2 distinct parts to it. The bad singers that are there purely for mindless entertainment and the talented ones that need a break, like any other artist looking for a break. The hard part for some people is realizing that there is a difference in spite of the show's propoganda that unknowns just wander in the door and become stars without earning it.

The ones that make it have years of dedication to a music career behind them. Did you know that Clay Aiken fronted a country band called Just By Chance? He has been trying to get a major recording contract for over a decade? Did you know that he released 2 Indie CDs before Idol? Did you know that he plays piano and writes? I didn't think so and Idol sure isn't going to tell you that.

He earned his place in the sun and Idol gave him the break and the exposure to make it.

[Eric Deggans]

American Idol is different than the shows you listed because it is a long-term competition with a goal of unearthing a singular talent and then bringing them to the marketplace. Watch NBC's America's Got Talent for a peek at the difference.

And Idol also includes lots of performances from professionals -- melding the talent search part with a straight-up variety show.

And we all know that two of the most popular variety shows on TV -- American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show -- changed music, pop culture and the entertainment world in ways we still discuss today.

Sorry, dreaming. American Idol is an important, influential show. Much as you might wish it isn't.

[dreaming]

im lmao at your bob hite riposte. that's thinly disguised hating, eric...

as for am idol, it's merely the latest in a long line of tv/radio amateur shows, dating back to the '30s and Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour, Ted Mack, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, the Gong Show and Star Search.

those werent the 'salvation' of anything, and neither will be am idol.

[Eric Deggans]

Now that is Olympic-level hating.

Not particularly fair, though. If Idol was just a big turd, then it would be easy to ignore. But TV audiences are sophisticated enough that they won't show up en masse for a big turd.

The problem with Idol is that it is so many things at once: the world's best singing competition and the world's most naked popularity contest; the personification of all that's wrong wit h the music industry and also its most obvious salvation; the most formulaic show on TV and also the most unpredictable.

Simply calling it a turd is easy, dismissive and totally wrong. Which is why it is so much fun -- and so necessary -- for those of us who dissect pop culture to pay attention to this show.

And Bob Hite is an authoritative guy with a great voice and an odd charm who mostly read headlines to an aging news audience for 30 years. What's so wrong about that?

[dreaming]

im convinced that if someone were to broadcast a picture of, let's say a turd, for one year, that turd would come to impress many people because it was 'on tv.' the turd would come to have fanatical fans. if some were to see the turd up close, they would be impressed. and when the inevitable time came for the turd to go off tv, many would feel let down and would call for tributes to the turd's great service etc.

american idol and bob hite are two examples of the phenomenon.

[RF]

Hey Eric -
I'm with you on the hatin' thing. What is there to hate about Bob Hite, and people, in general, can't spell well anyway. : )
C'mon people - Try seeing the positive for a change. It will make a difference in your life. You may even get positive responses back from others. Try a smile once in a while. sheesh

[Eric Deggans]

That's always been difficult for me to figure in this format -- when to separate out blog posts, especially when the two subjects ar so different.

My problem is, people mostly read the top itsm in my blog. So if i post two entries close together, I get the sense the second one doesn't get read as much -- readers, you can correct me if i'm wrong.

It's also tough to get two separate links on our home page. So I ecided to put the two items together -- also because I was writing the blog post at the end of a long night and didn't want to deal with separating the two.

But I'll think more carefully about that in the future...

[Tom]

Eric,

I know you were busy last night but putting these two stories together is kind of insulting to Bob Hite. Don't you think? Thirty years of service to Tampa Bay vs. a newcomer. Come on, how difficult would it have to been to write a separate blog about Bob? It does appear on the front page as a headline about Bob retiring and you get to the story and it covers the Idol winner first. Maybe you were leaving the best for last.

Anyway, thanks for reporting the news and thanks to Bob for his 30 years of service to TB. Enjoy your "retirement" in good health!

[Nz junky]

Barbara - you must be new around here not to love the Hite.

I grew up watching him, and now as a former Ch. 8-er, I can tell you Bob Hite is a good man with a big heart. Compared to a lot of the anchors around here, he's the best. He doesn't take himself too seriously, and he totally gets that he's got a great gig and doesn't lord the anchor thing over anyone. In fact, I've seen Bob stand up to management for employees who he felt were getting a raw deal. Does ANYONE in your workplace do that, let alone the "star" employee?

Hite is just a big goofball. He doesn't brag (not seriously) and he doesn't drop names - and he totally could! Did you know his dad was the announcer for the CBS Evening News, and Bob basically grew up at the knee of Walter Cronkite? And I heard that from Cronkite when I saw him speak at a local event several years ago, NOT from Hite! He never even mentioned it.

TB area news won't be nearly as interesting without the Hite!

[Bob]

The three words I long to hear/read:
"Fox cancels 'Idol'"

The show and the repulsive hype around it are representative of the many backwards steps that have been taken in regards to artistry, originality, integrity, longevity, dues-paying and the lack of interest among the public towards musicians who believe in and practice the above values.

[Eric Deggans]

Wow...there's a lot of hatin' on the blog today. Sorry to see people so upset.

But here's some thoughts.

Apologies for the spelling. I wrote that blogpost after filing the two stories on Idol and Hite in the paper today, so i was a little overtired.

Hite is definitely retiring. he's just trying to follow the model laid out by folks like Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw, where they get a nice little stipend from their former employer to do pet projects occasionally and stay off competitors' airwaves.

And they probably are making the transition long to give Keith Cate time to get a handle on the top job.

I desceribed Hite calling me last night to give a little peek at what went into covering both these things at the same time. As I was taking notes on the Idolfinale, I was juggling a call rom Bob, a feed from a reporter at the party for sparks in Carrollwood and trying to write both stories to turn them in by 11:30 p.m.

One of those rare instances where you're pushing your multitasking abilities to the limit.

Bob called my cellphone, by the way, which happened to be at home with me. and lots of business contacts have my cellphone.

Hope that answers some questions. Let the hatin' continue...

[Barbara]

I'm so glad that he's leaving. I can't stand his self-righteous delivery and sanctimonious commentary.

[Chuck Welch]

I don't know, "I'm not leaving until December" sure sounds like retiring to me.

How many people give two weeks notice when they retire? Exactly, that was a retirement announcement with a plan for cutting back so not to leave the station in a lurch. Any other time frame change without the announcement he was leaving in December would have sounded like he was being demoted.

John? Not a lot of experience with reporters and columnists huh? When a reporter covers the same beat for years, they end up giving out their home number to quite a few of the people they cover and vice-versa.

It's the nature of deadlines -- which isn't 5 pm for a morning newspaper.

[NoJohn]

John,
Please grow up. You are acting like an @SS. Speak for yourself and use I and not WE.

[Peter]

So really Bob Hite is not retiring, and the headline is a bit of a stretch. Actually Bob is changing his work hours, cutting back a smidge, and will, perhaps, do special assignments for the Station at the end of the year. Doesn't sound like retirement to me. Sounds more like a change of duties.

[Grim Reaper]

What's wrong here ?

30 years no scandles no hot stories about his off canmera life ?
Like Hugh Smith ......... ( Twice )

BOARING ..... But I'll miss his cool style of news story telling......

Good for you Bob you prove you can be a local star and not caught with your pants down or in some place you should not have been !

Grimmy .....

[John]

First of all, do you have spellcheck on your computer? If not, you might want to look into it.
'Calling me at home last night in between shows...' OOOOHHHHHHH! HE called YOU?!?! We're SO impressed....