ROUND TRIP TO MIAMI

Meanwhile, a new television station was being forged and Bob would soon be packing for a move even further south.  "Niles Trammel, who was 'Mr. Big' in broadcasting at NBC, partnered with Cox and Knight to buy a station in Miami.  They named it WCKT and hired Charlie Kelly from WSUN to run it.  Charlie then hired me as program director and I moved the family down to Miami.  I brought Bob Clayton and some of the engineering staff down from St. Pete.  Wayne Fariss came down from WTVT and spent the next three decades with WCKT as their news anchorman.   I was very busy and didn't direct very often because putting a station on the air and getting the schedule together was more than a full-time job.  Miami in that era was a great place…just before Castro took over Cuba.  For one season, I directed the Friday night "Tonight Show" feed…we did a lot of stuff from the beach at the Fountainbleu and the Eden Roc.  We covered whoever was in town."

   
WFLA's News Director Bill Henry ready to
challenge WTVT news!

Back in Tampa, WFLA was becoming more aggressive in the news area, which was traditionally dominated by WTVT.  The call went out for Bob to return to the Suncoast and help WFLA become a news ratings contender.  "My son Donald was just a baby when I came back to Tampa and joined WFLA in 1960.  Arch Deal was already there and Bill Henry was revamping the news department, and wanted me to direct the news." 

Shortly after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Gilbert and Deal were sent to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Air Base, where they provided exclusive film, interviews, and analysis of the only American military facility located on Cuban soil.