Bob Hite, Sr. (February 9, 1914 in Decatur, Indiana February 18, 2000
in West Palm Beach, Florida) was an American radio and television
announcer, voice-over artist, and news anchor.Hite began his
announcing career in the 1930s at WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. During
his years there, he was among the announcers for such old-time radio
shows as The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, The Shadow, and Challenge
of the Yukon.In 1944, Hite joined the New York announcing staff of
CBS. His radio announcing credits for the network included Let's
Pretend, Casey, Crime Photographer, and The CBS Radio Workshop. On VE
Day, Bob Hite was the first of CBS staff to announce the Victory in
Europe, on airwaves coast to coast. After World War II, Hite was seen
live on the fledgling medium of television as spokesman for GE
appliances of all kinds, performing live commercials on the Fred
Waring Show. During those early years of television, Hite was an
anchor of five-minute morning news updates for the local CBS flagship
station, WCBS-TV; at one point, he was paired with fellow announcer
Peter Thomas on those newscasts. Also during that time frame he
solo-anchored the local/metropolitan evening news casts as well. In
the early and mid-1950s, Hite was narrator of several short films for
RKO Pictures, including one of Stanley Kubrick's early works, Flying
Padre.Bob Hite announced the opening bumper for CBS's color programs
starting in 1966, replacing fellow staff announcer Hal Simms who had
voiced the same bumper the year before. But his most famous television
credit was as announcer for the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite
beginning in 1971, and continuing until his retirement from the
network in 1979.
in West Palm Beach, Florida) was an American radio and television
announcer, voice-over artist, and news anchor.Hite began his
announcing career in the 1930s at WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. During
his years there, he was among the announcers for such old-time radio
shows as The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, The Shadow, and Challenge
of the Yukon.In 1944, Hite joined the New York announcing staff of
CBS. His radio announcing credits for the network included Let's
Pretend, Casey, Crime Photographer, and The CBS Radio Workshop. On VE
Day, Bob Hite was the first of CBS staff to announce the Victory in
Europe, on airwaves coast to coast. After World War II, Hite was seen
live on the fledgling medium of television as spokesman for GE
appliances of all kinds, performing live commercials on the Fred
Waring Show. During those early years of television, Hite was an
anchor of five-minute morning news updates for the local CBS flagship
station, WCBS-TV; at one point, he was paired with fellow announcer
Peter Thomas on those newscasts. Also during that time frame he
solo-anchored the local/metropolitan evening news casts as well. In
the early and mid-1950s, Hite was narrator of several short films for
RKO Pictures, including one of Stanley Kubrick's early works, Flying
Padre.Bob Hite announced the opening bumper for CBS's color programs
starting in 1966, replacing fellow staff announcer Hal Simms who had
voiced the same bumper the year before. But his most famous television
credit was as announcer for the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite
beginning in 1971, and continuing until his retirement from the
network in 1979.
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