Longtime local TV news anchor dies of melanoma

By ERIC DEGGANS
Published December 18, 2007

Bob Graham, seated foreground, on a "work day" at WTVT, discusses a script. To his right are Hugh Smith, center, Andy Hardy and Roy Leep, standing behind.
	[Times photo (1980)]

ADVERTISEMENT Hugh Smith [Photo courtesy of Ch. 13]

For 27 years, Tampa Bay area audiences marked milestones in their TV lives by the reporting of Hugh Smith.

They first saw local newscasts in color when Mr. Smith sat in the anchor chair at WTVT-Ch. 13, a red flower tucked in his lapel. They watched Tampa's skyline bobble over his shoulder during the area's first live TV news broadcast from a helicopter, delivered from 500 feet above the ground.

A local version of storied CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, Mr. Smith showed a no-nonsense style that guided the top-rated station through a host of transitions: from all-male anchor teams to sharing the screen with women, fromjust-the-facts reporting to a more emotional delivery.

But nearly half a generation has passed since the anchor left WTVT in 1991, resigning from the station after pleading guilty to soliciting sex from a 15-year-old prostitute - his second prostitution-related arrest in nine years.

Mr. Smith died of complications resulting from melanoma Sunday morning Dec. 16, 2007 at the hospice unit of the Palms of Pasadena Hospital. He was 73.

In a 27-year career at WTVT, Mr. Smith served as the lead anchor and news director when the station dominated local ratings so decisively some broadcasts attracted up to 40 percent of the audience.

Together with weather forecaster Roy Leep and sports director Andy Hardy (and "Salty" Sol Fleischman before Hardy), Mr. Smith formed a trusted, highly popular anchor team at WTVT, which was then a CBS affiliate.

"He was at the helm during the zenith of Channel 13's broadcast success," said Leep, who kept a friendship with the anchor after his departure from WTVT and is the sole surviving member of the station's classic anchor lineup. "He was highly professional ... looked at every jot and tittle of the newscast. He was a fellow who stayed on a story from beginning to end, with high standards."

Hired in 1963 from a station in Sioux City, Iowa, Mr. Smith eventually came to dominate the station's news operation, serving as news director, managing editor, top anchor and a regular reporter on the Hillsborough County schools, Hillsborough's commissioners and the area's legislative delegation in Tallahassee.

Once, when WFLA-Ch. 8 anchor Arch Deal hurt himself badly during a skydiving accident, Mr. Smith interviewed Deal from his hospital bed even as WFLA tried to ignore the story, said former WTVT employee Mike Clark.

"Every word in the newscast would go through Hugh's typewriter," said Clark, who worked as a technician for WTVT in the '70s and established a Web site, www.Big13.net, as a tribute to the station's heyday. "I think he felt it came with the job. If you're a news director and anchor, you should be a reporter, too."

Former WTVT anchor Leslie Spencer recalled "consummate newsman" Mr. Smith promoting her to become one of the area's first female news broadcasters. And Kelly Craig, now anchoring in Miami, was just 25 when Mr. Smith welcomed her as his first co-anchor in 1985.

"Many times, there were technical problems and he always handled them well," said Craig, who recalled ABC journalist Sam Donaldson calling WTVT to compliment Mr. Smith on a question he asked the president during a news conference.

But in 1982, Mr. Smith was suspended for one week and apologized on air after his arrest for soliciting an undercover female officer, promising not to repeat the offense. Already phased out as WTVT's lead anchor by 1991, Mr. Smith sparked national coverage with his arrest and resignation for involvement with two prostitutes, including a teenage runaway.

Later that year, Mr. Smith joined radio personality Mason Dixon's show on the station then known as WMTX-95.7 FM (Mix 96) as a news reader, where he worked for about five years.

"I think I got one complaint letter ... and you always get one," said Dixon, who offered Mr. Smith the job after asking several women dining in area restaurants if they would object to hearing the former TV anchor on the Dixon show, and hearing no criticism. "I found him to be a warm and caring individual. I'll miss him."

Word of Mr. Smith's illness spread through the local TV news ranks recently, as the former anchor's adopted son Ward kept friends and family updated through e-mails. Mr. Smith had two other adopted children, Grant and Karen. According to Ward Smith's e-mail, his father was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma in February and underwent chemotherapy at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. He entered the hospice about two weeks ago.

Ward Smith declined comment on his father's death, beyond suggesting that those wishing to commemorate his father donate to the Hospice of the Florida Suncoast. Any funeral will be private.

"I wish I could have had a conversation with him about the current state of TV news," said anchor Frank Robertson, who succeeded Mr. Smith as WTVT's top male anchor in 1989, recalling how "old school" reporting on politics and school issues has diminished. "I had enormous respect for his journalistic ability."

Material from Times files was used in this report. Eric Deggans can be reached at (727) 893-8521 or deggans@sptimes.com See his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/media.

Career

Milestones

1963: Hired as anchor of the Pulse noon news.

1966: Anchored the Tampa Bay area's first color local evening newscast.

1968: Took over as news director, held both anchor and top news executive jobs for 15 years.

1976: Anchored the first live local news report from a helicopter.

1982: Was suspended for one week after he pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a female officer posing as a prostitute. He apologized to viewers on air and promised not to repeat the offense.

1989: Agreed to an extended phaseout of his anchor duties that cut his duties to anchoring the noon newscast and providing commentaries.

1991: Resigned from WTVT after pleading guilty to soliciting a 15-year-old prostitute. He served three months house arrest and probation, avoiding a possible 15-year jail sentence.

1996: Left a job as newsreader at WMTX-95.7 FM when the station's format changed.

Sources: Mike Clark and the Big 13 Web site, Times files and Mason Dixon.

[Last modified December 18, 2007, 00:18:10]