Bob Phillips

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Robert Leon Bob Phillips born June 23 1951 is an American television journalist best known for his longrunning program Texas Country Reporter In 2005 Phillips was inducted into the Silver Circle of the Lone Star Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences the association that gives the Emmy Awards the honor is extended to professionals who have spent at least 25 years of their career in television in Texas and have made significant contributions to their industry and their communities Phillips was born in Dallas Texas where he graduated in 1969 from Bryan Adams High School He grew up around the hotel industry with a mother whose specialty was helping hotels to establish their housekeeping staff in a 2006 interview Phillips stated that his first paying job was assisting the executive chef at the Dallas Hilton Hotel adding I found out real fast that washing dishes was not what I wanted to do He attended Southern Methodist University graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1973 and a Master of Liberal Arts degree in 1977 An admirer of CBS broadcast journalist Charles Kuralt Phillips chose the same field He began working at local CBS affiliate KDFW as a gofer his first year in college started learning to use a TV camera and within three months was reassigned as a photographer He got his break in March 1970 when he was sent to shoot film about a possible drowning and no reporter was available to interview the youths involved who had in fact survived after preparing the equipment Phillips stepped in front to report the story while the camera ran itself a procedure that would come to be his regular mode of operations Initially focusing on political and sports coverage the novice reporter pursued his goal of filming feature stories for inclusion on local broadcasts Instead the management decided to package his features in a separate halfhour weekend program and 4 Country Reporter debuted in 1972  In 1986 he left Channel 4 renamed the show Texas Country Reporter and began producing and syndicating it through his own company Phillips Productions the show aired in all 22 broadcast markets in Texas including rival station WFAA which renamed the show 8 Country Reporter and eventually was added to stations in neighboring Louisiana When RFDTV launched in December 2000 Texas Country Reporter was one of its featured programs introducing the show to audiences around the nation Phillips was closely involved with the channels development from the time he was approached about adding his show to the lineup and through his company assisted with management of the fledging channel As an extension of his 35 years of broadcast journalism Phillips has authored several books mostly on Texas travel and cuisine and serves periodically as a host at Escondida the Texas Country Reporter Hacienda and Spa in Central Texas Hill Country regionHe teaches at Amberton University In 2007 Bob married KFDMTV anchor Kelli Adkins They currently reside in Beaumont and also have a home in Dallas and a ranch in Medina Texas Description above from the Wikipedia article Christina Pickles licensed under CCBYSAfull list of contributors on Wikipedia