KGTV named Bob Vaillancourt Director of Operations in late April after living and working in Honolulu for the previous seven years. He replaces Patrick Givans, who left recently to become Director of News Operations for KCBS/KCAL in Los Angeles.

You might remember that Bob was Director of Engineering at KNSD, but left in October 2007 to become DOE at KHON Fox 2 in Honolulu.

Bob says, “The move to Honolulu was a great experience as I was first tasked to upgrade the station’s automation and server playout system, replaced a very aged analog transmitter while at the same time relocate the DTV transmitter facility including antenna. When Lin Media took over the station from New Vision Television, a directive to move the station to full HD including the upgrade of infrastructure and news set was made and this allowed for me the opportunity to put KHON on the map with some of the best equipment and talent with the help of LIN corporate and cooperation. Finally, the remote satellite facility located approximately 16 miles from the studio was converted from an L-band, multi-channel fiber system to full IP interconnect with the cooperation of Hawaiian Telecom allowed for major cost savings over time with an immediate ROI compared to the older L-band interconnect.

“Although Honolulu and KHON was a fabulous experience which allowed us time to be with some of our family members who live on Oahu, San Diego was always considered ‘home’.

“Timing was perfect when KGTV offered the opportunity for me to join their excellent staff as Director of Operations. The bags were packed, the movers arrived, and we moved back to our home in San Diego.”

Bob’s known for his customer-service attitude and collaborative style learned in his early years with IBM. The staff at KGTV are enthused about his return to San Diego.