Gayle Sierens

Who is Gayle Sierens?

Gayle Sierens is a news anchor on WFLA-TV. She joined the Tampa NBC affiliate in 1977 as a weekend sports anchor and reporter after working with WFSU in Tallahassee while she was attending Florida State University. She became the first female sportscaster in the Bay Area and quickly made a reputation for herself as someone who always got the big story and interviewed the top professional sports players despite being a woman. In 1981, she was recognized by Tampa Bay Metro Magazine as the Bay Area's best sports reporter.

In an effort to curb declining ratings, WFLA promoted Sierens to coanchor of the 6 & 11 p.m. newscasts with Bob Hite in October 1985, a move that was criticized at first. The move later paid off as Sierens was regarded as being likeable and just as intuitive doing news as she did sports. In 1987, through a short stint with NBC Sports, she became the first woman to do play-by-play for an NFL regular season football game when she called the December 27 game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs.

In 1984, she was honored with a Florida Emmy Award for sports reporting and in 1991, Sierens won her second Emmy for news reporting.