Bob Hosfeldt earned his BA in Radio and Television in 1959 from San Jose State University. After graduation, Bob started work at KNTV, as an announcer-director. It was June of 1959. Bob continued with his education while working full time at KNTV. He received his Master's Degree in Communications from San Jose State in 1961. He was appointed Program Director of the station that same year. It was while being interviewed for Program Director that he first met Allen Gilliland. With the help of Al Gilliland, Bob became very successful at KNTV and later at Gill Cable. Al was the entrepreneur and Bob was his Chief Operating Officer. Bob was given the title of Vice-President of Gill Industries and General Manager of KNTV in September of 1965. He continued with his education and received a Masters of Business Administration from Pepperdine University in 1968. KNTV was sold in 1978 and Bob moved over to the company's Cable Television operation, Gill Cable. Bob was named Chief Executive Officer, President of Gill Industries and
General Manager of Gill Cable. Bob's experience in Television programming allowed him to bring many innovations to Gill Cable. He started movie channels before there was an HBO and an all-sports channel before there was an ESPN. He created and coined the term Pay-Per-View which offered sports and other programs in a major urban market on a pay-per-view basis years before the industry became aware of the income potential of per program offerings. He also founded the Bay Area Interconnect during his first few years at Gill Cable. The advertising potential of cable television had never been give serious consideration prior to the BAI. Bob worked out an agreement between all of the San Francisco Bay Area Cable operators where they were interconnected via micro-wave. The BAI was able to offer advertisers the opportunity to reach over two million cable homes instantly making cable advertising competitive with over the air television stations. The Interconnect idea quickly spread throughout the country. Gill Cable grew from about 40,000 to 140,000 subscribers from 1978 to 1988 when the company was sold. Gill Cable was considered the most innovative system in the country and was selected by the National Cable Television Association as a must see for visitors from other countries interested in the medium. Bob was extremely active in community affairs. He was a two term president of San Jose State's Spartan Foundation and a two term president of the San Jose State Alumni Association. He served on many boards including the Chamber of Commerce, the Police Activities League, and Youth Focus, Inc. He was selected as the Man of the Year by the Santa Clara Scout Council in 1988. He was named as the Tower Award recipient in 1985, San Jose State University's highest honor. He was a member of Santa Cruz Rotary. He was selected "Rotarian of the Year" by the Santa Cruz Rotary Club for the 2006-2007, an honor of which he was extremely proud. Following the sale of Gill Cable, Bob became President of Gill Properties, a real estate development company. He was also managing trustee of the Gilliland Trust, a charitable trust set up when Allen Gilliland passed away in 1991. Bob passed on December 15, 2008.