Robert Smith Sr. served as General Manager of the station for almost 25 years. During his tenure, well-known newscasters Merrill Moore, Johnny Wood, and Steve Hawkins began their successful careers. Smith also oversaw the construction of a new building in downtown Bristol. The new facility was industry-leading in its design. After Smith's retirement, Joe Conway became General Manager in 1981. During the early 80's, Lamco invested extensively in people, news, programming, equipment, and marketing. WCYB was marketed as "The News Station". At the same time, NBC became the top-rated network with hits like "The Cosby Show" and "Cheers", and WCYB secured top-rated syndicated programs such as "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" A hot air balloon with an NBC peacock design was purchased and flown across the region to promote the station. For most of the time from the 1980s to the early 2000s, WCYB claimed to be the highest-rated station in the top 100 U.S. TV markets. In 1984, Conway died suddenly. He was succeeded as General Manager in 1985 by Bob Smith, Jr., who had been the station's News Director for several years. During the 1990s and beyond, Joe Macione, Jim McKernan, and Jack Dempsey followed as General Managers.