KCCI

For other uses, see KCCI (disambiguation).

KCCI

Des Moines, Iowa
City of license	Des Moines
Branding	KCCI 8 News
Slogan	Iowa's News Leader
Channels	Digital: 8 (VHF)
Subchannels	8.1 CBS 8.2 Me-TV
Translators	31 (UHF) Des Moines (construction permit) K23CI Ottumwa
Affiliations	CBS Me-TV (DT2)
Owner	Hearst Television, Inc. (Des Moines Hearst Television, Inc.)
First air date	July 31, 1955
Call letters' meaning	Cowles Communications Incorporated (former owners)
Former callsigns	Analog: KRNT-TV (1955–1974) Digital: KCCI-DT (2002–2009)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 8 (1955–2009) Digital: 31 (2002–2009)
Transmitter power	28.3 kW
Height	597 m
Facility ID	33710
Transmitter coordinates	41°48′35″N 93°37′16″W
Website	www.kcci.com

KCCI is a television station that broadcasts on channel 8 in Des Moines, Iowa. It is affiliated with the CBS television network and serves most of central Iowa. Owned by Hearst Television, KCCI has studios in downtown Des Moines. The station's transmitter is located in Alleman, Iowa, about midway between Des Moines and Ames. KCCI is also seen in Ottumwa on translator K23CI, operated by a local non-profit organization.

Digital television

KCCI's digital signal on VHF 8 is multiplexed:

Digital channels

Channel	Video	Aspect	Name	Programming
8.1	1080i	16:9	KCCI-HD	Main KCCI programming / CBS
8.2	480i	4:3	KCCI-SD	Me-TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

KCCI ended programming on its analog signal, on VHF channel 8, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States. The station then moved back to channel 8 for its post-transition operations. Also, the "KCCI" legal callsign was officially transferred from the now-defunct analog channel 8 to the new post-transition digital channel 8 and the "KCCI-DT" callsign was officially retired.

Some viewers have had trouble receiving KCCI's channel 8 VHF digital signal, so KCCI has applied for authority to construct a fill-in translator station on its pre-transition channel 31.

History

KCCI started on the air on July 31, 1955, as KRNT-TV, the third television station in Des Moines and the ninth in Iowa. It was owned by the Cowles family, publishers of the Des Moines Register and Des Moines Tribune newspapers, along with KRNT radio (AM 1350 and the original KRNT-FM at 104.5, which went dark). The calls stood for the papers' nickname in central Iowa, "the R 'n T".

The Cowles family and rival KSO-AM (now KXNO; also owned by the Cowles interests until 1942) both applied for the channel 8 frequency and fought over it. A decision was held up due to issues with the Cowles' ownership of Look magazine. Eventually, the two stations reached a settlement that allowed KRNT to own 60 percent of the TV station and KSO to own 40 percent. Yet once the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the station's license, KRNT immediately bought out KSO's share of the station. KRNT-TV's broadcasting day was originally about five to six hours long, and included a 15-minute news program later in the evening. The station has been part of the CBS network through its entire history, owing to KRNT-AM's long affiliation with CBS Radio.

The FCC tightened its ownership rules in the 1970s, forcing the Cowles interests to sell one of their Des Moines broadcast outlets. They opted to sell KRNT-AM and KRNQ-FM (now KSTZ) to Stauffer Communications in 1974 and keep KRNT-TV, which became KCCI-TV, with the initials standing for owner Cowles Communications, Inc.

Over the years, Cowles Communications bought several other media outlets, including KTVH (now KWCH-TV) in Wichita, Kansas (and its satellites in the western part of Kansas) WESH in Orlando, Florida and WQAD-TV in the Quad Cities.

In 1983, the Cowles family announced it was breaking up its vast media empire, selling off most of its assets except the Minneapolis Star Tribune. While the Register went to Gannett and the Register and Tribune Syndicate (best known as syndicators of The Family Circus) went to Hearst as a King Features division, KCCI and WESH went to H&C Communications. H&C sold two of its television stations, KCCI and WESH, to Pulitzer in 1993. What was then known as Hearst-Argyle Television bought all of Pulitzer's television holdings in 1998.

KCCI began broadcasting in high-definition television on channel 8.1 in 2002. On July 24, 2006, KCCI launched "Weather Now", a 24-hour local weather channel that appeared on digital subchannel 8.2 as well as local Mediacom digital cable channel 247, and the station's website until June 30, 2011. On July 1, 2011, KCCI replaced the weather channel with Me-TV on subchannel 8.2.

The station operates a website at www.kcci.com. For several years the station's website was known as www.theiowachannel.com, following the practice of other Hearst-Argyle stations, and people going to kcci.com were redirected to theiowachannel.com. In October 2005, the station switched back to the kcci.com name for its web site, with theiowachannel.com serving as a redirect to the kcci.com website.

On December 10, 2008, current KCCI President and General Manager Paul Fredericksen announced a staffing reorganization which eliminated six positions, including on-air talent.

Weather beacon

A 200-foot weather beacon was once affixed to the auxiliary tower atop the station's downtown Des Moines studios and was a landmark of the Des Moines skyline. The lighted beacon changed colors depending on the forecast:

"Weather Beacon red, warmer weather ahead.

Weather Beacon white, colder weather in sight.

Weather Beacon green, no change in weather foreseen.

Weather Beacon flashing night or day, precipitation is on the way."

Weather Beacon dead, sad faces ahead.

The beacon was active until the 1970s energy crisis, then powered back up by the station in 1987. However, an ice storm in January 2010 caused some damage to the weather beacon, but was repaired later that year.

The weather beacon was turned off for the last time on the morning of Thursday September 27, 2012.

Programming

In addition to CBS network programming, KCCI airs first-run syndicated programs such as Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Live with Kelly, and Inside Edition.

News operation

Although it was the last Big Three station to sign on in the area, channel 8 was the highest-rated station in Des Moines for most of its history, mainly due to its roots in the Register. It often garnered more viewers than WHO-TV and WOI-TV combined. However, in the February 2010 sweeps period, KCCI fell to second behind WHO in the mornings and at 6 p.m. The latter was significant, as it was the first time KCCI had lost the lead in that timeslot in memory. In the May 2011 sweeps, KCCI lost the lead at 5 p.m. as well, but still holds a narrow lead at 10 p.m.

On April 20, 2009, KCCI became the first station in Des Moines to broadcast local news in 16:9 widescreen. Even as the other major stations made the upgrade to high-definition local newscasts in the two years following KCCI's upgrade to widescreen, KCCI's newscasts remained in enhanced definition widescreen until April 26, 2011 when it became the last major station in Des Moines to upgrade its local newscasts to high definition beginning with the 5 p.m. newscast. Although KCCI's in-studio video and recorded field video are in high definition, live field video remains in enhanced-definition widescreen.

In 2009, KCCI won National Edward R. Murrow Awards for Best Newscast and Overall Excellence. In 2010, KCCI won Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for Best Newscast and Overall Excellence. In 2009 and 2011, KCCI won the Photography Station of the Year award in the small market division from the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). The NPPA also named Photojournalist Cortney Kintzer as the Photographer of the Year in Region 5 (Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin & Illinois).

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• KRNT-TV News (1955-1964)
• The Night Report (1964-1967)
• Streamlined News (1967-1970)
• Eyewitness News (1970-1974)
• TV-8 News (1974-1995)
• (KCCI) NewsChannel 8 (1995–January 8, 2013)
• KCCI 8 News (January 8, 2013–present)

Station slogans

• "Central Iowa's First Local Color Station" (late 1960s)
• "KRNT Has the Look of a Winner" (1960s-early 1970s)
• "TV-8, Now More Than Ever" (early 1980s)
• "We Bring Iowa Home to You" (mid-1980s)
• "The Iowa Spirit" (mid-1980s-1994)
• "Iowa's News Leader" (1994–present)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

Anchors

• Kevin Cooney - weeknights at 5, 6, and 10 p.m.
• Mollie Cooney - weekdays at noon
• Cynthia Fodor - weekend mornings KCCI 8 News This Morning
• Stacey Horst - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Steve Karlin - weekday mornings KCCI 8 News This Morning (4:30-8 a.m.)
• Amanda Lewis - weekend mornings KCCI 8 News 8 This Morning
• Todd Magel - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
• Emily Price - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
• Katie Ward - weekday mornings KCCI 8 News This Morning (4:30-8 a.m.)

SuperDoppler Weather

• John McLaughlin (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - Chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Wes Callison (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings KCCI 8 News This Morning
• Kurtis Gertz (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekdays at noon, Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
• Frank Scaglione (member, AMS; member, NWA) - Weathercaster; fill-in
• Metinka Slater (member, AMS) - meteorologist; weekend mornings KCCI 8 News This Morning

Sports team

• Andy Garman - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Scott Reister - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
• Tony Seeman - sports reporter

Reporters

• Patrick Bell - investigative reporter
• Meredith Garman - general assignment reporter
• Eric Hanson - general assignment reporter
• Shaina Humphries - general assignment reporter
• Marcus McIntosh - general assignment reporter
• Laura Nichols - general assignment reporter
• Kim St. Onge - general assignment reporter

Hearst Television Washington Bureau
In addition to the regular news team, KCCI also has an exclusive team of reporters in Washington D.C., employed by Hearst Television

• Nikole Killion - Washington bureau reporter
• Sally Kidd - Washington bureau reporter

Former on-air staff

• Geoff Greenwood - general assignment reporter (left to become the spokesperson for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

References

• Stein, Jeff, Making Waves: The People and Places of Iowa Broadcasting (ISBN 0-9718323-1-5). Cedar Rapids, Iowa: WDG Communications, 2004.

External links

• KCCI.com - Official KCCI-TV Website
• MeTVDesMoines.com - Official Me-TV Des Moines Website
• KCCI-TV historical artifacts from DesMoinesBroadcasting.com
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KCCI
• Query the FCC's TV station database for K23CI
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KCCI-TV