| Des Moines, Iowa | |
|---|---|
| Branding | KCCI NewsChannel 8 |
| 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 |
| Website | KCCI.com MeTVDesMoines.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.
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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.
A 200-foot weather beacon is on their auxiliary tower atop the station's downtown Des Moines studios and is a landmark of the Des Moines skyline. The lighted beacon changes colors depending on the forecast:
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 soon repaired later that year.[2]
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[3] |
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.[4][5] 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; however, the PSIP identifier for the main channel 8.1 still identifies it as "KCCI-DT."
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.[6]
In addition to CBS network programming, KCCI airs first-run syndicated programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil, Live with Regis and Kelly, and Inside Edition
Although it was the last Big Three station to sign on in the area, channel 8 has been the highest-rated station in Des Moines for most of its history, often garnering more viewers than WHO-TV and WOI-TV combined. However, in the recent May 2011 ratings period, WHO-HD surged ahead as Iowa's news leader in some demos, capturing the lead for the morning, 5 pm and 6 pm newscasts. KCCI maintained a narrow lead over WHO-HD at 10 pm.[7]
On April 20, 2009, KCCI became the first station in Des Moines to broadcast local news in 16:9 widescreen.[8] 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 is 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).
Anchors
SuperDoppler Weather Team
Sports team
Reporters
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
Reporters
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