News operation
KCCI broadcasts 34 1/2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 5 1/2 hours each weekday, three hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sundays).
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, 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 held a narrow lead at 10 p.m. After tight ratings races in 2011 and 2012, in July 2013, KCCI won every time slot, among all audiences as well as the 25- to 54-year-old age group. KCCI also widened its lead over WHO in many slots, including midday and evenings, compared with the year prior.[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.
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 and Illinois).
KCCI added a 9 p.m. newscast to its MeTV subchannel on March 21, 2016, to compete with the WHO-produced news airing on KDSM-TV. In some instances, such as live CBS Sports coverage on weekends, other newscasts will move to MeTV.[9]
In 1990, when sports director Pete Taylor left to work at Iowa State University,[10] KCCI reporter Heidi Soliday became the first female local sports director in the United States.[11]
On July 15, 2024, KCCI added an hourlong 4 p.m. newscast, moving The Kelly Clarkson Show to 3 p.m. and The Jennifer Hudson Show to 12:37 a.m.[12]
- David Horowitz
- Dolph Pulliam
- Bill Riley Sr.
- Russ Van Dyke
