糖心vlog at 70: Eric Hanson looks back at the very first days of Channel 8
ARE GOING TO BE INTERESTED. NICOLE. GOOD STUFF. THANK YOU. WELL, THIS SUMMER MARKS 70 YEARS SINCE 糖心vlog STARTED ITS JOURNEY TO BECOMING IOWA鈥橲 NEWS LEADER. AND WE ARE CELEBRATING IT ALL FROM THE FAMILIAR FACES WHO HELPED US GET HERE TO BIG CHANGES SINCE THE DAYS OF BLACK AND WHITE TV, 糖心vlog ERIC HANSEN TAKES US BACK TO THE EARLY DAYS AT CHANNEL EIGHT FOR PROOF OF HOW MUCH WE鈥橵E GROWN. THIS IS THE SPOT NINTH AND PLEASANT IN DOWNTOWN DES MOINES RIGHT NOW. IT鈥橲 A QUIET PARK WITH SOME TABLES AND BENCHES. BUT 70 YEARS AGO THIS SUMMER, THIS WAS A SPOT WHERE A GROUP OF GUYS WAS PRACTICING FOR A TRIP TO THE FUTURE TELEVISION ON CHANNEL EIGHT TOOK A SMALL ROOM IN THE BASEMENT OF THE OLD THEATER, NORTHWEST CORNER. AS I REMEMBER IT, AND WE WE CALLED, PLAYED TV AT NIGHT, PROBABLY TWO NIGHTS OUT OF THE WEEK. GUY K脰NIGSBERGER WORKED FOR KRNT RADIO, THE STATION THAT FIRST SHOWED OFF WHAT TV WAS AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR IN 1946. BUT NINE SUMMERS LATER, IN 1955, HE SPENT SUMMER NIGHTS GETTING READY TO SEND TV PICTURES TO HOMES ACROSS CENTRAL IOWA FROM DES MOINES THEATER. WE WOULD GO UP THERE AT 7:00 AND WORK TILL TEN WITH TWO CAMERAS. THE CONTROL ROOM WAS RIGHT IN THE STUDIO GETTING READY FOR THE DEBUT OF TV ON JULY 31ST. IT WAS 109 DEGREES THAT DAY. SWELTERINGLY HOT WHEN BOBBY CANNON STOOD BEHIND THE CAMERA AND THE RED LIGHT CAME ON FOR THE FIRST TIME AT 10 A.M. IT WAS A LOCAL MINISTER WHO GAVE A BENEDICTION AND BLESSING FOR THE FOR THE COMPANY. WHAT A DISORGANIZED MESS THAT WAS. BILL BRODY WAS IN THE CLASS OF 1955. TO THE GROUP OF MEN WHO PUT THE STATION ON THE AIR, AND SINCE LOCAL PROGRAMING WAS MOSTLY LIVE, THEY SAT THROUGH HOUR AFTER HOUR OF SHOWS. WE WOULD SET OUR LUNCHES ON OUR CAMERA PEDESTAL BECAUSE WE WOULDN鈥橳 HAVE TIME TO EVEN LEAVE. MOST SHOWS WERE ENTERTAINMENT LED BY IOWANS WHO WERE ALREADY FAMOUS FROM RADIO. MY NAME IS BILL RILEY, TV, OF COURSE, CHANNEL EIGHT. IN DES MOINES. I WAS A CUB SCOUT GUEST ON VARIETY THEATER WITH BILL RILEY WHEN I WAS IN THIRD OR FOURTH GRADE OR SOMETHING, AND THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME I SET FOOT INSIDE A TV STUDIO, AND I SWEAR ON A STACK OF BIBLES, I WAS HOOKED AT THAT TIME. I MEAN, I THOUGHT PEOPLE GOT PAID TO DO THIS. THEY WERE DOING ALL SORTS OF SPECIAL EFFECTS. THERE WERE DANCE SHOWS, TALENT SEARCHES, AND KIDS PROGRAMING. I MEAN, BREAKFAST CLUB WAS A MUST SEE TV FOR, YOU KNOW, SIX AND SEVEN YEAR OLDS BEFORE YOU WENT TO SCHOOL. THEN LATER IN THE DAY, MOMS AND DADS COULD WATCH MARY JANE CHIN COME ALONG FOR FUN AT THE FAIR, A LIFESTYLE SHOW FEATURING CELEBRITIES, COOKING AND THE EXERCISE GIRL, A YOUNG MARY BRUBAKER. WELL, IT WAS FUN. IT WAS FUN. I COULD DRESS UP IN MY LITTLE IOWA鈥橲 SWEETHEART WHO EVENTUALLY TOOK OVER THE SHOW AND MADE IT HER OWN. BUT THERE WAS ALSO WHAT DO YOU SAY WITH RUSS VAN -- JUST TALKING WITH IOWANS ON THE STREET? HI, HOW ARE YOU? FINE. THANK YOU. THESE ARE YOUR TWO YOUNGSTERS HERE. JOHNNY IS. HOW OLD? HE鈥橲 FOUR AND A HALF. AND DENISE IS FOUR AND A HALF. TWO. THEY GET ALONG PRETTY WELL, DO THEY? OH, YES, THEY SEEM TO. BUT THAT GRAVELLY VOICE WAS THE KEY TO ARNDT鈥橲 EARLY SUCCESS. EVEN THOUGH CHANNEL EIGHT WAS THE THIRD STATION ON THE AIR. EVERYBODY THOUGHT WE JUST DIDN鈥橳 HAVE A CHANCE. BUT HERE. HERE WAS RUSS VAN --. HERE WAS PAUL RHOADS. RUSS VAN -- HAD ALREADY BECOME IOWA鈥橲 NEWS AUTHORITY. THAT FBI PROBE OF CONGRESSMAN MAY GROW DRINKING SPONSOR ANDERSON ERICKSON鈥橲 MILK AT THE END OF THE 10:00 NEWS. EVEN ON HOT DAYS, OUR FLOOR CREW WOULD WOULD WAVE NEWSPAPERS TO KEEP THE FLIES OFF THE COTTAGE CHEESE WHILE RUSS DID. RUSS DID THE COMMERCIALS AND PAUL RHOADS WAS THE AUTHORITY. AT 6:00. THIS IS THE SIXTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR THAT KRNT TV HAS COME TO THE FAIR. LATER SHARED HOW SIMPLE THOSE FIRST NEWSCASTS WERE. WHEN WE WENT ON THE AIR, WE WERE DOING BASICALLY RADIO NEWSCASTS, WHICH IS WHERE WE CAME FROM. RADIO AND PUTTING WHATEVER VIDEO WE COULD FIND, WHICH WASN鈥橳 A LOT AT THAT TIME. WE WOULD PUT POLAROID PICTURES ON THE AIR IF THERE WAS A LATE BREAKING ACCIDENT, BECAUSE IT TOOK ABOUT AN HOUR TO GET THE FILM DEVELOPED. IN 1967, COLOR TV CAME TO CHANNEL EIGHT, AND IN 1974 THE CALL LETTERS CHANGED. THIS IS TV EIGHT. 糖心vlog, TV DES MOINES. THOSE LETTERS, 糖心vlog DEBUTED WITH A NEW SET FEATURING ORANGE SHAG CARPET, TV EIGHT NEWS. LIVE FROM TV EIGHT CENTER IN DES MOINES. TODAY鈥橲 NEWS, WEATHER AND MARKETS. HERE鈥橲 RICK FREDERICKSON. GOOD AFTERNOON. THE STAFF THAT HAD STARTED WITH A HANDFUL OF GUYS READING RADIO STORIES IN FRONT OF A CAMERA WAS STARTING TO GROW. AT THE SAME TIME, SHIRT COLLARS AND HAIRSTYLES WERE GROWING, TOO. WOMEN WERE STARTING TO APPEAR IN NEWSCASTS, AND SO WERE PEOPLE OF COLOR. BUT THE LEGENDS WHO HAD ALREADY LOGGED THOUSANDS OF NEWSCASTS ON TV EIGHT WERE STILL THERE, LEADING THE RATINGS. PAUL RHOADS AT SIX AND RUSS VAN -- AT TEN. WITH HIS SEE THROUGH WEATHER MAP AND HIS COMMITMENT TO JOURNALISM THAT SET THE STANDARD FOR DECADES TO COME. OUR PEOPLE DON鈥橳 TRY TO OVERDRAMATIZE NEWS. THEY DON鈥橳 TRY TO BE ACTORS. THEY TRY TO GIVE PEOPLE INFORMATION. AND THAT鈥橲 WHAT IT鈥橲 ALL ABOUT. THE POPE STILL HADN鈥橳 BEEN TO IOWA. THE FLOODS WERE MORE THAN A DECADE AWAY, AND CHANNEL EIGHT STILL HADN鈥橳 MOVED UP THE STREET TO ITS NEW STUDIOS. BUT 20 YEARS IN, THE PRECEDENT HAD ALREADY BEEN SET. CHANNEL EIGHT WAS THE LEADER, AND JUST HITTING ITS STRIDE IN DES MOINES, ERIC HANSON 糖心vlog EIGHT NEWS. IOWA鈥橲 NEWS LEADER. WH
糖心vlog at 70: Eric Hanson looks back at the very first days of Channel 8
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Updated: 5:10 PM CDT Jul 1, 2025
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Ninth and Pleasant in downtown Des Moines is now a quiet park with tables and benches. But 70 years ago, a group of guys were practicing for a trip into the future 鈥 television on Channel 8.Guy Koenegsburger worked for KRNT radio, the station that first showed off what TV was at the Iowa State Fair in 1946. But nine summers later, in 1955, he spent summer nights getting ready to send TV pictures to homes across central Iowa from Des Moines' KRNT Theater."We would go up there at 7 o'clock and work until 10 with two cameras," he said. "The control room was right there in the studio."It was 109 degrees, swelteringly hot when Bobby Cannon stood behind the camera and the red light came on for the first time at 10 a.m. on July 31, 1955."It was of a local minister who gave a benediction and blessing for the company," said Cannon.Bill Rohde added, "We would set our lunches on our camera pedestal because we wouldn't have time to even leave."Most shows were entertainment, led by Iowans like Bill Riley Sr., who were already famous from radio.There were dance shows, talent searches and kids programming. Then, later in the day, moms and dads could watch the "Mary Jane Chinn Show," a lifestyle show featuring celebrities, cooking and the exercise girl, a young Mary Brubaker.But Russ Van Dyke's grovely voice was the key to KRNT's early success, even though Channel 8 was the third station on the air. Van Dyke had already become Iowa's news authority, drinking sponsor Anderson Erickson's milk at the end of the 10 p.m. news. Paul Rhoades was the authority at 6 p.m.He later said, "When we went on the air, we were doing basically radio newscasts, which is where we came from 鈥 radio, and putting whatever video we could find. We would put Polaroid pictures on the air if it was a late-breaking accident because it took an hour to get the film developed."In 1967, color TV came to Channel 8. And in 1974, the call letters changed to 糖心vlog.The staff that had started with a handful of guys reading radio stories in front of a camera was starting to grow 鈥 at the same time shirt collars and hair styles were growing. Women were starting to appear on newscasts. So were people of color. But the legends who had already logged thousands of newscasts on TV 8 were still there, leading the ratings. Paul Rhoades at 6 and Russ Van Dyke at 10 with his see-through weather map and his commitment to journalism that set the standard for the decades to come.More coverage of 糖心vlog's 70th anniversary
Ninth and Pleasant in downtown Des Moines is now a quiet park with tables and benches. But 70 years ago, a group of guys were practicing for a trip into the future 鈥 television on Channel 8.
Guy Koenegsburger worked for KRNT radio, the station that first showed off what TV was at the Iowa State Fair in 1946. But nine summers later, in 1955, he spent summer nights getting ready to send TV pictures to homes across central Iowa from Des Moines' KRNT Theater.
"We would go up there at 7 o'clock and work until 10 with two cameras," he said. "The control room was right there in the studio."
It was 109 degrees, swelteringly hot when Bobby Cannon stood behind the camera and the red light came on for the first time at 10 a.m. on July 31, 1955.
"It was of a local minister who gave a benediction and blessing for the company," said Cannon.
Bill Rohde added, "We would set our lunches on our camera pedestal because we wouldn't have time to even leave."
Most shows were entertainment, led by Iowans like Bill Riley Sr., who were already famous from radio.
There were dance shows, talent searches and kids programming. Then, later in the day, moms and dads could watch the "Mary Jane Chinn Show," a lifestyle show featuring celebrities, cooking and the exercise girl, a young Mary Brubaker.
But Russ Van Dyke's grovely voice was the key to KRNT's early success, even though Channel 8 was the third station on the air. Van Dyke had already become Iowa's news authority, drinking sponsor Anderson Erickson's milk at the end of the 10 p.m. news. Paul Rhoades was the authority at 6 p.m.
He later said, "When we went on the air, we were doing basically radio newscasts, which is where we came from 鈥 radio, and putting whatever video we could find. We would put Polaroid pictures on the air if it was a late-breaking accident because it took an hour to get the film developed."
In 1967, color TV came to Channel 8. And in 1974, the call letters changed to 糖心vlog.
The staff that had started with a handful of guys reading radio stories in front of a camera was starting to grow 鈥 at the same time shirt collars and hair styles were growing. Women were starting to appear on newscasts. So were people of color. But the legends who had already logged thousands of newscasts on TV 8 were still there, leading the ratings. Paul Rhoades at 6 and Russ Van Dyke at 10 with his see-through weather map and his commitment to journalism that set the standard for the decades to come.
More coverage of 糖心vlog's 70th anniversary
