♪ >> LIVE FROM TV 8 CENTER IN DES MOINES. "THE MARY BRUBAKER SHOW." ♪ RHEYA: WE ARE GOING BACK IN TIME, CELEBRATING 65 YEARS ON THE AIR TODAY. THIS IS A LOOK AT "THE MARY BRUBAKER SHOW." A POPULAR LOCAL TALK SHOW HERE ON KCCI STARTING IN 1967, RUNNING FOR 14 YEARS UNTIL SEPTEMBER 1981 THE SHOW LATER BECAME "MIDDAY," BEFORE EVENTUALLY EVOLVING INTO THIS NOON NEWSCAST. KCCI WENT ON THE AIR JULY 31, 1955 AS KRNT-TV. THIS IS AN IMAGE OF A BILLBOARD IN DOWNTOWN DES MOINES PROMOTING CHANNEL 8 GOING ON THE AIR. KRNT HIT THE AIRWAVES AT ABOUT 10:00 THAT MORNING, AND OUR FIRST NEWSCAST WAS AT 12:30, WITH THE LEGENDARY IOWA NEWS ANCHOR, PAUL RHODES. OUR FIRST ANCHORS WERE LEGENDARY KRNT RADIO PERSONALITIES. THE STATION WAS OWNED BY THE SAME OWNERS OF THE DES MOINES REGISTER AND TRIBUNE AND KRNT RADIO. WITH THE CALL LETTERS, KRN DERIVED FROM THE THE REGISTER N TRIBUNE. IT’S BEEN QUITE THE JOURNEY. AND WEATHER HAS BEEN BEEN A PART OF THE STORY FROM THE BEGINNING. THAT FIRST DAY, IOWA WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A MASSIVE HEATWAVE THE HOT TV LIGHTS AND NO AIR CONDITIONING IN THE STUDIO MADE IT EVEN HOTTER. >> IN ST. LOUIS, 45. CHICAGO, THE TWIN CITIES, 38 DEGREES. RHEYA: LOOK AT THAT. BACK IN 1955, WHEN KCCI FIRST WENT ON THE AIR AS KRNTTV, -- AS KRNT-TV, ANCHORMAN, RUSS VAN DYKE, DID THE WEATHER. HE USED THIS GLASS MAP OF THE UNITED STATES. IT WAS ACTUALLY QUITE INNOVATIVE AT THE TIME. IN FACT, THERE WERE ONLY ABOUT TWO OR THREE OF THEM IN THE COUNTRY. BUT BY 1972, NEWS ANCHORS STARTED REPORTING JUST NEWS, AND DEDICATED WEATHER REPORTERS WERE HIRED. A PROMOTIONS WRITER NAMED CONNIE MCBURNEY WAS CHOSEN TO TAKE OVER. CONNIE QUICKLY BECAME A LOCAL CELEBRITY, WITH VIEWERS COINING THE PHRASE, "CONNIE SAID IT WOULD BE LIKE THIS." KCCI HAS ALSO HAD A LOT OF FIRSTS. SOME INCLUDE DOLPH PULLIAM, THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TV BROADCASTER IN IOWA. HEIDI SOLIDAY, THE FIRST LOCAL FEMALE SPORTS DIRECTOR IN U.S. HISTORY. AND KCCI WAS THE INITIAL TEST SITE OF VIPIR RADAR, AND THE FIRST CENTRAL IOWA TV STATION TO HAVE A DUAL POL RADAR. WHILE SO MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE 1955, WE ARE STILL COMMITTED TO BRINGING YOU THE LATEST NEWS, WEATHER, AND SPORTS TO KEEP YOU INFORMED AND SAFE. THIS IS WHAT KCCI’S FIRST NEWS DIRECTOR, RUSS VAN DYKE, SAID 1983 TO FORMER NEWS DIRECTOR, AND BEFORE THAT, ANCHOR HERE, DAVE BUSIEK. >> I THINK THAT IS REFLECTED IN THE AUDIENCE RATINGS. I THINK IT IS VERY OBVIOUS THAT WE DO A GOOD JOB. YOU GET RIGHT DOWN TO IT, WHAT PEOPLE TUNE INTO THIS NEWSCAST FOR IS THE SAME THEY DID IN 1955, THEY WANT INFORMATION THEY CAN DEPEND ON. I THINK THE STATION THAT DOES THE BE