KCCI, also known as TV8, started life way back in 1955 as KRNT-TV, the television version of
Des Moines's CBS Radio
affiliate, KRNT-AM. The radio station and the TV station were both owned by Cowles Communication, Inc. The Cowles family had something of a
monopoly on Des Moines media - the call letters came from the nickname of their
Register and Tribune newspapers. Several well-known KRNT
radio personalities became television favorites on TV8, and the station became
Central Iowa's most-watched station.
When FCC rules required many TV/radio combinations to break up in the 1970s, TV8 changed its call letters to KCCI-TV, standing for Cowles Communication, Inc. The station has been a CBS affiliate ever since it started on July 1st, 1955.
info scouted from www.theiowachannel.com