Story & Photos Courtesy of DesMoinesBroadcasting.com
from Photos by Bob Cannon


Iowa's First Introduction to TV at the 1946 Iowa State Fair

Before any TV stations were on the air in the State of Iowa, radio station KRNT-AM - Des Moines, in cooperation with RCA and International Harvester, gave the 1946 Iowa State Fair visitors a preview of television. The demonstration was staged in the International Harvester tent. Closed circuit TV programs were produced using KRNT-AM personalities & Staff.
Bob Cannon, whose father was a KRNT engineer, supplied his fascinating picture story, to Des Moines Broadcasting.com website, which is believed to be Iowa's first exposure to television. Bob Cannon was a teenager at the time and worked as one of the camera men. Some of his presentation can be seen below.
(Click on Photo for the Description)

 

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Besides closed circuit TV in the International Harvester Tent, the flat bed truck camera televised the harness races and the auto races from a vantage point inside the race track at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
All the Television equipment came from the laboratories of RCA Victor, Camden, N.J.
KRNT Television went on-air in July 1955 - Today it is KCCI-TV Channel 8, Des Moines, Iowa.
The complete set of photos can be found at the Des Moines Broadcasting Website.

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