KCAU-TV Sioux City

On March 29, 1953, KVTV Channel 9 (the forerunner of KCAU-TV) began broadcasting from an improvised studio at Seventh and Pierce Streets. It was the beginnings of the first television station in Sioux City, Iowa. Later in 1956, Channel 9 moved into a historic building at Seventh and Douglas that previously housed the old Sioux City Auditorium and the Tomba Ballroom. KVTV was then a CBS basic station, that also took delayed programs, via kinescope, from NBC, ABC and the Dumont Network. Videotape wasn't a reality until years later, so everything was live or on film. At this time, an invitation was sent to leaders of all fields throughout the country inviting them to participate in a 21st Century Guesstimate. A broad response was received from such people as: Hon. Herbert Hoover; David Sarnoff, Pres., National Broadcasting Co.; Rev. Billy Graham, Evangelist; Samuel Goldwyn, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Ralph S. Damon, Pres., Trans World Airlines, Inc., plus many, many more. All these projections