How a St. Louis television station pioneered the modern 24-hour news cycle

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Before cable news dominated, a local CBS affiliate in St. Louis revolutionized broadcasting by introducing hourly news updates. By shifting away from traditional film to electronic news gathering, the station transformed how stories were reported, eventually setting a national standard that competitors across the United States quickly scrambled to adopt.

The station now known as KMOV began as KWK-TV in 1954, following a complex period of legal battles and a federal freeze on new television grants. After CBS purchased the station in 1958, it was rebranded as KMOX-TV. During the 1970s, under general manager Thomas Battista, the station underwent a radical transformation to capture the coveted 18–49 female demographic. This era saw the hiring of Julius Hunter, who became the first Black weeknight anchor in St. Louis in 1975, and the implementation of electronic news gathering (ENG). By August 1974, KMOX-TV became the first station globally to fully abandon film in favor of this electronic technology, which utilized miniature cameras and microwave transmission to broadcast live stories.

The station's competitive edge peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s, bolstered by the popular pairing of anchors Steve Schiff and Julius Hunter, affectionately dubbed 'Lox and Hamhocks.' However, this dominance faded by 1984 as rival station KSDK surged ahead, fueled by high-performing NBC prime time programming and popular game shows like Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Following a hostile takeover attempt of CBS by Ted Turner, the network sold the station to Viacom in 1986, leading to its current call sign, KMOV. Viacom implemented aggressive cost-cutting measures and increased the preemption of network shows to boost local advertising revenue.

In 1989, KMOV launched its '24-Hour News Source' project, featuring hourly news updates throughout the day. This innovation proved highly successful, narrowing the ratings gap with KSDK and prompting stations in cities like Pittsburgh, Miami, and San Francisco to replicate the model. Despite this success, the station faced significant challenges, including a 1993 scandal involving an aborted investigation into the Catholic Church that resulted in the resignations of key news staff. Since then, KMOV has transitioned through various owners, including the Belo Corporation and the Meredith Corporation, before being acquired by Gray Media in 2021 and rebranded as First Alert 4.

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