A Nostalgic Look Back at 70 Years of KCRG-TV9 [VIDEOS]

On October 15, 2023, KCRG-TV9 celebrated 70 years on the air.

As a lifelong resident of eastern Iowa, I started thinking about all the people I've watched on the station over the years. One of the things that has set it apart from most other stations is that many of its on-air staff have been there, or were there, for a very long time. Let's take a nostalgic trip back in time.

Before we take this dive into KCRG, please know that many past personalities on the station are a little difficult to find in YouTube videos. Please don't think I'm trying to slight them.

Let's begin with meteorologist Denny Frary. He began working at KCRG in 1974.

In this 1970s video, Frary takes viewers on a KCRG tour. Frary retired from KCRG in late 2006.

Meteorologist Joe Winters had already been at KCRG for 16 years when Frary retired. He celebrated 33 years with TV9 this summer.

We also can't forget Kaj O'Mara, who was part of the KCRG weather department for 16 years before he left our televisions this spring.

John Campbell was the Sports Director for TV9 for 33 years before semi-retiring in late 2012. Lucky for both sports fans and lovers of sport (hunting and fishing), he still contributes to the station often.

After Campbell retired from his full-time job at KCRG, Scott Saville took over as Sports Director. He's been with the station since 1996.

Now to the news desk. Bruce Aune joined KCRG as an anchor in 1986.

Below is the KCRG news team in the 1990s. To Aune's left is anchor Eadie Fawcett. She loved TV9 so much that she worked at KCRG for two stints, from 1986 to 1992 and again from 2001 to 2004.

To Fawcett's left is Alicia Richards. She moved east from Iowa and has been with ABC27 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania almost 30 years.

Aune retired in early 2020.

Liz Mathis started her TV career in Waterloo and joined KCRG in 1998. She was at the anchor desk for nine years, including in 2003 when the station celebrated its 50th birthday.

Nicole Agee was part of the KCRG team for 14 years, ending in June of 2023. She now works behind the scenes as a recruiter for the company that owns KCRG.

Chris Earl, who first started working at KCRG in 2008, was Bruce Aune's replacement in 2020. Early in 2022, he left for a TV job in Florida.

Earl was part of the sendoff for Dave Franzman in 2016. Franzman had been a reporter for KCRG for 36 years.

Beth Malicki started as an anchor at KCRG in early 2005. She was there during two very difficult times for many of us... the flood of 2008 and the 2020 derecho. Both times, I was glad she was.

One of KCRG's newest additions is Jim Mertens, a longtime TV veteran in the Quad Cities. He joined KCRG in the spring of 2022 and has been delivering the news, and making Joe Winters, Beth Malicki, Scott Saville, Danielle Wagner (below), and us, laugh nearly every day.

I know I'm forgetting a lot of people through the years. Feel free to comment with others you've enjoyed watching over the years below.