NAMPA, Idaho — We did it, we finally made it to 2024 and as of February 1, are celebrating 50 years on the air for KIVI TV.
- Anchor Dan Smede remembers early days
- Anchor Claudia Weathermon talks about J.R. Simplot and chips
- Anchor Joe Hughes says it's all about the Fiesta Bowl
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
It’s only appropriate that I end our series of anniversary stories with the Dean of Boise TV anchors.
Dan Smede joined our Idaho News Six crew at a luncheon where we were honored by the History of Idaho broadcasting. Dan remembers one of the very first studios here at our station in Nampa. “And a studio we had designed was six feet square I had film chain on this side and a film chain on this side and a mirror and when it was time to do the news I would reach down, flip the switch and I’d say Good Evening.”
Dan’s last co-anchor was my first co-anchor. Claudia Weathermon recalls some her most memorable stories including how mother nature wreaked havoc on North End neighborhoods, after fires the year before. “I remember covering springtime floods that actually came down draws and through people’s houses if it rained and no brush I can remember sandbags going through people’s houses but now we have fire safety standards for building in the foothills and stuff.”
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And who can forget Claudia’s exclusive behind the scenes interview with the one and only spud king himself J.R. Simplot. “I can remember meeting him at his downtown office and he was showing me everything, his big thing was taking out his wallet and he would show you a Micron chip and said from potato chip to computer chips I don’t know how that works but they tell me it’s going to be big someday.”
Long-time Sports Director Joe Hughes says how do you not talk about the Boise State Broncos Fiesta Bowl victory. “Had the Broncos not won that Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma would the program still be where it is today I don’t so it changed on so many levels think about Jared Zabransky being on the cover of a video game that kids all over the nation were playing, back when you need to buy games and he’s there.”
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Here’s the one that will pull at your heartstrings. A young boy waited for hours to get star running back Ian Johnson’s autograph on his Pinewood Derby car named Ian Johnson. The event ended before the boy could get his autograph. The boy was in tears. Joe says that's when the team went to work. “We had him come down to Bronco Stadium and told him we had his car, and who brings the car into him, Ian Johnson, and it just made this kid’s year. It was a team effort you found out who he was, Michelle had a hand in it and those types of little stories, I think about that almost every year. “
We hope you enjoyed our stories on our historical anniversary. Because there’s more to come for the team at KIVI Idaho News 6.
