KOMU 8 & Mid-Missouri CW

On December 21, 1953, KOMU 8 broadcast its signal for the first time. The station is a full-powered NBC affiliate operating as an independent commercial property. As such, KOMU 8 is the only major network affiliate in the United States that acts as a university-owned commercial television station utilizing its newsroom as a working lab for students. Recognized throughout the broadcast industry as the premiere training ground for television journalists, KOMU 8s newsroom creates a real-life lab experience for students attending The University of Missouri prestigious School of Journalism. Students have always been a part of the KOMU 8 experience. The station went on the air as an experiment of sorts, the brainchild of journalism professor Edward C. Lambert. Students served as interns in the early years, but in 1970, that all changed. Students began to fill the roles of reporters, writers, producers, and photographers for all the stations newscasts. Those students have gone on to work ...