How KCCI rising star Nicole Tam made station history at the anchor desk

Nicole Tam is coming up next.

On the morning of Jan. 8, as fog cleared the way for open skies, Tam emerged, too: the reporter-turned-KCCI rising star delivered her first day of headlines at the area CBS station’s anchor desk.

KCCI tapped Tam to helm the two to three-hour-long show alongside meteorologist Trey Fulbright, during a mid-December 2022 round of promotions.

The station also promoted newly minted chief political reporter Amanda Rooker and now-weekday morning anchor Scott Carpenter.

The 25-year-old Tam, who arrived at KCCI less than a year ago, became the station’s first Asian American anchor. Tam brings on-air reporting experience from her home state of Hawaiʻi and an inspiring ascent as an immigrant from Hong Kong.

From Hong Kong to Hawaiʻi

Tam first found a love for TV news in third grade while watching a meteorologist present a forecast with her parents.

In 2007, at age 10, Tam moved from Hong Kong to Hawaiʻi with her parents Chris and Sandy Tam.

Her dad Chris wanted his only child to grow up in a simpler environment than Hong Kong because the region is "very rigorous in education and stressful for children," she said.

“It was interesting because I spoke a little bit of English but obviously, from a Cantonese dominant-speaking place to a place that’s completely in English. It took some time to adapt,” Tam said. “But as a kid, you’re so resilient, right? You kind of just adapt and learn really quickly.”

More: America's first Hmong anchorman reflects on historic year at Local 5

She graduated from Henry J. Kaiser High School in Honolulu in 2015 and then attended college at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa, where she double majored in journalism and Chinese.

At the university, she was briefly editor in chief of the student newspaper her senior year and started working at Honolulu-based ABC station KITV as a digital producer nearly two years before graduation.

After graduating in 2018, Tam landed an on-air job at KITV as a reporter, where she filled in on the anchor desk and covered topics from volcanoes and COVID-19 vaccinations to health care and crime.

Tam left KITV for a job at KCCI, where she started work in March 2022, and came to Iowa to further her broadcast news career and experience something new, she said.

“It’s different. It was nothing like I’ve ever experienced, so I thought it would be a great place to explore and I’m so glad I did it,” Tam said of the move.

As she moves onto the anchor desk, Tam is excited to introduce viewers to her story and welcome them to share their own each weekend morning.

More: KCCI weather desk now features two new meteorologists in Des Moines

‘I feel honored that Iowans trust me’

“I’m very proud of my background from Hawaiʻi, but I’m also very happy to learn and share the culture here,” Tam said. “I hope people feel a sense of aloha, but also allow me into their culture and teach me what they know."

Tam will host the three-hour show “KCCI 8 News This Morning: Weekends” with forecasting from Fulbright on Saturday and Sunday mornings. In a Dec. 12 press release, KCCI president and general manager Brian Sather and news director Allison Smith announced the promotions of Carpenter, Rooker, and Tam.

“These promotions have been earned through service and hard work,” Sather said in the news release.

Tam said the promotion is an honor after 10 months at the station because she’s getting to know everyday Iowans at the supermarket, on-air, and on street corners.

“I feel honored that Iowans trust me,” Tam said. “I’ve gotten a lot of positive messages online from my colleagues, just random people on the street.”

Tam will continue to report during the regular morning show, “KCCI 8 This Morning,” on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday each week. She added that she has shook off nerves from first moving here last March and embraced the Hawkeye state as another home like Hong Kong and Hawaiʻi.

“KCCI 8 News This Morning: Weekends” edition viewers can expect to hear forecasts from Fulbright and stories presented by her with kindness and respect, she said.

“I’m really enjoying meeting Iowans and learning their stories, so I hope to continue doing that and showcasing this platform that’s a little different than reporting,” Tam said. “But still telling their stories in a meaningful and respectful way.”

On her first day on the desk, Tam read the headlines to Iowans: the start of the state's legislative session the following day, how Iowans are being impacted by national drug shortages, an update on the swearing in of U.S. members of Congress after a weeklong voting bonanza to confirm House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Between commercial breaks, Tam took sips of water and stopped to laugh with on-set production members about the group's individual weekend plans. She was seated at a desk in a chair that she had first dreamt about halfway around the world as a third grader in Hong Kong.

"KCCI 8 News This Morning: Weekends" airs Saturday and Sunday mornings with Tam and Fulbright on Channel 8.

Correction: This article was updated to reflect the correct hours for “KCCI 8 News This Morning: Weekends.” The show airs for two hours on Saturday from 5 to 6 a.m. and 8 to 9 a.m., and three hours on Sunday from 5 to 8 a.m.

Jay Stahl is an entertainment reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow him on Instagram or reach out at jstahl@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: KCCI anchor Nicole Tam is the station's first Asian American in the role