KDSM-TV (channel 17) is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with the Fox network.

The station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and has studios on Fleur Drive in Des Moines; its transmitter is located in Alleman, Iowa.

Under Duchossois, the station changed its call sign to KDSM-TV in 1986, affiliated with the then-new Fox network, and became the local broadcaster of syndicated Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball, which dramatically boosted its visibility and regional cable carriage.

KGTV was the first station in Des Moines itself; it operated from November 1953 to April 1955, when it folded amid economic struggles inherent in early UHF broadcasting.

[4] In April 1979, Koplar Broadcasting of St. Louis announced its intention to build a new independent station on channel 17 to serve Des Moines.

[5] The next month, the Independence Broadcasting Company—owned by Raymond Gazzo, William Trout, and Carl Goldsberry of Des Moines—made an application of its own.

Goldsberry was a Northwestern Bell yellow pages sales representative, while Trout and Gazzo were partners in a Des Moines law firm.

[6] The looming fight of Koplar versus Independence was compared by Evan Roth of the Des Moines Tribune to a "David and Goliath" contest.

[7] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated their applications as well as bids from Greater Des Moines Vision Ltd. and Columbia Iowa TV Ltd. for comparative hearing on March 13, 1981.

[9] The company initially selected a downtown studio site on 3rd Street,[10] but by October it had instead found space in a building on Park Avenue.

[18] After the failure of the Citadel sale attempt, Independence agreed to sell KCBR for $8.3 million to Duchossois Communications of Lafayette, Indiana, in February 1985.

[25] These acquisitions increased the station's cable footprint, as systems in fringe areas beyond metro Des Moines added channel 17 for its sports telecasts.

[32] On April 11, 1996, River City announced that it would merge with the Sinclair Broadcast Group for $2.3 billion, creating a company with 29 television and 34 radio stations nationwide.

[40] As early as 1990, KDSM-TV considered introducing a 9 p.m. newscast, and management under Duchossois and River City mulled the possibility for several years.