KSL Radio

From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism

See this page in the original 1992 publication.

Author: Madsen, Arch L.

KSL is a clear-channel Salt Lake City radio station, 1160 on the dial. Originally an independent KZN, it went on the air May 6, 1922. The Church bought controlling interest in the station on April 21, 1925.

Earl J. Glade, pioneer broadcaster, was general manager of the station for its first twenty years. He set standards and policies that continue to the present: a strong local and international news service, community and cultural interdependence, and sponsorship of quality-of-life improvements.

In 1932 KSL changed affiliation from NBC to CBS and, in the same year, increased its power to 50,000 watts. The station reaches into all the United States west of the Mississippi and, by occasional "skips," is heard as far away as New Zealand and Norway.

On December 26, 1946, KSL began broadcasting the first FM radio signal in Utah under the call letters of KSL-FM, and on June 1, 1949, KSL Television went on the air. The FM station was sold in 1978. KSL-TV has a survey area that includes seven western states.

In 1961, Bonneville Corporation was created to give unified leadership to KSL and other broadcasting entities acquired and developed by the Church. ARCH L. MADSEN

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