History
Bonneville International was formed in 1964, with approval of the LDS Church's First Presidency. It was formed to acquire KSL-AM-FM-TV in its hometown of Salt Lake City, as well as KIRO-AM-FM-TV in Seattle, which had previously been subsidiaries of the Deseret News . The LDS Church divested itself of the Seattle stations between 1995 and 1997, but reacquired KIRO-AM 10 years later. [1] The company has also owned stations in New York City, Dallas, Kansas City, and Los Angeles at one point.
In 1980 it formed Bonneville Communications Corporation, primarily to broadcast LDS General Conference.
Bonneville prided itself on "values-oriented programming" and community involvement, in line with the company's mission as set forth by its first president and founder, Arch L. Madsen. According to Bonneville International's website, their values reflect an understanding that "families are the basic unit of society... and that strong families build strong communities."
Due to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) media cross-ownership rule, Bonneville was unable to purchase additional media outlets in Salt Lake City beyond its flagship cluster. In anticipation of a rule change, Bonneville purchased four additional Salt Lake radio stations in 2002. The FCC did not grant approval for this purchase until 2003, upon which the stations were acquired by Bonneville. The status of this deal is still uncertain—the FCC has only granted a waiver to Bonneville, and a recent court ruling has put the FCC cross-ownership rule changes into question.
On October 4, 2004, Bonneville International announced plans to buy three stations from Emmis Communications in the Phoenix, Arizona market, in exchange for WLUP "The Loop" in Chicago and cash.
On January 4, 2006, Bonneville and The Washington Post announced that the frequencies currently used by WTOP, 1500 kHz AM and 107.7 MHz FM, would be reassigned to a new station, "Washington Post Radio." WTOP would move to 103.5 MHz, the frequencies currently used by classical music station WGMS, which in turn would move to 104.1 and 103.9 MHz, the frequencies used by WWZZ, which would be closed.
WGMS itself would fall silent a little more than a year later, on January 22, 2007. In its place is 1970s-1980s-adult-hits-station WXGG ("George 104"). Simultaneously, public radio station WETA-FM dropped its news/talk format in order to revive its previous classical format, via a partnership with Bonneville. WETA would also receive WGMS' entire music library, hired WGMS' last program director, and also retained the usage of the WGMS call sign. George 104 would last less than four months, when in April 2007, it was announced that the 104.1 frequency would be LMA'd to Radio One. On April 7, 2007, the frequency would flip to a Gospel and Inspiration format, known as Praise 104.1.
The Washington Post Radio experiment ended in September 2007, as the three stations (including the powerful AM 1500 signal) became WWWT, or "3WT". Hosts include syndicated hosts from the Right (Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz) and Left (Stephanie Miller) as well as Washington Nationals baseball. The station's morning show will continue.
Rush Limbaugh once worked for Bonneville Communications, after his stint with the Kansas City Royals.
CBS Radio has announced that it would sell 50 radio stations in 12 markets to focus on major market stations. As of September 22, 2008, Bonneville is one of the seven candidates to make first-round bids. [2]
On August 12, 2009; Citadel Broadcasting has rumored that they're planning to sell the former Disney/ABC's 23 stations to reduce its debt load, however several financial factors may put the deal at risk. While not all the stations can be sold off, Bonneville has expressed interest in 2 FM stations in Washington D.C. (WJZW and WRQX). [3]
On January 19, 2011, Bonneville announced it would sell 17 radio stations in Cincinnati, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis to Hubbard Broadcasting for $505 million. [4] The deal closed May 2, 2011.
On November 17, 2017, Bonneville began operating four San Francisco radio stations and four Sacramento radio stations under a local marketing agreement on behalf of the Entercom Divestiture Trust, following Entercom's merger with CBS Radio. [5] On August 3, 2018, Bonneville acquired the stations outright for $141 million; [6] the deal had been delayed by succession issues related to the death of LDS Church president Thomas S. Monson the preceding January. [7]
On September 30, 2021, it was announced that Bonneville International, owner of the KSL AM and FM stations, would be taking over operations of The Zone sports network. The arrangement with Bonneville will result in select Utah Jazz games being aired on KSL. [8] Founding host Gordon Monson and some producers were laid off by the new management. [9] The Zone introduced a new lineup effective October 20. [10]
KSL-TV is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is sister to KSL radio. The three stations share studios at the Broadcast House building in Salt Lake City's Triad Center; KSL-TV's transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City. The station has a large network of broadcast translators that extend its over-the-air coverage throughout Utah, as well as portions of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.
KIRO is a commercial AM radio station in Seattle, Washington, owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International. The station airs a sports radio format and is an ESPN Radio Network affiliate. The station's studios and offices are located on Eastlake Avenue in Seattle's Eastlake district.
KSL Newsradio is a pair of radio stations serving the Salt Lake City, Utah region, consisting of the original AM station, KSL, licensed to Salt Lake City on 1160 kHz, and FM station KSL-FM, licensed to Midvale on 102.7 MHz. Owned by Bonneville International, a broadcasting subsidiary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the stations share studios with sister television station KSL-TV in the Broadcast House building at the Triad Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
Deseret Management Corporation (DMC) is a global operating company, managing for-profit entities affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was established in 1966 by church president David O. McKay to hold already-existing church assets. DMC companies provide content, services, and information through a diverse portfolio of companies, with the majority being media and communications brands.
KMBZ is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Kansas City, Missouri. KMBZ is owned by Audacy, Inc. and it airs a talk radio format. Its studios and transmitter tower are in suburban Mission, Kansas, at separate locations.
KJZZ-TV is an independent television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate KUTV and MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYU in St. George. The stations share studios on South Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City, while KJZZ-TV's transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City. KJZZ-TV is the ATSC 3.0 host station for the Salt Lake City market; in turn, other stations broadcast its subchannels on its behalf.
KCSG is a television station licensed to Cedar City, Utah, United States, airing programming from the classic television network MeTV. Owned and operated by network parent Weigel Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on West 1600 South Street in St. George, and its transmitter is located on Cedar Mountain, southeast of Cedar City. KCSG has a network of 11 broadcast translators that extend its over-the-air coverage throughout the state. It is also available on DirecTV, Dish Network, Galaxy 19, and cable systems throughout the geographically large Salt Lake City media market.
KOIT is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to San Francisco, California. The station has studios along Junipero Serra Boulevard in Daly City, and transmits from Sutro Tower in San Francisco, with a power output of 24,000 watts effective radiated power. The signal can be received throughout the Bay Area with relative ease. There is also a booster station in Martinez, California called KOIT-3 that improves the coverage in the Diablo Valley area.
KRSP-FM is a radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is owned by Bonneville International, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, the for-profit arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. KRSP-FM maintains studio facilities located at the KSL Broadcast House building in Salt Lake City's Triad Center, and its transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City.
KSFI is a radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. KSFI maintains studio facilities located at the KSL Broadcast House building in Salt Lake City's Triad Center, and its transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City.
KNCI is a commercial radio station in Sacramento, California, United States. The station is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International. KNCI carries a country music format, alongside a classic country format known as The Ranch and a "Young Country" format known as "The Wolf" on HD Radio subchannels.
KYMX is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Sacramento, California, United States. The station is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International and broadcasts an adult contemporary format. KYMX's transmitter is located in Natomas and its studios are in North Sacramento.
KUFX is a classic rock radio station licensed to San Jose, California. Its studios are located along Junipero Serra Boulevard in Daly City, and the transmitter is located on Blackberry Hill above Los Gatos.
KNIT is an AM radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah. It serves the Wasatch Front area of Utah. The station is one of the oldest in Salt Lake City, established in 1922 as KDYL. KNIT's transmitter site is on Pitchfork Lane in Murray, Utah, near Interstate 215. It broadcasts at 730 watts, using a single tower non-directional antenna. The station shares this tower with KJJC.
KALL is a sports radio station in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area licensed to North Salt Lake, Utah, though in station identifications and the FCC database, the station is listed as being licensed to "North Salt Lake City". The station is owned by Dell Loy Hansen's Broadway Media. The station's studios are located in Downtown Salt Lake City and its transmitter site is located in Legacy Nature Preserve west of Bountiful. Their sister station KOVO is also an ESPN Radio affiliate.
KEPN is a commercial radio station licensed to Lakewood, Colorado, and serving the Denver metropolitan area. It is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International with studios and located in Greenwood Village, and the transmitter is in Lakewood.
KZNS is a commercial AM radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah. It airs a sports radio format and is owned by Jazz Communications LLC. Programming is simulcast on co-owned KZNS-FM 97.5, licensed to Coalville, Utah. On weekdays, KZNS-AM-FM have local hosts discussing Salt Lake City and national sports. Nights and weekends, programming is supplied by Fox Sports Radio. KZNS-AM-FM are the flagship radio stations for the Utah Jazz basketball team and the Salt Lake Bees Minor League Baseball team.
KNIV is a radio station broadcasting a regional Mexican format. Licensed to Lyman, Wyoming, United States, it serves the Salt Lake City area. The station is currently owned by Aerostar Communications, LLC.
The Latter-day Saints Channel is an over the air and Internet radio station owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
KZNS-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Coalville, Utah and serving the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. It airs a sports talk radio format and is owned by Jazz Communications LLC. Ryan Smith (businessman) is the owner of Jazz Communications LLC.
