The May 6, 1922, debut broadcast (as KZN) included a dedication speech by LDS Church president Heber J. Grant.
Effective December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619kHz) for farm market and weather reports.[4]
On April 21, 1922, the Deseret News, a Salt Lake City newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), was issued a license for a new station on both broadcasting wavelengths.[5] This was the first broadcasting station licensed in the state of Utah. The new station's call sign was KZN. At this time call letters were generally randomly assigned from a roster of available call signs, but it is possible that the KZN call sign was derived from the Zion concept and common motif in the Latter Day Saint movement. The station was located on the roof of the Deseret News Building. KZN's first broadcast began at 3:00 p.m. on May 6, 1922,[6] and included an 8:00 p.m. dedication address by LDS Church president Heber J. Grant, followed by a speech by Salt Lake City Mayor C. Clarence Nelson.[3]
A 1947 advertisement, oriented toward potential sponsors, boasted that "KSL's high commercial standards mean high listener acceptance".
In 1924, KZN was sold to John Cope and his father, F.W. Cope, who formed the Radio Service Corporation of Utah.[8] Ownership was changed to Cope & Johnson, and the station's frequency to 1120 kHz.[9] The call letters became KFPT,[10] with this new call sign coming from an alphabetical roster of available call letters that were normally assigned to new stations. KFPT, still located atop the Deseret News Building, made its formal debut on June 13, 1924.[11] In early 1925 ownership was changed to the Radio Service Corporation of Utah, and the station's frequency to 1150 kHz.[12]
On March 24, 1925, the call letters were changed from KFPT to KSL, and the frequency to 1000 kHz,[13] with the "S" and "L" standing for "Salt Lake". (The KSL call sign had been assigned to a San Francisco station from March 1922 until it was deleted in June 1923.)[14]Earl J. Glade (later a four-term mayor of Salt Lake City) joined the station in 1925 and guided KSL's operations for the next fourteen years. John F. Fitzpatrick, publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune (owned by the Kearns Corporation) acquired a quarter interest of KSL for a modest price, as did the LDS Church. This was the Tribune's first business partnership with the LDS Church, though the Church later reacquired full interest in the station.[15] In 1927, the station moved to 990 kHz.
The recently formed Federal Radio Commission adopted General Order 40 in 1928, which included 40 "clear channel" allocations, which were assignments providing for high-powered stations with extensive nighttime coverage. The resulting reallocation was implemented on November 11, 1928, with KSL given one of the "clear channel" assignments, on 1130 kHz.[16] An upgrade from 5,000 to the current 50,000 watts was dedicated October 22, 1932.[17] In March 1941, with the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, KSL was shifted to 1160 kHz, although it maintained its status as a "clear channel" station.[18]
In 1932, KSL joined the CBS Radio Network. It remained with CBS until 2005, when it switched to ABC News Radio. KSL-FM debuted in 1946 on the then sparsely-populated FM band at 100.1 (later 100.3) MHz. After simulcasting KSL for a number of years, the FM station switched to a beautiful music format, a contrast to the then-current KSL format of news and talk interspersed with middle of the road music. KSL-FM was sold to Simmons Family Inc. in 1977, due to FCC restrictions on multiple station ownership, and the new owners changed the call letters to KSFI.
The station gained a television counterpart in 1949, the CBS affiliate KSL-TV. (KSL-TV switched to NBC in 1995 after KUTV Channel 2 came under the ownership of CBS, following its acquisition by Westinghouse). These stations remained subsidiaries of the Deseret News until 1964, when Bonneville International Corporation was formed as the parent company for the LDS Church's broadcasting interests.
A notable program from KSL's history was Herb Jepko's Nitecap call-in show airing overnight on KSL from 1964 to 1990. This was one of the first U.S. radio talk shows to be syndicated nationally, airing on numerous Mutual Broadcasting System Network stations.
KSL was the radio flagship station for Utah Jazz professional basketball games from the team's 1979 arrival through the 1985-1986 season
In the mid-1980s KSL adopted an all-talk format, completely dropping music programming, aside from its Sunday broadcasts of the Tabernacle Choir.
Station ownership limitations were later loosened. In September 2005, a newly acquired FM station, KQMB, was converted to a simulcast of KSL,[19] and changed its call letters to KSL-FM.[20] The joint operation was branded as "KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM & 1160 AM", though initially the AM signal was considered to be the main station
Bonneville International Corporation is a media and broadcasting company, wholly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation. It began as a radio and TV network in the Triad Center Broadcast House in Salt Lake City, Utah. Bonneville's name alludes to Benjamin Bonneville and the prehistoric Lake Bonneville that once covered much of modern-day Utah, which was named after him.
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↑ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, May 1, 1922, page 4. Limited Commercial license for station KZN, serial #661, issued April 21, 1922 to The Deseret News for a three month period, for operation on 360 and 485 meters.
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