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38231159 thEI

history 0f 1

ABSTRACT

THE HISTORY OF RADIO STATION KSL
FROM 1922 TO TELEVISION

by Heber G. Wolsey

Commercial radio, as we know it today, had its
beginning less than fifty years ago. During its approxp
imately half-century of existence, it has been so busy
making broadcasting history that it has taken little
time to record that history. The Journal of Broadcasting
lists only a handful of radio station historical studies.
In a few years, it will be impossible to record an accur-
ate historical account of America's pioneer radio stations
because their founders will have died; and much of the
history of radio will have died with them. Radio de-
serves a more permanent place in history than that which,
to date, has been recorded in its name. With this in
mind, the present study has been undertaken to analyze
how and why 50,000 watt, clear channel KSL, Salt Lake
City, Utah, one of America's major radio stations, has
deveIOped its policies, programs, and personnel to
accomplish its avowed purpose of becoming an important
and integral voice of the communities it serves.

The study has considered the entire KSL Operation
as a "voice“, an individual, if you will, with a phil-

osOphy for existence. And an attempt has been made to

 

 

analyze whet!
objectives.
Many 0'
executives W
RSL‘s files,
pregram logs
Capies of t}
covering the
sources of
$3, 6741. t
which conta
“as reviews
Since
it is 13.90
em‘ironmen

c“ its ro

Y‘
eeaSOn '

Heber G. Wolsey

analyze whether or not this voice has accomplished its
objectives.

Many personal interviews with past and present KSL
executives were conducted. Hundreds Of documents in
KSL's files, such as minutes Of Directors' meetings,
program logs, and progress reports, were reviewed.
COpies Of the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune,
covering the period involved, served as important
sources Of information. Clear Channel_flearingL_Docket
NOI 6741, the Federal Communications Commission document
Awhich contained a wealth Of material on KSL's Operations,
was reviewed in detail.

Since a radio station does not Operate in a vacuum,
it is important to understand the cultural and social
environment with which it comes in contact. Only then
can its role in society take on prOper meaning. For this
reason, as a setting for the current study, the histor-
ical background of the peOple in the station's primary
coverage area has been analyzed, and a short review of
radio's overall develOpment in America has been made.

Several conclusions were arrived at as a result of
this study. Research showed that KSL has defined well
its audiences and recognized its reaponsibilities to
them. An analysis Of its policies and its practices re-
veals that the station accurately may be considered as one

Of the outstanding clear channel stations in America.

Ecvever, the

years at the

 

early 1950's
eering orien
were relegate

KSL, d:
wholly owned
by that orga:

bination of k

 

izvolved st

“Sting; ( 1)

Heber G. Wolsey
However, there were two periods of time, during the first
years at the station and from the late 1930's to the
early 1950's, when management was so business and engin-
eering oriented that creative programming and selling
were relegated to secondary positions.

KSL, during most of its history, although not
wholly owned by the Mormon Church, has been controlled
by that organization. Research has shown that this com-
bination of business Operation and church influence has
involved KSL in two distinctly different areas of broad-
casting: (l) the business of broadcasting, with its
accompanying responsibility tO conduct its Operations in
such a way as to return a profit to its stockholders: and
(2) religious broadcasting, with its accompanying respon-
sibility not only to make adequate time available to all
major religious faiths in the area, but to create prO-
grams designed to fill well the time allocated to its
majority stockholder, the Mormon Church, for religious
programming.

From the business point Of view, KSL has fulfilled
admirably its responsibilities to its owners and to its
audiences. From the religious broadcasting point of
view, the station today, tO a great extent, is living
on its past laurels, with little creative effort eviden-

ced in this phase Of Operation.

 

in:

THE HISTORY OF RADIO STATION KSL

FROM 1922 TO TELEVISION

by

Haber GS‘Wolsey

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment Of the requirements
for the degree Of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department Of Speech

1967

 

" “Wright

C Uc‘Z'Tfi”)
3,15%?

Gloopyright by
m MT WISE!

1968

 

1 wou'
Kenneth G- '
has been an

and his life

his directic

 

fruits 0f u
devoted sup?
father to t?
'dafiéy was \.
her for hen:
night accom;

There

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express sincere thanks to Dr.
Kenneth G. fiance and to Mrs. Fay P. Wolsey. Dr. Hance
has been an understanding and highly competent adviser:
and his life, to me as to so many who have come under
his direction, has been an inspiring reminder Of the
fruits of true education. My wife, Fay, through her
devoted support and willingness to be both mother and
father to the children on so many occasions while
“daddy was working on the dissertation” has qualified
her for honors far greater than any recognition which
might accompany a graduate degree.

There are many more who have made my work easier
and more rewarding: Dr. Walter Emery and Mr. Leo Martin
of the Television-Radio Department, Michigan State uni-
versity: Joseph Kjar, Lennox Murdoch, and Arch Madsen
Of KSL: and my colleagues at BrighamLYoung University.

A special word Of thanks goes to my sister, Sarah
Wolsey, a superior and dedicated teacher of English who
has given many valuable suggestions during the course
of this study.

To all who have contributed to this work, those
mentioned by name in these acknowledgments, and those not
mentioned but who have given freely of their time and tal-

ents during countless interviews, I am most grateful.

11

ACEJWLEDGEV

 

use or APPS.
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1. THIS

 

ex. TE
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ex. T52,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . ... . . . . . . . . . .

LIST OF APPENDIXES . . . . . . . . . . . .

IN NOD UC TION O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Chapter

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.

VII.

VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.

XIII.

THIS IS KZN CALLING . . . . . . . .
HISTORICAL BACKDROP . . . . . .
. . . BECAUSE RADIO Is HERE . . . .
PRIOR TO THE PREMIER PROGRAM . . .
THE VOICE DEVELOPS (KZN—KPPTHKSL) .
THE VOICE MATURES . . . . . . . .

THE VOICE OF MUSIC AND THE SPOKEN

WORD O O O O O O O O O O O O C 0

THE VOICE OF AGRICULTURE . . . . .
THE VOICE OE RELIGION . . . . . . .
KSL—A BALANCED VOICE . . .. . . . .
THE VOICE's POLICIES AND STANDARDS
THE VOICE'S LISTENERS TESTIEY . . .

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . .

APPmDIxEs O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

BIBLIOGRAPHY O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

111

Page
ii
iv

14
41
51
71
103

133
156
169
187
214
235
252 .
280
301

 

'7?
0“.

 

 

LIST OF APPENDIXES

LICENSE, POWER, AND FREQUENCY ASSIGNMENT

STATION KSL AT WORK--OPERATING PRACTICES

Appendix
I.
HISTORY OF KSL . .
II.
III. IN THE WEST IT'S KSL

iv

Page

280
282

300

 

Natu

In an e
3::aécastinq
N
51"“ generati

Cf this end-o:

INTRODUCTION
Nature and Significance of this Study

In an editorial published September 19, 1966,
Broadcasting magazine noted that radio's miraculous
first generation was fading into history. As an example
of this end-Of-the-beginning Of radio, the editorial
cited the death the previous week Of Earl J. Glade, radio
pioneer Of Utah and the West. The editorial concluded
by stating that ”these men . . . cut the pattern that is
today's free-enterprise broadcasting structure. The
present and future generations owe them a prayer and an
everlasting debt."1

The debt can be partially repaid by compiling and
recording the events of historical significance which
were brought about by the efforts Of these pioneers and by
subsequent men and women whose vision or lack Of vision
has given us the radio fare we have known over the years.

Radio, during the past fortyafive years, has known
burgeoning beginnings, a golden age, heroic maturation
during a world war, a struggle for survival against a

sister mediump-television, and a current social acceptance

 

1Editorial, Broadcasting, September 19, 1966, p. 122.

 

of such nag
sets in Are.
Radio

has been so

   
 
 

have been me

:roadcastio
W...

Stations be:
the history

Radio
than that w}
mental, E

,
e
. org. A. Co

 

N”
399811:

Of such magnitude that today there are more Operating radio
sets in America than there are peOple.2

Radio, in its less than fifty years of active life,
has been so busy making history that few organized efforts
have been made to record that history. The Journal of
Broadcasting lists only a handful Of historical studies
Of radio stations.3 In a few years it will be impossible
to do a complete research project on the pioneer radio
stations because the founders will have died, and much Of
the history of radio will have died with them.

Radio deserves a more permanent place in history
than that which is recorded in its name at present. Its
potential, though not fully realized, is monumental.
George A. Codding, Jr., in Broadcastin Without Barriers,
suggests:

In all the long history of man's effort to
communicate with his neighbor, radio marks a unique
advance. The size and composition of the audience
that can be reached by a single broadcast staggers
the imagination. Radio enables the educator, journal-
ist, political leader or social reformer to be heard
simultaneously by industrialist and farm'worker,
professor and illiterate, Child and adult. Broad-
casting is also an intimate companion, entering

freely into the normal round of daily life in the
home or at the Office, factory or sports club. NO

2From the brochure Four Radios for Eve ome (New
YOrk: Radio Advertising Bureau, Inc., 19655. ,

3J0 rnal of Broadcastin , II, No. 1 (Winter, 1957-58);
IV, NO. I (Winter, 1959-6057 V, NO. 4 (Fall, 1961): VII,
NO. 3 (Summer, 1963).

 

 

matter \
of broa:

with .
it would see
radio stati:

l

KSL, E

and integral

channel rad:

its beginni:

 

emE'meering .
award Vinnir
mg“!!! in 1
Who have ma<
the thlOna:
“Works am
8250:13an e

and “Heron

Prev;

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denlopmem

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'Dh
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\

I

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M Hog“.
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matter where man goes he is potentially within reach
of broadcasting.4

With such a potentially all-pervading force as;radio,
it would seemwwise to analyze why and how some of our major
radio stations have succeeded in becoming such important
and integral parts Of the communities they serve.

KSL, Salt Lake City, Utah, is a 50,000 watt, clear
channel radio station, Operating on 1160 kilocycles. Since
its beginning on May 6, 1922, it has created numerous
engineering innovations: produced many programs of national
award winning merit, including the Oldest continuous radio
program in America: and develOped broadcasting Specialists
who have made major contributions to the national networks,
the National Association Of Broadcasters, many regional
networks and individual stations, a world-wide commercial
shortpwave complex, the Hollywood motion picture industry,
and numerous educational institutions.

Previous station studies have dealt primarily with
technical develOpments, personalities, programming, and,
to an extent, with an analysis of the causes behind the
develOpment of the particular station.

This study attempts to consider the entire station
Operation as a "voice,“ an individual, if you will, with
a philosOphy for existence. And an attempt will be made

 

4George A. Codding, Jr., Broadcasting Without garrigr!
(The Hague: United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, 1959), p. 5.

to analyze *

objectives . "-'

 

To do
ical backgr
KSL was bor
the Interns
profile) on
setting fro
the history
conducted,

KSL's
Smoking ‘1
KSL has Spo‘
59°me Hi
We“ Who 9
‘5 attempt .

but (:0 final

to analyze whether or not this voice has accomplished its
Objectives.

To do this it will be necessary to check the histor-
ical background of the area and the society into which
KSL was born. Attention will be given to the history of
the Intermountain‘West in general (KSL'S primary coverage
profile) and Of Utah in particular. And tO complete the
setting from which KSL emerged as a ”voice,“ a review of
the history Of radio's develOpment in America will be
conducted.

KSL's philOSOphy, scale of values, and reasons for
speaking will be studied. The circumstances under which
KSL has spoken, its audiences, and the occasions for
speaking will be scrutinized. The lives of the men and
women who gave KSL a voice will be reviewed. Finally,
an attempt will be made not only to record KSL's message
but to analyze what the effects of that message have
been.

Sources of this Study

A.detailed historical study of KSL has been under
consideration by station executives for several years.
Fortunately, four or five interviews with Earl J. Glade,
one of the major radio pioneers of KSL and Western America,
were recorded on tape prior to his death in September,

1966. These tapes contain reminiscences on many phases of

EU 5 opera
ther inter

Staff nambe

 

tudy, §_l_e_
to the Feds
contains a x
in analyzir.
structure, .
and widely .I
I132's files
Studies, pr<
minute; of 1
the W
in"01"“. se
A number of

 

the back? rOi

Period “ride,

KSL's Operations from its beginnings until 1965. Many
other interviews with past and present executives and
staff members Of KSL have been very valuable to this
study. Clear Channel Hearing. Docket NO. 6741, presented
to the Federal Communications Commission, May 7, 1946,
contains a wealth of documented material which‘was helpful
in analyzing KSL's broadcast philOSOphy, its programming
structure, and its attitude toward its large, varied,

and widely scattered audiences. Hundreds of documents in
KSL's files were reviewed, such as program logs, sales
studies, progress reports, financial statements, and
minutes of board meetings and staff meetings. cOpies of
the Deseret News and Salt L353 Tribune, covering the period
involved, served as other major sources of information.
A.number Of sources, noted in the bibliography, furnished
the background materials for the chapters on Western
American history and the history of radio during the

period under consideration.
Plan Of the Study

Since a radio station does not Operate in a vacuum,
it is important to understand the cultural, social, and
political environment'with‘which it comes into contact.
Only then can an analysis of its role become meaningful.
For this reason the early chapters of this dissertation

include the following: Chapter One, a brief setting for

the study, 6
Cnapter ’No,

station's p:

 

 

study of {ac
clapters dea
its numerous:
the religiml
“330 the teal
history of t
“3501' cont,“
°f ClEtailecl
Earl J. Glad
the 'SpOken
originating
inch“ 1 Bl

”ti-Nd at 1

the study, covering the station's first day of Operation:
Chapter Two, historical background of the peOple in the
station's primary coverage area: Chapter Three, a short
study of radio's develOpment in America. Succeeding
chapters deal with the station's voice as it relates to

its numerous and varied audienceSy-the farm audience,

the religious audience, the urban audience. Interwoven
into the text of these chapters will be the chronological
history Of the station. A number Of persons who have made
major contributions to the station will be the subjects

Of detailed discussion in several chapters: for example,
Earl J. Glade (mentioned previously) and Richard L. Evans,
the ”Spoken Word“ of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcasts
originating from KSL. The final chapter of the study will
include a summarization of the findings and the conclusions

arrived at as a result of those findings.

It wage

333‘- By no

 

The forecast
Change in te
‘10 Salt Lake
the Vol-st fl

Was ex9ectec‘

CHAPTER I

THIS IS KZN CALLING

It was a warm day for early May in Salt Lake City,
Utah. By noon the temperature had risen to 71 degrees.
The forecast called for unsettled weather, with not much
change in temperature. But the warm'weather was no boon
to Salt Lakers. Rapid spring thaws had brought about
the worst flood in Salt Lake City history, and the crest
was expected during the three-hour period beginning at
eleven o'clock that night.

It was Saturday, May 6, 1922. And, although pre-
parations were being made to protect homes and businesses
from the flood waters, life in the City of the Saints went
on pretty much as usual. The freshman class at University
of Utah had painted the large, white block 'U' on the
hillside a brilliant green. The Primary Association of
the Mormon Church was preparing to open its “Convalescent
Children's Hospital and Dry Nursery“ the following week.
Readers of the 2;;3;g§_§ggg learned that three negroes
had been burned at the stake in Texas, that Russia was
unable to meet the Allies' terms but hoped to continue

negotiations on vital issues, and that a sixty year old

 

Salt Lake C‘
old San Die:
suit.

Bord
livered in s,
demuntable
were being c
anticipating
You advert 1;

The E
local emplc

Utah "Cum

The 1

Salt Lake City man was being sued by a nineteen year
old San Diego beauty for $50,000 in a breach of promise
suit.

Ford cars were being advertised for $517.35, de-
livered in Salt Lake City, complete with starters and
demountable rims. Deseret News advertisers, in general,
were being cautioned: "Do not court disappointment by
anticipating profits which you may never realize unless
you advertise in the Deseret News."1

The.§§g§ reported that the Department of Labor and
local employers were in agreement that unemployment in
Utah would soon be a thing of the past.

The Utah State ”Aggies,“ for the first time in
history, had Just defeated the University of Utah in
tennis.

:1 Margiggg g [gilure7 was playing at the Par-
amount Empress Theater, along with Pathé'News and Apeog's
nglgg. Gloria Swanson was coming to town on celluloid
the following day in Jesse Laskyfs production of 5.1931
‘5hlJ32351. Rudolph Valentino was her leading man.

But floods, Fords, and films held little interest
for a. Carter‘wilson on that day in May, 1922. Promptly
at 3:00 o'clock that afternoon this'ggggggt_figgg radio

 

1Deseret News, May 6, 1922.

 

operator ' se
in Operatic.

Es}
Deseret

G
to all

E t
Propose
weather

Desere
C

8191115 1
”Chine

operator “set his wonderful scientific radio apparatus
in operation."2

Hello: Hello: Hello: This is KZN: KZN, the
Deseret News, Salt Lake City, calling; KZN calling.

Greetings! The Deseret News sends its greetings
to all of you far and wide!

By means of this radio station the Deseret News
proposes to serve you daily with news bulletins, music,
weather reports and other data of interest.

Deseret News writer, Jack Cannon, in his enthusiasm
over the potential of this electronic innovation, wrote:

Conceive if you can anything to parallel the
significance of the installation of the powerful
machine. News traveling with the speed of light
along an ether wave for the satisfaction of the
numerous radio fans of the intermountain country
and not only news, but programs of music and enter-
tainment such as people travel hundreds of miles
to enjoy. All will be caught by the numerous
receiving stations of e land and will be enjoyed
to the fullest extreme.

Formal dedication ceremonies of KZN (later to
become KSL) were conducted the evening of May 6. The
honor of being the first official voice of KZN'was
given to Reber J. Grant, President of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). Promptly
at 8:00 p.m. he made the following statement:

This is my message to the people of the

world-~a quotation from the Doctrine & Covenants,
known as Section 76, a revelation to Joseph Smith

 

21bid., May 8, 1922.
31bid.
41bid.

 

and Sid

which tr
“3, I

I
he cruc
the'wor:
it from

Father

W
60d: an
is the:

.u
Worlds 1
begotte'

 

T
witness

of the
POllo

City “Yor'
listeners ‘I

E
thi' a:

10

and Sidney Rigdon.

”And this is the gospel, the glad tidings
which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto
us,

“That He came into the world, even Jesus, to
be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of
the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse
it from all unrighteousnessy

“That through Him all might be saved whom the
Father had put into his power and made by Him.

“For we saw Him, even on the right hand of
God, and we heard the voice bearing record that He
is the Only Begotten of the Father.

“That by Him.and through Him, and of Him the
worlds were created, and the inhabitants thereof are
begotten sons and daughters of God.“

This is the end of the quotation. I bear
witness to all mankind that Joseph Smith was a prophet
of the true and living God.5

Following President Grant's message, salt Lake
City mayor, C. Clarence Neslen, sent greetings to
listeners within the reach of the KZN signals

Personally, I am particularly interested in
this accomplishment on the part of this paper,
because I earned, or at least received my first
money from this institution, as a boy, and worked
hard in this institution for sixteen years. It is
a pleasure, on behalf of this city, to congratulate
them and to send a few words of greeting to you
listeners wherever you may be.

It is fitting, of course, to have this word
of greeting come in the springtime, at the be-
ginning of new things. Here in Salt Lake City, we
are now enjoying beautiful spring weather and we
presume that is the case throughout this inter-
mountain country. ‘We have passed through a rather
severe winter~~a trying winter--but I am sure, from

 

51bid.

indicat
getting
cheer b
and dec
taking
I
and thi
they ma
during 1
find an:
fortitw
conditi'
feel th.
things .
each ot‘
made po
prise a
MWSpap

I
thalf
900d ni

11

indications here, times are improving, things are
getting better, and there is nothing but hope and
cheer before us, and we should all feel encouraged
and decide to go forth with renewed energy, under-
taking those things that lie before us.

I feel to congratulate the people of this state
and this intermountain country for the fortitude which
they manifested in the trials they had before them
during the recent‘winter. Nowhere, perhaps, could we
find such stability, such conservatism, and such
fortitude on the part of the people under such trying
conditions. We were calm and deliberate, and we all
feel that we have withstood the storm, and, now that
things are brighter, it is a pleasure to congratulate
each other over this wonderful invention that has been
made possible here for us to use, through the enter-
prise and the liberality of this, one of the leading
newspapers of the western country.

I send personal greetings and greetings on
behalf of this city to you all, and will now bid you
good night.5

Mrs. Haber J. Grant added a distaff flavor to the

occasion by noting:

I think this is one of the most'wonderful
experiences of our lives. I am glad I live in this
age when every dayb-almost every hour--brings us
some new invention. I would not be surprised if we
were talking to the planets before many years. This
is one of the most wonderful inventions of this or
any other age.7

Anthony'w. Ivins, Counselor to Heber J. Grant,

marveled that:

When the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt
Lake Valley in 1847, at‘which time the Pony Express
was the most rapid means of communicating news from
one point to another, they little dreamed that
before a period of seventybfive years had passed

their children would talk to the world by wireless.8

 

tie!

M

IMMNUUIuVANmeMum

memthlbtt

niihtPItht01ttu

‘QR

1.1}:

12

ConCluding remarks for the dedicatory programwwere
made by the Honorable George Albert Smith:

I have had many unique experiences in my life.
I had the privilege of riding the first bicycle that
came into Salt Lake City, and the first pattern of
safety bicycle that came here. I talked in the first
telephone that came here and have talked over the
long distance telephone from.San Francisco to New
York. I have heard the Pacific and the Atlantic
oceans rumbling over the wires. I have also had
the pleasure of riding in an aeroplane from Brussels
to London, at the rate, part of the time, of 100
miles an hour.

‘ I have lived to see many wonderful things occur,
as predicted by the prophets of old, wherein it was
stated that when the Book of Mormon should first
come forth, the Lord would commence his work among
the nations, and we have lived to see more wonderful
indications during the period of time since the com-
ing forth of the Book of Mormon, that would contribute
to the comfort and satisfaction of the human family,
than have occurred in all the balance of time since
the world was created.

And now, to cap the climax, we have the opportu-
nity of talking over a wireless telephone, and having
it broadcast to very many stations scattered at
intervals anywhere from 500 to 1,000 miles away. I
had the privilege once of sending the first‘wireless
telegram that was ever received by President Joseph
2. Smith, when I was out in the Atlantic Ocean, but
I look upon this wireless telephone as the culmina-
tion of all the marvelous experiences to which the
human family has thus far been hair, and I congra-
tulate the people who live in this wonderful land
of liberty, this country which is always foremost
in matters of invention, and I am.gratefu1 indeed,
that my lot has been cast among a peOple who look
forward to every good thing for the benefit and
uplift of mankind.9

The first day's broadcasting schedule of station
KZN,‘before and after the dedicatory program, bears a

striking resemblance to many radio stations' program

 

91bid.

schedules c

3:00
3:05
3:10
3:15
3:30
6:00

6:15
8:00
0:15
3:25
8:30
8:45

 

Thus

lean: KSL,

Intemunta

3:00
3:05
3:10
3:15
3:30
6:00

6:15
8:00
8:15
8:25
8:30
8:45

Peme
Pom.
Poul.
Peme
Peme
Peme

Peme
peme
peme
Pom.
Pom.
Peme

schedules of today:

13

Opening announcement

News bulletins

Weather reports

Musical program

Announcements

Baseball scores, Pacific Coast League,
.American League, National League
Musical program

Dedication of station

News bulletins

Weather report

Musical program

Conclusion1

Thus, on May 6, 1922, the baby,KZN,‘which‘was to

become KSL, the 50,000 watt, clear channel voice of

Intermountain America, was born.

 

10pm” May 6, 1922.

CHAPTER II
HISTORICAL BACKDROP

From the Empire State to the City of the Golden
Gate, from the Northern Rockies to the Rio Grande,
stretches a patchdwork quilt of vari-shaped states
that make up America. Name a state, and a mental image
appears: Michigan--automobiles: Iowa--corn: Texas--long
horn cattle and oil wells: Utah--Mormons. Every state
has its own rich heritage and its contemporary promise.
Few, if any, have had their past and present history so
intertwined with one religious organization as has Utah.
Catholic and Protestant religious leaders such as Lord
Baltimore, John Winthrop, the Mathers, Roger Williame,
Jonathan ldwards, Dwight L. Moody, have their names
indelibly stamped in the history books of America. But
the causes they espoused have not had such a continued
influence on one particular state as have the Mormons
on Utah. Even today, when a Utahn states where he is
from, he expects automatically to be asked, “Are you a
Mormon?“

Because the state of Utah and the Mormon Church

have so much of their development in common, it would

14

be inaccura
history of
other. And
if one were
and philoso
state of C:

For c
LY the Morm
the Sierras
interest wa
of the e19}?

 

desirable

 

15

be inaccurate as well as impractical to attempt the
history of one without including the history of the
other. And certainly, the dual history would be required
if one were interested in understanding the background
and philosOphy of a radio station whose signal covers the
state of Utah and whose owner is the Mormon Church.

For centuries prior to the colonization of Utah
by the Mormons, the territory between the Rockies and
the Sierras was a vast, unknown wilderness. No real
interest was shown in this region until the latter half
of the eighteenth century, when it was discovered that
the region offered a formidable barrier between two
desirable areas--the Southpand-Mid-West and the Pacific
Coast.

According to Sutton, Catholic priests were the
first white men to enter what is known now as the state
of Utah.

It was in the year 1776 that two Spanish
Franciscan Fathers, Atanazio Dominguez and Silvestre
Velez de Escalante, passed through this section of
the country and preached Christianity to the Indians
of Utah Valley.1

This area, known since Fr‘mont's survey of 1843

as the Great Basin,2 was difficult to traverse, not only

lwun Sutton (om). MAW (NW
York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 4 , II,

p. 693.

 

2WilliamJ’ames Snow, “The Great Basin Before the
Coming of the Mormons" (unpublished Ph. D. dissertation,
University of California, 1923), p. l.

because of

Vast desert
mountain pe
travelers w
day, they h
atures of t
country dug
0f the grea
or hunter a
lack Of Vat
C3b$tacle to

prOduCtive

 

 

16

because of its large size, but because of its topography.
Vast deserts and salt flats combined with 12,000 foot
mountain peaks to make travel almost impossible. If
travelers were able to combat the desert heat during the
day, they had to re-adjust for the sub-freezing temper-
atures of the nights in both the deserts and high mountain
country during much of the year. Lack of water was one
of the great barriers to bringing the explorer or trapper
or hunter across the uncharted miles of wilderness. And
lack of water, today, still remains perhaps the greatest
obstacle to the development of this otherwise fertile and
productive land.

Another Catholic, the Jesuit missionary and exp
plorer, Father Pierre Jean DeSmet, visited Utah twice,
the first time in 1841, six years before the Mormons
arrived. In a letter to his nephew written in March,
1851, Father DeSmet stated:

In the fall of 1846, as I drew near to the
frontier of the state of Missouri I found the ad-
vance guard of the Mormons numbering about ten
thousand camped on the territory of the Omaha not
far from.the old Council Bluffs. They had just been
driven out for the second time from a state of the
Union (Illinois had received them after their war
with the people of Missouri). They had resolved
to winter on the threshhold of the Great Desert and
then move onward into it, to put distance between
themselves and their persecutors, without even
knowing at that time the end of their long wanderings
nor the place where they should once more erect for
themselves permanent dwellings. They asked me a
thousand questions about the regions I had explored,
and the valley‘which I have just described pleased
them greatly from the account I gave them of it.

Was the

I would
last th
from a I
which‘w
But t

of Utah did
its real be'
{muteen-ye.
hid seen 3 ~

UpOn inqu 1:
I
for the:

address}
mina

17

*Was that what determined them (to settle there)?

I would not dare assert it. They are there! In the
last three years Utah has changed its aspect and

from.a desert has become a flourishing territory

which will soon become one of the states of the Union.3

But the part that the Mormons played in the history
of Utah did not begin in Omaha Indian territory. It had
its real beginning in Palmyra, New York, in 1820, when a
fourteen-year-old boy told a Methodist preacher that he
had seen a vision of the Father and the Son, and that,
upon inquiring which church he should join:

I was answered that I must join none of them,
for they“were all wrong: and the personage who
addressed me said that all their creeds were an
abomination in his sight: that those professors
were all corrupt: that: “they draw near to me with
their lips but their hearts are far from me, they
teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having
a foam.of godliness, but they deny the power there-
of.“

In one brief discussion, Joseph Smdth not only
suggested that he was an instrument in the hands of God,
but he referred to the other religious creeds in the
area as abominations in the sight of God.

The minister reacted by saying that the vision was
of the devil, that there were no such things as visions
or revelations anymore, that all such things had ceased

with the apostles, and that there would never be any

 

3Sutton, II, 705.

4The Pearl of Great Price. 9. 48.

acre of t‘
Had
would hav
inture '.
claim the
I knew it
deny it,
SO doing
Aga
26119
orac]
be da
You \
damn:
As

18

more of them.5
Had Joseph Smith stopped there, his claim, no doubt,
would have been considered merely as the ramblings of an
immature boy and forgotten: but he continued publicly to
claim the reality of the vision. “I had seen a vision:
I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not
deny it, neither dared I do it: at least I knew that by
so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation."6
Again and again he returned to his theme of defiance
of the contemporary churches.

What'will become of the various professors of
religion who do not believe in revelation and the
oracles of God . . . ? I tell you . . . they will
be damned: and when you get into the eternal world,
you will find it will be so: they cannot escape the
damnation of hell.7

As followers began to multiply, he challenged:

Why do not w enemies strike a blow at the
doctrine? They cannot do it: it is truth, and I defy
all men to upset it . . . the kingdom of God has come
unto you, and henceforth the ax is laid unto the root
of the tree: and every tree that bringeth not forth
good fruit, God Almighty, and not Joe Smith, shall
new it down and cast it into the fire.8

It is not surprising that such doctrine gained
little favor with the religious leaders of the times.

But it is unlikely that this alone would have created

 

52.13., p. 49.
6Ibid., p. 50.

7Documeg§3£z Histgg§ of the ghggch of Jesus Chrigt
of Latter-day Saints, p. 8.

81bid., pp. 273-74.

evi
V31"

Off:

EDIE

Jose

lite:

19

general animosity in the rank and file inhabitants of
America's frontier. On the contrary, there is much
evidence to support the contention that his promise of a
way of life, beyond what contemporary religionists were
offering, gained many converts to his cause.9

It took something touching the lives of the peOple
more directly to arouse them to antagonism. And this
Joseph Smith supplied in at least two directions--one
religious and one economic.

The religious issue involved the Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith claimed to have received the religious
history of the peoples of the American continent from a
messenger from God, and to have translated it by superb
natural means. Many of the people of the frontier believed
literally and deeply the words of John, the Revelator,
in the last book of the Bible: “If any man shall add unto
these things, God shall add unto him.the plagues that
are written in this book:"10

The Book of Mormon, to them, was blasphemy indeed.
It contradicted Holy“Writ. ‘When Joseph.Smdth published
the FArticles of Faith of the Church," he reminded the
reader that the Mormons "believe the Bible to be the word

 

9Franklin Hamlin Littell, 3’21 agate Church to
§%%§%ligg (Garden City, New'York: Do 1e ay and Company,
, p. 85.

1°The Bible, “Book of Revelation,“ chapter 22,
verse 18.

otcod, as i
afforded li

 

«penny
that 'the E,
on earth, J
vould get n
by any othe
The e
Mormons we:
Whoa his
Mormons eve:

“‘3“. And
“4 Votmn

The c
their. was
Mum.“
Miami“!
th. Indiana
much“ u

“New
Bach Of

to JOseph E

11m1e

12
P:- All:
Co het JCS
Y, 19

20

of God, as far as it is translated correctly. “11 This
afforded little satisfaction to the Bible-only believers,
especially those who had heard Joseph Smith's assertion
that "the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book
on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man
would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than
by any other book. ”12

The economic problems between Mormons and non-
Mormons were highlighted in the Missouri chapter in
Mormon history. The “Mornon War“ in Missouri cost the
Mormons everything they had-«land, homes, and posses-
sions. And it instilled a bitterness in both Missourian
and Mormon that lasted for generations.

The complaint against the Mormons was familiar:
theirs was a peculiar religion for that age: they were
lasterners whose habits and speech differed from the
Missourians: they were opposed to slavery: they regarded
the Indians as part of God's chosen people: and they
preached that Mormons some day would “inherit“ Missouri.
The concept of Mormons inheriting Missouri is the key to
much of the violence which followed. A revelation given

to Joseph Smith in July, 1831, stated:

w. —v— V V f ...

“the Pearl of Great Price, 9. 60.
12Alma P. Burton (compiler), Discourses of the

Prep-1:333 Jogeg? Smith (salt Lake City: Deseret Book
Company, 195 , p. 189.

 

he

tea
pra
pro;
12o:
conv

fear-1

21

Hearken, 0 ye elders of my church, saith the .
Lord, your God, who have assembled yourselves together,
according to my commandments, in this land, which is
the land of Missouri, which is the land which I have
appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the
Saints. Wherefore, this is the land of promise, and
the place for the city of Zion.13
Joseph Smith instructed the Missouri Mormons to
purchase the land, and told them that although the Lord
held the land of Zion in His hand, to “render unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar's.“
.At first the gathering of the saints to Zion caused
few difficulties‘with the Missourians. Itias to be a
practical work of colonization, with land purchased and
preparation made for the gathering. But church members,
impatient to have their prophet'e prophecy fulfilled,
converged on 21¢n. The already established settlers
feared that the Mormons would soon outnumber them and
rule the county. ,At first they offered to sell out to
the Mormons, who were willing to buy but had little
money. When economic considerations could not‘be resolved
satisfactorily, the old citizens found voice in extremists
like Reverend Finis Ewing, head of the Cumberland Pres-
byterians. “The Mormons,“ he said, “are the common en-

emies of mankind and ought to be destroyed.'14

wr— —V—r —r W 'v’ v.— m

13The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, Section 57, verses 1-2.

 

14William.Mu1der and A. Russell Mortensen (ed.),

4kmon the Mormons Historic Accounts b Con e rs
Obsggggrs (Mew York: Alfred A. Knapf, 19585, p. 76.

Incid
sourians :1
Governor Li
my to sack
taking the
madly i
said in eff
Ind met be
necessary, ,

Three
sacred at H,

Prom ;

Saul ‘nd ‘

”3”,:th b]

”‘9 Public ,
\

Genet

    

as cold-bl

22

Incident built on incident. The Mormons and Mis-
sourians clashed Openly. ‘Word was passed to Missouri
Governor Lilburn W. Boggs that the Mormons were on their
way to sack and burn the city of Richmond. Boggs, without
taking the time to check on the accuracy of the statement,
hurriedly issued his famous extermination order, which
said in effect that the Mormons must be treated as enemies
and must be exterminated, or driven from the State,if
necessary, for the public peace.

Three days later, thirty Mormon families were mas-
sacred at Haun's Mill on Shoal Creek.

From 12,000 to 15,000 Mormons were driven from the
State, and Joseph Smith and six other Mormon leaders were
convicted by a summary court-martial and ordered shot in
the public square “as an example“ to their peeple.

General A. W. Doniphan denounced such an execution
as coldvblooded murder, and threatened to remove his
tr00ps if such an order were carried out.

After additional hearings, the Mormon leader was
indicted for treason and committed to Jail in Liberty,
.Missouri, where he wrote that “the murders at Haun's
.Mill, the exterminating order of Governor Boggs, and the
one-sided rascally proceedings of the Legislature, have
damned the state of Missouri to all eternity."15

Several months later he was “allowed" to escape,

 

lSIbid., p. 111.

because his
itself of t

Durin
Clark had 5
cause of di
numbers, am
But the Mo:
they were 1
the City Be
River. 190

Beth
in gaining
large Votzh
0f R‘uVOo ‘
malty Q v.

23

because Missouri was not only willing, but anxious to rid
itself of the trouble—making Mormons.

During the Missouri persecutions, General John B.
Clark had suggested to the Mormons that their greatest
cause of difficulty was their gathering together in large
numbers, and suggested that dispersion would mean peace.
But the Mormons were a gathering people: and before long,
they~were busily engaged in building Nauvoo, Illinois,
the City Beautiful, on the banks of the Mississippi
River, 190 miles north of St. Louis.

Both.Democrats and Whigs in Illinois were interested
in gaining favor with the Mormons, who represented a
large voting block. As a result, the charter for the city
of Nauvoo was exceedingly generous and made this new com-
munity a virtual cityhstate.

When Joseph Smith‘was made mayor of the city and
lieutenant-general of the Mauvoo legion, an arm of the
state militia, it appeared that he and his people were
safe from their enemies. But he was not a man to settle
into peaceful pursuits. He visited President van Buren
in Washington to seek federal redress for the loss of
Mormon property in Missouri. Reporting on this incident
in the Alexandria m (reprinted october 17, 1340, in
the Quincy Elli-S): he stated:

Mr. Van Buren gave us to understand that he

could do nothing for the redress of our grievances
lest it should interfere with his political prospects

inMis
chair

protec
presen
his fi
commun
they‘w

Nauv
transpired

Firs
Damcrats
rounded by
tOthe ant

Next
in the lif
imgpolyga

24

in Missouri. He is not as fit as my dog for the
chair of state: for my dog will make an effort to
protect his abused and insulted master, while the
present chief magistrate will not so much as lift
his finger to relieve an Oppressed and persecuted
community of freemen, whose glory it has been that
they'were citizens of the United States.15

Hauvoo prospered: the saints gathered: then events
transpired which crystallized the opposition into action.

First, politically, the Mormons alienated both
Democrats and Whigs, leaving themselves completely sur-
rounded by political enemies. This gave encouragement
to the anti-Mormon sentiment which was growing.

next, and,as future events bore out, more important
in the life of the prOphet, was his revelation sanction-
ing polygamy. In the beginning,this had less effect on
the anti-Mormons than on the church.membership itself.
A.disastrous breach cleft the church.

A number of church members Joined with an anti-
Mermon group to start a new newspaper in Nauveo, the
.fl|§:92_£52211§2£. Its first issue, June 7, 1844, de-
nounced the prophet's use of power, accused him of
imrality, and demanded repeal of the city charter to
correct abuses of the one-man rule which it permitted.

As mayor, the prophet called a meeting of the city
council. The council declared the W a nuisance,
and ordered it destroyed. This was the match which lighted

the conflagration which followed.

.+

 

16Ib1d., p. 115.

 

In his
peatedly c?
doctrine.
of religious
with the de;

within and ‘

  

which to un

The e
in? town of
arrest, ded

freedom of .

 

The p;
Crossed the

 

25

In his tumultuous career, Joesph Smith had re-
peatedly challenged his enemies to find fault with his
doctrine. Time after time he had refuted the charges
of religious fallacy which had been hurled at him. But
with the destruction of the ggpositor, the prOphet's enemies,
within and without the church, had a concrete issue upon
which to unite.

The editors of the §§positor went to the neighbor-
ing town of Carthage, swore out a warrant for the prophet's
arrest, detailing political dictatorship, polygamy, and
freedom of the press in their charges.

The prOphet, sensing the tenor of the Opposition,
crossed the Mississippi, intending to go to the West and
find a place of refuge, outside the limits of the United
States, where his people could practice their religion
without interference from outside. His friends, fearful
that Nauvoo would be destroyed if he left, prevailed upon
him to return.

On June 27, 1844, in a small Jail in Carthage,
Illinois, Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum,‘were shot
to death by a mob composed largely of militia men, who
had been ordered dispersed by Governor Thomas Ford when
he recognized their rabid anti-Mormon sentiments.

Less than three months prior to his death, the
prophet delivered a sermon to a throng of some twenty

thousand persons assembled in Nauvoo--a sermon which has

become know
of mrican
the prephet
discourse, a
shed much 1.
sermon, more
a lasting re
his cause a:
Mlty,

Adherc
WImQB o:
“ohmic anc
Chilenged.
United Statw
And there ‘7‘
teddy to 11:
wisdom diet;
he then.

Afte r
intend to p

 

Grater?

001-

 

26

become known as “The King Pollett Discourse. '17 A student
of Amrican religious history would find a great deal of
the prophet's religious philosophy embodied in this one
discourse, and an in—depth analysis of the sermon could
shed much light on this religious leader's life. The
sermon, more than any other of his public utterances, is

a lasting reminder of his conviction of the rightness of
his cause and the wrongness of the contemporary religious
community.

Adherents were flocking to his cause, but the old
rumblings of discontent were mounting. He had gained
economic and political prestige, but his power was being
Challenged. He was campaigning for the Presidency of the
United States, and he needed all the friends he could get.
And there were twenty thousand people (many non-Mormons)
roady to listen to him. If ever there were a time when
Wisdom dictated that he be generous with his enemies, it
“a then,

After brief introductory remarks, he said, " I do not
intend to please your ears with superfluity of words or
°rhtory, or with much learning: but I intend to edify
you with the simple truths from heaven.“

He continued, “My first object is to find out the

character of the only wise and true God . . . and to

\

17Joseph Fielding Smith (compiler), Teachings of the
Pro het Jose h Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company,
193 , pp. 342~62. All King Follett Discourse quotations
are taken from this source.

explain or I

 

There
onism. The:
themes, the
'But if I fa
all further
01' to be a
vorld—a fa

Vould seek :

36 th

27

explain or convey the principles to your hearts . . . "

There was nothing here, certainly, to arouse antag—
onism. Then he began to return to one of his favorite
themes, the false teaching of the religionists of the day:
“But if I fail to do it, it becomes my duty to renounce
all further pretensions to revelations and inspirations,
or to be a prophet: and I should'be like the rest of the
world--a false teacher, be hailed as a friend, and no man
would seek my life.“

He then reminded the anti-Mormons in the audience:

Every man has a natural, and, in our country,
a constitutional right to be a false prophet as well
as a true prophet. If I show, verily, that I have
the truth of God, and show that ninetybnine out of
every hundred professing religious ministers are
false teachers, having no authority, while they
pretend to hold the keys of God's kingdom on earth,
and was to kill them.because they are false teachers,
it would deluge the whole world with.blood.

unequivocably, he continued, 'I‘will prove that
the world is wrong."

He then spoke in detail of the principles of the
restored church of Jesus Christ, religious principles
which differentiate Mormons and non-Mormons to this day,
and he took careful and Obvious pains to substantiate
his claims from the Bible.

It is evident he considered this sermon to have a
twofold purpose, both purposes premised on his belief
that he had little time remaining to live. First, he

was attempting to lay down a complete pattern of conduct

for his fol.
which would
was preoccu]
was aware t]
this always
”vibes a man
boldly, 'he
ceases to t]
the devil-.1
the Lord of
tall and er:
friends and
the Ruth,

dict an. it

 

28

for his followers, a pattern of religious and secular life
which would sustain them after he was gone. Second, he
was preoccupied with letting his detractors know that he
was aware that they were planning his destruction. And
this always seemed to bring out the defiance in him.
"When a man begins to be an enemy of this work, " he said
boldly, “he hunts me, he seeks to kill me, and never
ceases to thirst for my blood. He gets the spirit of
the devil--the same spirit that they had who crucified
the Lord of Life.“ Then with blue eyes flashing, standing
tall and erect, he threw out the challenge that his
friends and foes both had heard so many times, “I have
the truth, and am at the defiance of the world to contra-
dict me, if they can!“

His message was over, his life was over, and yet
he was reluctant to relinquish the reins of a way of
life he had carved almost single handedly from the west-
ern frontier. He paused while he looked over the crowd.
Friends were there, and enemies, the curious and the
skeptical. The flashing eyes seemed to soften as he
continued, almost wistfully, "You don't know me: you
never knew my heart. No man knows my history. . . .
I don't blame any one for not believing my history. If
I had not experienced what I have, I could not have
believed it myself.“ Then, almost as an afterthought,

he said, “I never did harm any man since I was born in

the world.
For
a second t:

defied com

 

who had to
In Ibo ha
let his.

turned to .

hIlvado th

 

29

the world. My voice is always for peace.“

For a second time he had ended his sermon, and for
a second time he could not sit down. The man who had
defied conventional religion would not let him. The man
who had fought the Missouri mObs would not let him. The
man who had commanded the Jailers to silence would not
let him. His shoulders squared, and the old light re-
turned to his eyes. "When I am.called,“ he said,with the
bravado that had marked him from the beginning of his
ministry, “by the trump of the archangel and weighed
in the balance, you‘will all know me then.“

Bad the religion known as Mormonismwwithered and
died in Illinois with the death of its prOphet-founder,
there would be little value in studying its relationship
to the development of the West. Its followers who
subsequently may have gone west would have been engulfed
in the history of the trappers, explorers, gold seekers,
and other pioneers of the western movement. But out of
the chaos of Carthage there crystallized in the minds
of the Mormons a new determination to find a land where
they could live the gospel of Jesus Christ as they be-
lieved it. The man who gave purpose and power and drive
to this detemmination was Brigham.Young, a modern Moses,
who led the latter-day Children of Israel through a
forbidding wilderness to their promised land, and in so

doing, carved a chapter in history unique in the annals

 

 

30

of the old West.

When Brigham Young took over the reins of the young
church, “no” on" almost had become a way of life for the
Mormons. Palmyra, New York—move on. Kirtland, Ohio--
move on. Jackson County, Missouri-move on! And now,
Nauvoo, Illinois, the city beautiful-«move on!

Twenty thousand Mormons were forced out of Illinois
in 1846.13 When Brigham Young was dbked where he could
take such an unwieldy mass of humanity, he said, ”I am
getting themxaway from the Christians! . . . he business
of the Saints is to journey west.”-9

The Mormon treh.westward, under the direction of
Brigham.Young, is a story of privation and misery and
death. But it is also a story of a well organized,
highly structured attack on the great American wilderness.
Although the Mormons had lost almost all of their earthly
resources, their preparation for the exodus was handled
on a surprisingly scientific basis.20 Reports of ex-
peditions to the West were studied carefully, including
rr‘mont's and Mitchell's. One of the Mormon missionaries
to England had brought back a complete set of astronomical

 

.v V—I w“.— w r i

J-°ward J. Roylance, W (Belt
Lake City: Wheelwright Lit rap ng Company, ,

p. 18.

19mm atom. PW (Gard-n
City, New York: Double ay an Company, 0 P. 96.

20:15“,

untrumen’
smltwo cl
organised
Israel for
divided in
was placed

No f
Brigham Yo
lmiteam a
ring to th.
the West, 4
'uanUt B:
“port.“ 1
life, but ‘

r111a:

30mm. P:

hum We:

31

instruments. The first company of 143 men, three women,
and two children, as well as subsequent companies, were
organised much as Moses had organized the Children of
Israel for their flight from Egypt.21 Companies were
divided into hundreds, fifties, and tens: and a captain
was placed over each.

No family was permitted to Join the trek until
Brigham.Young made certain that they had a good wagon
and team.and at least eighteen months' supplies. Refer-
ring to the part Brigham Young played in the exodus to
the West, a non—Mormon biographer, M. R. Werner, said:
“Without Brigham.YOung the Mormons would never have been
important after the first few years of their institutional
life, but without the Mormons Brigham Young might have
been a great man.“22

Financial help came to the Mormons from.an unexpected
source. President Polk needed volunteers to fight in the
Mexican‘War, and called for Mormons to enlist in the cause.
Over 500 Mormons Joined the U. 8. military, received sol-
diers' pay, and marched‘west as a body at government
expense. Their pay helped get their families to their
“promised land.“ By the time the Mormon Battalion reached
Ban Diego, the war was over: and they were not called upon

 

'— ‘ V T— fir w w _.7

21Wilton R. Hunter, “The Great Trek, ' w,
11: 8°. 2 (Winter. 1947—48). p. 27.

22stone. P. 96.

to fight.
mouth that
we Valle
ward to 10
to work, 3
Francisco
ulation we.
San Brenna]
Embers wh:
Meam
W the:
Feltedly a,
home when 1
direct! “a.
fever. he I
“Met. v:

tub“. Pro:
NICO, a 2 6

IrVi:

32

to fight. They were mustered out in July, 1847, the same
month that the first company of the Mormons reached Salt
Lake Valley. Many of the Battalion members returned east-
ward to Join their families. Others stayed in California
to work, some moving up to Yerba Buena (changed to San
Francisco in 1847), where two—thirds of the white pop-
ulation were Mormons23 who had sailed from New York with
Sam Brennan. It was one of these discharged Battalion
members who first discovered gold at Sutter's Mill.24

Meanwhile, Brigham Young was shepherding his flock
toward their sanctuary in the mountains. He had re-
peatedly said, "I will recognize the site of our new
home when I see it. and we will continue as the Lord
directs us."25 On July 24, 1847, sick with mountain
fever, he raised himself from hie wagon bed, viewed the
desolate valley of the Great Salt Lake, and uttered his
famous pronouncement, "It is enough. This is the right
place."26

Irving Stone reports that many of the Saints:

. . . broke down and wept: for this seemed a

lace beyond the end of the earth: parched, barren,
rd crusted, desolate, forsaken. But that moment,

 

'—Y* “7* W V fif—w f

23m. : 90.101.
24Roylance, p. 18.
25Stone, p. 96.

25William Edwin Berrett, Wm.“
Lake City: Deseret Book Company, . p. 2 .

at five
miracles
fell. . j
Th
for than
ture.27

 

Althou
the Saints,

During
its infinigra
Missionary 5

mt! {mm A:

“Y of life

 

 

33

at five in the afternoon, the first of many Mormon
miracles took place: a shower of beneficent rain

fell. in; following day, Sunday, the pioneers gathered
iziotggnksgiving and prayer and the reading of scrip-

.Although many of their problems were Just beginning,
the Saints, at last, had found their home.

During the next forty years, more than 85,000 EurOpe-
ans immigrated to Utah, under the direction of the active
missionary system of the Mormon Church: and thousands
more from4America found their way to Utah and to a new
way of life. Katherine Coman, in her Economic Beginnings
of thg :3; West, concluded that “It was, taken all in all,
the most successful example of regulated immigration in
United States history."28

Today, with our vast systems of rapid communication
and transportation, it is difficult to appreciate the
speed and thoroughness with.which the Mormons colonized
the most desirable locations in the Intermountain‘West.
Within two years after they entered Salt Lake Valley,
they had settlements in Sanpete Valley, a hundred miles to
the southo Another two years,and they were in Iron
County, 260 miles south, with outposts in Nevada and

California. Seven years before a transcontinental rail-

road was completed, the Mormons had established scores of

O

 

27Stone, p. 990

28Quoted in Hunter, p. 31.

settlements
The Mo
settlements
Cove Fort, 5
their Book 0
they gave ot
Moroni.
Mormon
They were la
Pinning from

"ere Outs ide

plOt, A can

tam“ agai:
needed.

within
1.“.1. .

had from :3

much“ to a

 

34

settlements in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and California.29

The Mormons systematically planted the earth with
settlements and christened them with crisp, laconic names:
Cove Fort, Spanish Fork, Dutch John, Salt Lake. To keep
their Book of Mormon alive in the hearts of the people,
they gave other towns names such as Lehi, Nephi, and
Moroni.

Mormon towns showed a remarkably standard pattern.
They were laid out on the square, with wide streets
running from north to south and from east to west. vFields
were outside of town, but each home had an adjacent garden
plot. .A central fort was constructed in each town as pro-
tection against the Indians, but these forts were rarely
needed.

Within this geographical and social framework,the
Mormons continued their dedicated task of ”gathering
Israel.” America, to them, has always been a chosen
land from‘which the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be
preached to all the world. Shortly before Utah gained
statehood, a non-Mormon governor noted this character-
istic outlook when he stated: 3

The Mormons are . . . informed they are the
chosen peOple of God, and that they must consecrate
themselves to his service: and that in the fullness

of time all nations and peoples will accept their
doctrine and look to them as the great light shining

 

29Roylance, po 16.

upon the
The pre
unrated wiiE
Men the MO:
around the pc
°5 the Churc}

practice of F

 

Utah to stat
Utah

though BOme

ind 13°13‘50er

era of Cooper
culmres,

°f this,

35

upon the darkness of all nations of the earth.30

The pro-statehood era in the history of Utahwwas
saturated with misconceptions and misunderstandings be-
tween the Mormons and 'gentiles,‘ much of it centered
around the polygamy issue. In 1890, when the President
of the Church issued the Manifesto, which outlawed the
practice of polygamy, the way was cleared for admitting
Utah to statehood.

Utah became the forty-fifth state in 1896. Al-
though some misunderstandings continued between Mormons
and non-Mormons, statehood marked the beginning of a new
era of cooPeration between,then fusion of.two clashing
cultures. The new state's constitution gave evidence
of this, beginning with Article 1, Section 1:

All men have the inherent and inalienable right
to enjoy and defend their lives and liberties: to
acquire, possess and protect prOperty: to worship
according to the dictates of their consciences: to
assemble peaceably, protect against wrongs, and
petition for redress of grievances: to communicate
freely their thoughts and opinions, being responsible
for the abuse of that right.

All political power is inherent in the
People. e o o

The State of Utah is an inseparable part of
the Federal Union and the Constitution of the United
States is the supreme law of the land.

The rights of conscience shall never be in-
fringed.31

 

30Arthur L. Thomas, Report of the Governor of Utah
to the Secretary of the Interior (Washington, D. C.
September 9, 1890.

316eorge Thomas, Civil Government of Utah (Boston:
D. C. Heath and Company, 1912), p. 37.

aae

thrc

36

The early history of Utah, though strongly in-
fluenced by Catholic explorers and Mormon pioneers, is
not complete without a mention of those who came to the
territory for reasons other than religious.

Lewis and Clark, in 1806, had skirted the northern
edge of the territory on their way to the Pacific Ocean.

Jededian Strong (Jed) Smith, trapper, hunter and
beaver trader, was one of the most famous mountain men
of early westward exploration. In February, 1824, Jed
Smith and his party, looking for a route through the
Rockies, made the first eastuwest crossing of South Pass,
the gateway which was to become famous a generation later
as Gold Seekers, Oregon Trailers, and Mormons pushed
through it by the thousands.

In 1861, General Patrick Connor came to Utah to
police the territory after the withdrawal of the Army
personnel who had been brought in for the 'UtahflWar."

He was energetic: he was anti-Mormon: and the realisation
that the Mormons had nearly complete social and economic
control of the territory rankled him. He was instrumental
in founding the city of Corinne, on the Union Pacific
Railroad, which he haped would rival Salt Lake City in
importance. This city, located at the north end of the
Great Salt Lake, was designed to be pOpulated and run
without Mormon interference. Connor built steamboats for

the purpose of navigating the lake, and put his vast

rea

tic:

$3.6.
nea;
1' 0a:

lake

37

store of energy to work on develOping tranSportation
and mdning in the territory. Stegner reports that:
Within two weeks of its [Corinne's] location

there were fifteen hundred peOple and three hundred
buildings in the place. Lots sold for anything from
three hundred to a thousand dollars. The boom was
on, even before the Union Pacific and Central Pacific
met at Promontory, a few miles west. When that his-
toric Junction took place, Corinne was the second
largest city in the territory, and by all odds the
busiest.32

But the dreams of Corinne's founders were not
realized. The Mormons built a railroad, the Utah and
Northern, which linked Utah and the Idaho mines. Ogden
took most of the railroad business from Corinne, and
smelters were built south of the Great Salt Lake to be
nearer the Bingham Canyon mines. In 1903, when the rail-
road built the Lucin Cutoff across forty miles of the
lake, Corinne was left stranded on a branch line.

But other “gentile" strongholds fared better than
Corinne. In the Oquirrh mountains, twenty-five mules
southawest of Salt Lake City, is a steep canyon housing
the mining towns of Bingham, Copperton, Upper Bingham,
and Highland Boy. A silver strike in 1863 started the
town of Bingham. Although Bingham Canyon was not another
Comstock Lode, the mines there were worked into profitable

production. The Mormons knew how to manipulate men and

make them work. The "gentiles" knew how to make dollars

 

32Wallace Stegner, Mormon Country (New York: Duell,
Sloan & Pearce, 1942), p. 252.

:cde

thei
"hie;
eaStI
Grey

Utah

38

work: and with the help of Eastern capital, a smelter
and concentration plant were built. Today, the largest
mining operation in the world is still in healthy pro-
duction at Bingham, Garfield, Arthur, and Magna, with
16,000 tons of refined cOpper produced each month,

and with gold and silver as lucrative bybproducts of
modern mining methods.33

Many of the fabled stories of the old West have
their roots in Utah territory. The old Outlaw Trail,
‘which ran from.Montana to Mexico, cut down through
eastern Utah. Robbers' Roost, made famous in Zane
Grey's novels, was located in the desert dryness of
Utah.

.A role call of the Wild Bunch and other outlaw
gangs of the West was sprinkled liberally with the names
of eerormons and "gentiles" who found the agrarian
way of life too tame for their blood. The Ketchum Gang,
the McCarthy Brothers, FlatpNosed George Curry, Dan
Parker, and Harry Tracy all knew the Utah territory well.
But none had a more famous reputation than George LeRoy
Parker, the son of a quiet English convert to the Mormon
Church. When he drOpped his Mormon way of life in favor
of the excitement of cowhand, rustler, and bank robber,
he added the name and fame of Butch Cassidy, the nearest
approach to a true Robin Hood the West has ever produced.

Stegner characterizes him as:

 

33Roylance, p. 67.

39

.A friendly, gay, reckless and coolly daring
young man whom everyone liked, even the sheriffs
who chased him. He had so many friends through the
Mormon Country and along the Outlaw Trail that he
thumbed his nose at pursuing posses. By the evidence
of a half dozen ranchers who employed him at one time
or another, he was the best cowhand and the best
shot they ever saw. He put the fear of God into
law officers for hundreds of miles, took hundreds of
thousands of dollars from express cars, banks, payb
rolls, yet he never, apparently, robbed an individual
except as a prank, and he never, until his last twelve
hours, killed a man.3
This, then, was Utah's introduction to the twentieth
century, a mixture of Mormons and miners, robbers and
railroad men. Mormon isolation was disappearing, and at
the same time a greater understanding of Mormon culture
‘was being developed throughout the country. World War
I hastened the integration of the two cultures, as Mormon
boys went off to war and came back with stories of life
which few Mormon missionaries had experienced in far
away lands. And Salt Lake City, the “Crossroads of the
'West,” was introducing the Mormon way of life to hundreds
of thousands of tourists and service men and friends who
began to recognize in the City of the Saints a culture
peculiarly its own, but at the same time peculiarly and
deeply American.
.At war's end,Utah, which had sent its boys to fight
alongside New Yorkers and Iowans and Californians, was
busily engaged in making itself an integral part of

American society. Agriculture was beginning to give way

 

34Stegner, pa 284.

to

Sta

ea:
min

May

40

to industry, which today includes such giants as United
States Steel, Standard Oil of Indiana, Kennecott Copper,
and massive defense and space industries.

When radio fever flared across the country in the
early 20's, Utah had its share of restless, searching
minds to give impetus to the infant industry. And by
May 6, 1922, with the help of Nathan 0. Fullmer, Elias
S. Woodruff, B. Carter Wilson, and others, the Inter-

mountain West's pioneer radio station found its voice.

CHAPTER III

. . . BECAUSE RADIO IS HERE

You have accomplished one of the great miracles
of the world. . . . Yen destroyed a superstition.
You destroyed, in fact, the most obstinate of all
superstitions——the superstition against which poetry
and all the arts have fought for centuries. . . .
You destroyed the superstition of distance and of
tinee e e e

You destroyed in the minds of many men and women
in this country the superstition that what is done
beyond three thousand miles of water is not really
done at all; the ignorant superstition that violence
and lies and murder on another continent are not
violence and lies and murder here; the cowardly and
brutal superstition that the enslavement of mankind
in a country where the sun rises at midnight by our
clocks is not enslavement by the time we live by;
the black and stifling superstition that what we
cannot see and hear and touch can have no meaning
for us. . . .

You destroyed the superstition of distance and
of time-~of difference and of time.1

Perhaps nowhere has a greater tribute been paid

to the actual and potential power of radio than in the

words noted above. They were delivered by Archibald

MacLeish, five days prior to Pearl Harbor, at a testi-

monial dinner honoring Edward R. Murrow for his part

in making the events of Europe take on meaning for

 

lArchibald MacLeish, William s. Paley and Edward

R. Murrow, In Honor of a Man and an Ideal (New York:
The Columbia Broadcasting System, 1941), pp. 5-6.

41

thl

SOC

com
”39:“

is)

42

Americans.

At the same time, other radio commentators covering
the events of war were being referred to as latter-day
soothsayers who were more interested in financial remun—
eration than factual reporting.2

Since its inception, the part which radio has
played in society has been praised, condoned, and con-
demned. It has been epitomized as a god and a fraud, a
debaucher and a deliverer, a purveyor of jewels and of
Junk. There are few, today, who will suggest that radio
has reached the celestial spheres, and few, also, who
can see no good in this pervasive broadcasting medium.
But, to borrow from Stephen Vincent Benét in another
context, “Say neither in their way, 'It is a deadly
magic and accursed,‘ nor 'It is b1est,‘ but only 'It
is here.”3 And because radio is here, on thousands
of stations across the land, every minute of every day,
it is worthy of more than a peremptory assignment to
the Jewel case or the Junk pile. .And, to understand
better the problems and opportunities of an individual
station, it would be helpful to place that station within

the context of radio's development in general. Thus,

Zach-rt J. Landry. WWII
(new York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 46 , p. 2 .

3Stephen Vincent Benet, John Brown's Body (New York:
The Heritage Press, 1948), p. 454.

 

"a:

rm

43

before turning attention to the study of KSL, Salt Lake
City, a brief review of the historical development of
radio is in order.

In attempting to go back to the beginnings of radio,
and to place authorship of its creation on one man, many
difficulties arise. These difficulties are compounded by
the fact that the word “radio“ has many meanings. .As
Goldsmith and Lescarboura have pointed out:

If we refer to the impressing of the voice on
a radio wave, Reginald A. Fessenden becomes the
father of radio. If conceiving the possibility of
propagating music and talks to an unseen and unknown
audience means radio, then Lee DeForest becomes the
proud father. If by radio is meant the institution-
alized syndication of programs over wire networks to
scattered radio stations, then the planning mind
which managed Station WEAR is the father of radio.
If by radio is meant the psychological and engin-
eering change from purely experimental radio tele-
phony to an organized service to the interested
public, then Frank Conrad of Station KDKA is the
father. If the foresight to couple organized broad-
casting with the quantity production of home radio
sets, be radio, then H. P. Davis, Vice-President
of the Westinghouse organization, is the father.4

But whomever one may want to credit as being,§hg
father of radio, one thing is certain. Many minds in
many lands were working, often simultaneously, to un-
ravel the secrets of wireless transmission of sound.

As early as 640 B. C., a Greek, Thales of Miletus,

noticed that amber, after being rubbed, would attract

 

4Alfred N. Goldsmith and Austin C. Lescarboura,
This Thin Called Broadcastin (New York: Henry Holt and
Commit. 1930 . p. v.

stra
beca
refe

lust

to t
eleC‘
a d1:
years

had c

that

had 5
trans
a bil
Q tel.
The t.
flash‘
G05 w.

w‘lke;

tidio

(um:

44

straws and other light objects.5 This prOperty of amber
became the forerunner of electricity, since the Greeks
referred to amber as “e1ektron” because of its sunny
luster.

The discovery of electrical conduction is attributed
to the Englishman, Stephen Gray, who in 1725 proved that
electrical forces could be carried in a hemp thread for
a distance of approximately 1,000 feet. About fifty
years later, Sir Charles Wheatstone termed a device he
had constructed to amplify weak sounds, a "micrOphone.“

A Bureau of the Census report in Washington noted
that as early as 1837 Alfred Vail and Samuel F. B. Morse
had successfully demonstrated that intelligence could be
transmitted over wires.6 Six years later, Congress passed
a bill appropriating $30,000 for the purpose of building
a telegraph line between Washington, D. C., and Baltimore.
The following year, 1844, Morse's first message was
flashed over the completed line. The message--‘What hath
God wrought?“

Before the nineteenth century was half over, John

Walker Wilkins, of England, was suggesting that “telegraphy

 

sOra-“m 8. Dunlap. Jr., W
(New York: Harper & Brothers, , p. . Many o t e
historical dates and events which follow, concerning
radio's development, are taken from this source.

Walt-r 3. Emory. MW
(Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 19 l , p. 3.

with
Amer
Phil.

whicl

45

without wires might be a possibility."7 And, while
America was spending its first year of the Civil War,
Phillip Reis, a German, was designing a microphone with
which musical sounds were transmitted.

In quick succession, Alexander Graham Bell invented
the telephone; Thomas A. Edison applied for a patent for
a “speaking machine:“ and Professor Heinrich Hertz, of
Germany, proved experimentally that electromagnetic waves
could be transmitted at the speed of light.

Then, in 1901, Marconi flashed his first signal
across the Atlantic. This monumental accomplishment of
wireless transmission fired the imaginations of men such
as Fessenden,Rutherford, DeForest, and Korn, who were not
satisfied merely to send a series of dots and dashes
through the air waves. Their dreams envisioned music,
the human voice, and even pictures.

”Television on the way“ was the headline in an
article in the Kansas City Times of January 30, 1910.
The writer was reporting experiments by M. Georges
Rignoux and M. Fournier of France, who were reported as
stating, “We hape soon to transmit the colors as well.“8

What was the first radio station in America? Here,

again, we have problems of definition. Do we mean the

 

7Dunlap, p. 16.

8Ibid., p. 46.

Au—
‘8
ekd

h.

46

oldest station, or the first licensed station, or the
first one to program for public consumption, or Just
what? The Journal of Broadcasting reminds us:

Any school child “knows“ that broadcasting
began with KDKA's broadcast of the Harding-Cox elec-
tion returns in November of 1920. Yet WWJ, Detroit,
claims it is the “world's first radio station.“

WHA, Madison, calls itself, “the oldest station in

the nation.“ Just last year, Journal of Broadcasting
published Gordon Greb's scholarly work which attempted
to show that broadcasting began in 1909 with Charles
Herrold's station in San Jose.9

It is not the purpose of this paper to assess the
validity of each of these claims. It is, however, per-
tinent to recognize that, using these stations as a begin-
ning, radio went from a plaything to a maJor medium of
mass communications at a rate that rivaled its sister
medium, television, three decades later.

On January 1, 1922, there were thirty licensed
radio stations in the United States.10 By May of the
same year, United States Department of Commerce figures
showed eighty stations: July, 196: August, 227: December,
569.

The National Association of Broadcasters had its
beginnings in 1923.

In 1926 the National Broadcasting Company was

 

9Journal of Broadcasting, IV, No. 1 (Winter, 1959-60),
pp. 40—41.

1oGene F. Seehafer and Jack W. Laemmar, Successful
Television and Radio Advertising (New York: McGraw—Hill
Book Company, 1959), p. 7.

orga
with

brad:

47

organized as a service of Radio Corporation of America,
‘with the aim, ”to provide the best programs available for
broadcasting in the United States.11

To make this aim a reality, the first program of
the network, a mammoth, four-hour extravaganza, November
15, 1926, listed such famous artists as Mary Garden,
Will Rogers, Titta Ruffo, Weber and Fields, the New York
Symphony Orchestra, the New Yerk Oratorio Society, the
Edwin Franks Goldman Band, Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra,
George Olsen, and the orchestras of Ben Bernie and B. A.
Rolfe.12

Less than a year later, September 18, 1927, the
Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System (changed to
Columbia Broadcasting System two months after air date)
began broadcasting with a basic network of sixteen sta-
tions. Its first programn-a new.American opera called
"The King's Henchman,“ by Deems Taylor and Edna St.
Vincent Millay.13

Beginning with its decade of maturation, the
decade of the 1930's, and continuing until today, what

have been the voices that Americans have listened to?

 

11Dunlap, p. 83.

12Gleason L. Archer, Bi Busin as and Radio (New
York: The American Historical Company, 1939 , p. 291.

1323g_§ggnd of Your Life (New York: The Columbia
Broadcasting System, 1950), p. 7.

nif.

Of
pr:

den

48

And that is all there is--there isn't any more,
as my dear friend Ethel Barrymore would say . .
Thanks for listening. I am.you£s respectfully, Mrs.
Winchell's little boy,‘Wa1ter.1

Then there was Benito Mussolini:

I should like to contradict many rumors spread
abroad on the attitude taken by Fascism.and the
danger it is supposed to represent to the world. Such
accusations are groundless. Neither I, nor my govern-
ment, nor the Italian people, desire to bring about
anOther war. . . . Italy, let me repeat it, will never
take the initiative in starting a war.

The name of Adolph Hitler began to take on sig-
nificance in 1933, when a high, emotion-packed voice
filled the air waves:

If Germany was saved from going to pieces,
it was because the defenders of democratic principles
were so completely below average, so inferior and
dwarflike as to make them unfit to be leaders of the
masses. . . .

Our program is the direct igntrary of their
program of madness and insanity.

And another voice was becoming an important part
of life in America's living roome--a voice that was
promising to lead the people from depression to a "new
deal for the common man“--Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

Let me assert my firm belief that the only
thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, un-

reasoning, unqualified terror which paralyses needed
efforts to convert retreat into advance.1

 

14M" p. 15.
153213.. pp. 19-20.
15M" pp. 25-26.
lZLQJQ.. p. 26.

"Ines
Jack
with

int

49

All was not seriousness, however, on the airwaves.
There were Joe Penner, Burns and Allen, Eddie Cantor,
Jack Oakie, and Ed Wynn, who invariably began his routine
‘with something like: “I love the woods. There's a man
in the woods who crossed a kangaroo with a raccoon--he's
trying to raise raccoon coats with pockets.18
There was music-~1ilting tunes such as "Carioca,"
“Easter Parade,“ "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,“ and
“Isle of Capri.“ There was Opera--grand, soap, and horse.
And there was Orson Welles:
Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program
of dance music to bring you a special bulletin. .At
20 minutes before eight, Central Time, Professor
Farrell of the Mount Jennings Observatory, Chicago,
reports observing several explosions of incandescent
gas, ogcuring at regular intervals on the planet
Mars.1
The Welles program, which generated a national
panic, 2° reminded broadcasters of two cardinal principles
concerning broadcasting: first, people listen to radio
in snatches, and are tuning in at different times during
the program: second, people believe what they hear on
the radio.
There are other voices, too, which, by means of a

microphone, have recorded history in its many different

 

19m” p. 34.
1912‘s.: PP. 52‘530

2°Isabel Leighton, W (New York: Simon
and Schuster, 1949), p. 432.

asp<

to
the

ing

s.
hi

in

50

aspects--Churchill and Charlie McCarthy, Eisenhower and
My Friend Irma, Lowell Thomas and Danny Thomas, H. V.
Kaltenborn and Arthur Godfrey. There are Stevenson,
Nixon, Kennedy: and Crosby, Presley, the Beatles, and the
Monkees. There are the sounds of United Nations and
un-United Nations, of atom bombs and insect bombs. And
there are the perennial disc Jockies.

Historically, broadcasting systems have been developed
to fill the needs and desires of the countries in which
they were developed. Thus, if one were interested in gain-
ing an understanding of American radio broadcasting, he
would need to study it within the historic and social
framework of America. That is to say, while American
broadcasters may learn a great deal from.other broad-
casters, it.wou1d be nearly meaningless to compare systems,
‘pgg_gg, since what may be “right" for France, for example,
may “not be right“ for India: and both may be “wrong“ for
the United States. Thus, for the current study, the
history of KSL will be analyzed within America's social

and economic milieu.

n.

CHAPTER IV
PRIOR TO THE PREMIER PROGRAM

For years the famous and pOpular Salt Lake City
Social Hall stood at the head of the avenue which bore
its name. Progress brought automObiles: automobiles
called for large garages and show rooms: and the street
became known as Motor Avenue. Today, the name has
reverted to Social Hall Avenue, but it could well be
known as Radio-Television Place. The garages and show roome
new house modern television and radio stationspwhich are
affiliated with two national radio networks and three
national television networks.

The tin and wooden radio shack which was built on
tsp of the Deseret News building in the early 1920's and
which housed Utah's first commercial radio station had
little in common with KSL's present day facilities at
Broadcast House, 145 Social Hall Avenue. The facilities
were completed February 10, 1962, and include KSL-AM,
KSLPFM, KSL-TV, plus corporate offices for Bonneville
Internationa1--headquarters of the numerous broadcast
facilities of the Mormon Church.

Before reviewing the historical events which took

51

El:

09

de

52

place prior to the first broadcast on KSL's predecessor,
KZN, we shall make a quick, “capsule“ survey of today's
operations in order to add valuable comparative infor-
mation to the narrative of KSL's development.

As of June 1, 1967, 194 full—time and part-time
employees handled the many facets of the KSL broadcast
Operation.

Today, KSL-Radio has four control room areas
designed for combination operation, and a large polyb
cylindrical studio facility which produces excellent
lowbhigh frequency reverberation balance.1 The audio
consoles are constructed so that pickpups from.eny location
in the station can be handled by each console. All audio
equipment is designed for stereo operation. The 50,000
watt AM radio transmitter, with its 485 foot antenna,
is located fourteen miles west of Salt Lake City. It
has its own diesel power plant, so that it can be self
supporting in case of regular power failure. Studios
located on Social Hall Avenue also have an independent
power supply. KSL-AM has one of the twelve remaining
commercial radio clear channels in the United States.

KSLPTelevision broadcasts from two large studios:
one, fifty feet by forty feet: the other, fifty feet by

sixty feet: and by remote pick-up. The station has five

 

fl

1Information concerning KSL's studios and facilities
was received from Vincent Clayton, Chief Engineer of KSL,
Inc., during a personal interview, June 8, 1967.

black
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53

black and white cameras and two color cameras, with
complete chains, including film.and slide projectors.
With a recent acquisition, the station now owns five
color videotape machines. There are three control rooms,
rear proJection equipment in the studios, and large
storage areas for properties and scenery. The station
maintains its own woodworking department and art depart-
ment. Photography is separated into two areas, one with
the art department, the other with news. An elevator large
enough to handle automobiles and trucks runs between the
ground level and the second level.

KSL—Television was the first station in the United
States to develOp high mountain operation: and today its
transmitter, located 9,124 feet above sea level, is the
second highest television transmitter in America. The
FM transmitter is also located on the mountain top, thus
giving KSL-FM.unusually broad coverage.

Transmitters nine thousand feet in the air, stereo
equipment, and color videotape machines, however, were
not what was occupying the minds of the “radio telephone“
dreamers during the years immediately following the end
of the First World War.

Melvin R. Ballard, in 1919, after completing a
mission for the Mormon Church and serving in the United

States Army during the war, moved to Salt Lake City and

WEI

0V1

54

went to work for the Deseret News.2 Before 1919 was
over, he became City Circulation Manager: and by the spring
of 1920, he was General Circulation Manager. As Circulation
Manager he was constantly thinking of ways to promote the
sale of the.§g!_. He added the funny paper section to the
paper, began using rotogravure, and was constantly being
involved in circulation stunts such as having a man jump
off the roof of thelgggg building.

During this same period of time, Ballard was ap-
pointed Boy Scout Commissioner of the Ensign Stake of
the Mormon Church. He recognized that part of scouting
was learning Morse Code. He found a kindred spirit in
H. Carter (Harry) Wilson, the International News Service
telegraph operator, whose office was in the Degergt Ngs
building. “My idea, " said Ballard, 'was to train the
scouts how to receive wireless, since telegraphy was
part of scouting."3

Ballard and Wilson received permission from the
E!!! to keep the money from the sale of scrap paper (the
roll ends from newsprint rolls), out of which "we built

a wireless station on tOp of the W building. “4

 

2Information relative to Melvin R. Ballard's part
in the development of radio in Utah was received during
a personal interview with him, June 8, 1967.

31bid.

4Ibid.

Bey
sta
bui

tee

55

According to Ballard, he envisioned getting each
Boy Scout troop in the State of Utah to set up a receiving
station, and from his sending station on top of the Nggg
building he could send them.Morse Code messages and thus
teach them this important phase of scouting.

At the same time, he suggested to the Nggg that
this type of operation would permit the.ggg§ to send out
special bulletins which could be received by the Scout
troops and transmitted to the residents of each town.
This, he reasoned, would be one more way of promoting the
news of the world in each area and thus build circulation
for the Degeret New .

One summer evening during 1920, Ballard and Wilson
were experimenting with their wireless set (the receiving
part of it) when they picked up a voice broadcast from
Letterman's Hospital in Denver. The broadcast was being
transmitted by World War I veterans who had rigged up a
sending station while they'were convalescing from in-
juries sustained during the war. This was a new exper-
ience for Ballard and Wilson--hearing a voice instead of
the usual series of dots and dashes. Ballard recounts,
”I'll never forget the thrill of first hearing a voice
coming over the air."5

Soon a new idea began forming in Ballard's head.

 

——x fl v ‘fiv W

Suzie.

(n

56

He reasoned that if Boy Scouts could perform a service
by receiving Morse Code and passing on the information
to others, a greater service could be performed by sending
voice messages over the wireless. He presented a sug-
gestion to the Eggs management to build a voice trans-
mitter on top of thelgggg building, and to encourage
Boy Scout troops in the state to set up receiving sets
at their church buildings (the idea of having receiving
sets in each home did not occur to him at the time).
Then church members could gather at their meeting houses
and hear the news. In order to get M management in-
terested, he even suggested that the President of the
Church could speak to Church members throughout the State
by this means (the.§gg§,was owned by the Mormon Church).
According to Ballard, W management was
singularly unimpressed with the idea, but did appropriate
a very modest sum.(between $500 and $1,000) ”to see what
we [Ballard, wilson, Fullmer, and others interested in
radio at the‘gggg] could do."6 It was at this tune,
autumn, 1921, that the wooden and tin radio shack was
built on top of the Deseret News building.
On Saturday, march 4, 1922, more than two months
prior to the formal dedication of station KZN, the Deseggt
gm began a weekly radio page. The lead article pointed

out that the News opened a wireless station, 62M, on

6;bid.

57

Hovember 22, 1920, “the first newspaper in this part of
the country to install a wireless set to broadcast press
and weather reports."7 Early Operations included giving
the latest news of the day and a weather report for south,
eastern Idaho and northern Utah.

The station was eguipped with a one kilowatt Acme
transformer, Bentwood rotary quenched gap, .OZMTD glass
and lead plate condenser, built especially for 62M by
an eastern firm, and a Western radio oscillation trans-
former. The receiver consisted of a deForest Honey Comb
coil set and radio shop regenerative set with detector
and two step amplifier.8

The‘gggg reported broad coverage for SZM. .An operator
on board the S. S. ”Maui“ enroute from.San Fransisco to
Honolulu reported picking up press dispatches from 62M
on February 12, 1921, 1,188 miles at sea. An amateur
in Butler, Pennsylvania, reported SZM's signal being heard
there.

On February 21, 1921, President-elect‘Werren G.
Harding sent out a message of tribute to George Washington,
addressed to all state and county officials and to the
executives of commercial clubs throughout the country.

The message was picked up by station 62M and delivered
early the next day to Governor Charles R. Mabeyy Senator

 

7Deseret News, March 4, 1922.
81bid.

We

P:

 

58

Thomas E. McKay, President of the Utah Senate: E. R.
Callister, Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives:
Mayor C. Clarence Neslen: and C. B. Hewley, President
of the Salt Lake City Commercial Club.

The signal of 6ZM consistently reached into New
Mexico, Arizona, California, Idaho, Washington, Oregon,
Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and
Kansas. The receiver at 62M was capable of picking up
signals from "all the large trans-oceanic stations, some
European stations as well as all amateur stations within
range."9

The New; of March 4, 1922, described the new radio-
telephone station which it was building and which would
shortly start broadcasting such programs as market re-
ports, music of various kinds, and the latest news bul-
letins. The station was to be “a 250 watt outfit for
voice and 500 watts for straight telegraphy.'1° It
was designed to send from 1,000 to 1,500 miles by tele-
graph and 1,000 miles by voice. According to the‘gggg
article, the 62M “spark set” would be dismantled as soon
as the telephone set was ready for operation.

On April 1, 1922, five weeks prior to the first

official program on KZN, Melvin R. Ballard left the

 

91bid.
1°Ibid.

WW-
I

 

rs)

kee

pir

 

59

Deseret News to help organize the Covebeallard Motor
Company. But radio fever was high at the‘Nggg, and
other men who had been working with him continued to push
for an early realization of their dream.

The'name of Nathan 0. Fullmer began to appear in
radio discussions at the Eggs during the fall of 1921.

He had begun work at the News on April 1, 1919, and

rose rapidly to the position of Business Manager by

May 1, 1922. Fortunately Fullmer had the foresight to
keep many original letters, photographs, and news clip-
pings of the day. His daughter, Pearl F. Jacobson,
prepared a well documented article for Utah Historical
anrterly (Spring, 1964), outlining the early history
of radio in Utah, and the part her father played in it.
Fullmer, seventy nine years of age, opened his files and
his memory on June 8 and 20, 1967, to add valuable infor-
mation to the narrative of radio's early development in
Utah.

Fullmer's wishful thinking about a radio station
that would do more than send and receive dots and dashes
began to materialize one morning in the fall of 1921,when
Deseret News General Manager, Elias S. Woodruff, asked
him about the feasibility of building a voice radio

transmitter.11

 

11Pearl F. Jacobson, “Utah's First Radio Station,“

Utah Historical Quarterly, XXXII, No. 2 (Spring, 1964),
p. 132.

V0

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132

60

The biggest stumbling block to the project was the
price asked by American Telephone and Telegraph Company,
which had a monopoly on much of the equipment needed. The
President of the Mormon Church, Heber J. Grant, did not
approve the spending of $25,000 being asked by the

A. T. and T.12

This meant that whatever was accomplished
would have to be done without material aid from the owner-
ship of the paper.

After much discussion,it was decided that a search
would be made to see if necessary parts and equipment
could be secured from sources other than American Tele-
phone and Telegraph. Contacts were made in Canada, New
York, and San Francisco.

During the last few weeks of 1921 and early in
1922,parts for the transmitter began to be assembled at
the News building.

On April 21, 1922, Elias Woodruff, who was on a
business trip to Chicago, wrote to Fullmer:

Dear Nate:

As soon as I reached Chicago Mr.‘Woodman took
me to the ”Fair,“ a large department store doing
broadcasting. I met a Mr. O'Grady who has charge
of this department. He told me they were working
in connection with the Chicago Daily News and could
buy equipment independent of A. T. & T. Co. He quoted
me $3,000 for a l kilowatt set with a radius of
750 miles, and $2,400 for a 8 kilowatt set. He said
they were fighting the A. T. & T. Co. monopoly through

Rep. Britten of Illinois. I told him I would see
Senator Smoot if I reached Washington. If not, I

 

12Deseret News, May 3, 1962.

61

would write to him. Then I wired you and later got
your message advising me of a $500.00 price at San
Francisco. I am wondering if there can be a joker
anywhere. If we can buy as we seem to be able to,
why does A. T. & T. Co. quote such a price and appear
to be so cocky?

If we buy a toy set we will kick ourselves, but
O'Grady says his set will send 750 miles. Heretofore
we were told by Wilson that 250 watts would do that.
According to O'Grady, l kilowatt with a 1,000 watt
motor generator is required to do the business. If
Wilson has not gone, ask him this question. If he
has gone, wire him and caution him to be sure of
what he is getting.

The whole town is radio crazy. Every paper has
radio bulletins in the windows. Every delivery wagon
shrieks, “Keep posted on radio. Read the radio de-
partment of the Chicago Daily News.“ Hearst's paper
splashes it all over, and every few blocks radio
stores offer radio sets for sale.

I am too tired to write more tonight, but I
wanted to let you know what I had learned here re-
garding radio. Read this to Goff and Homer. Regards
to all.

Cordially,

/s/ Eliasl3
Four days later, April 25, 1922, Woodruff wrote to
Fullmer from New York:

Dear Nate:

Just a hurried scribble. I have not written
you a word, although, of course, we have been in
touch with each other. It is comforting to know
that all is going fine. I want you to express my
thanks to Homer and Goff for their support and my
appreciation for their efforts.

Radio is a real problem. I believe we will
never be able to broadcast except in a small way.
Nevertheless, it is good for Wilson to get the
set for the amount he is Spending. We may have to
stOp after awhile, and if we do we will not be out
much. The publicity we can get before we are stOp—
ped or regulated will be worth while. The Detroit
News has already spent $25,000.00 on broadcasting

 

13Utah Historical Quarterly, XXXII, No. 2 (Spring,
1964), pc 133.

62

so you can see how much some of them think of
it. . ° . Cordially,
/s/ Eliasl4

It'was in this letter of April 25, 1922, that
Woodruff noted he had wired Wilson to buy the radio set
he was negotiating for, "Even if we have to Junk it
later."15

From New York, Woodruff traveled to Detroit in
search of new business for the Qgseget News and to learn
more about this new thing called radio.

In a letter to Fullmer dated May 3, 1922, Woodruff
noted that he had secured four tubes and a condenser in
New Yerk, and was having them expressed to Salt Lake
City, because ”They are very perishable and I was afraid‘
to take a chance on bringing themmyself.”16

He then informed Fullmer that ”We are in bad with
the A. T. & T. . . . They call us 'boot leggers.‘ How
do you like that title?“17

It was obvious that the title did not materially
bother Woodruff, because he continued, “Tonight I am

going with Mr. Buell to the Detroit News--They also are

 

14;2gg.. pp. 133-34.
15Ib1d.

16Letter from Elias Woodruff to Nathan 0. Fullmer,
May 3, 1922.

17Ib1d.

63

radio bootleggers and I hope to learn something there--
I feel that if they can broadcast in this field surely
we will not be molested way out there."18

Although Woodruff was not afraid to be called a
“boot legger,“ if it meant securing a new means of pro-
moting the Deseret News, the conservative philosophy of
the.§gg§ management was reflected in the concluding
paragraph of this letter:

I saw the Detroit News station, W. W. J.
last night. They have a very pretentious outfitp-
They have built a 6 room house on the roof. Have
2 sound proof rooms, a reception room 2 operators
rooms, and an equipment room. . . . They spend
money lavishly and it seems to me to no purpose.
Fine plush carpets on the floor--The place is a
palace.19

Another letter from Elias Woodruff, in Chicago,
to Nate Fullmer, dated May 6, 1922, the day KZN officially
began operations, indicated that the neophyte radio station
Operators were learning new techniques and searching for
ways to put them into:effect simultaneously:

I wired you today regarding radio because I
wanted you to know that broadcasting without a
sound proof room is not practical and I thought
you might start without knowing that. We can use
a downstairs room if we wish and the concert or
program can be sent up to the instruments on the
roof. It is my thought that we should have reports
from a number of listeners before we really ask the
public to listen in. Radio has a wonderful hold on
the public. Everywhere one goes it is the para-
mount topic and I am sure we shall make a big hit

 

lelbid.
19Ibid.

64

byourmve.. ..20

While Woodruff and Fullmer were handling the bus-
iness of getting the station on the air, H. Carter (Harry)
Wilson was spending every available minute actually as-
sembling the transmitter. However, one thing after another
delayed his progress. First, the generator quit working:
then tubes blew. And at $110 for each tubqfil the station's
financial condition constantly hovered between near bank-
ruptcy and despair. .

The radio transmitter, designed and built by Wilson,
was finally completed.22 He used two 250~watt tubes as
oscillators, and two 250-watt tubes as modulators. A.three
horse power motor, driving a 2,000 volt one-kilowatt plate
current generator, provided power for the transmitter's
tubes. A.series of 350—volt dry cells and a 12 volt
storage battery provided the power for the tubes of the
speech amplifier. The antenna, an inverted “L“ type,
consisted of eight wires 120 feet long spaced 39 inches
apart.

The tin-shack building which housed the station

included three rooms, a studio room for the entertainers,

 

2°Ibid., May 6, 1922.

21Deseret News, May 3, 1962.

22The description of this original transmitter which
follows was published January 1, 1923, as “Facts about KZN,
The Deseret News Broadcasting Station,“ and was reprinted
in KSL's 40th Anniversary brochure, 1962.

 

 

 

and

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65

an operating room, and a generator room. Equipment in-
cluded a set of microphones “of special design to trans-
form sound into electrical energy,'23 a speech current
amplifier to increase the power of the micrOphone output,
and a Colin B. Kennedy Universal receiver with two step
audio frequency amplifier.

As construction neared completion, Fullmer and
Wilson tried to work out an estimated air date. And
when Wilson suggested that the first broadcast could well
be less than a month away, they both were elated. Their
dreams were now nearing realityb-dreame of a new world
of entertainment, news, sports, and weather reports, and
even Mormon Conference sermons, being delivered from their
transmitter to the peeple's living rooms.

During the last few frenzied days and nights be-
fore the station went on the air,a1most everything else
was forgotten except getting the transmitter completed.
Sooner than originally estimated, the equipment was ready
for testing.

Since there were so few receiving sets available
in Salt Lake City, Nate Fullmer made arrangements with
a friend,William Elder, more than four blocks away (east
of the corner of Broadway and State Streets), to try to
tune in on the test. Engineer Wilson and his two assis-

tants made the last adjustments on the equipment. Fullmer

 

w v—‘l—fi' —v— —V —yv

232bid,

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66

called his friend that they were ready to “send.“

The suspense of waiting to hear back from.his
friend was too much for Fullmer. He ran across the roof
of the building, down three flights of narrow iron steps,
then took the elevator to Main Street,and from there ran
over to his friend's small electrical shop.

When Elder saw him coming,he shouted the words
that Fullmer and Wilson had worked months to hear. ”She's
coming over, Nate! She's coming over! Congratulationsl'24

After catching his breath, Fullmer telephoned the
good news to Harry“Wilson. Then he sent a telegram.to
Degegeg News General Manager, Elias‘Woodruff, who was
still in the East.

The next step was to get the station ready for
formal dedication. News of the planned air date was pub-
licized in the Nggeggt News. Radio interest soared, and
many people bought small radio crystal sets, complete with
ear phones and “cat's whiskers“ for tuning in the first
broadcast.25

As reported previously, the dedicatory program.of
the new radio station (with call letters changed from
62M to KZN) was aired at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, May 6, 1922,

with church, state, and city dignitaries lending an air

__

24Utah Historéca; gggrtgrly, p. 135.
251b1d. , p. 137.

of

67

of excitement and importance to the occasion. The station
previously had been licensed by the United States Depart-
ment of Commerce on April 21, 1922.26

‘ As personnel at every radio station can testify,
things do not always go “according to script." And the
first program on KZN was no exception. (As the dedication
was being aired, listeners were startled to hear the
voice of Mormon President Heber J. Grant say clearly,
”Turn off the heat.“ Many letters were received asking
for an explanation of this interjection. It seems that
to counteract the cool May evening, someone had connec-
ted an electric heater directly behind President Grant,
and he was being provided with too much warmth.”

'With that dedicatory program, KZN was finally on

the air, and the dreams of its creators were beginning
to be realized. It should be noted, however, that those
directly involved at the Deseret News were not the only
ones who were responsible for that first broadcast. Many
other persons interested in radio indirectly influenced
greatly the early development of KZN, either by direct
help, by encouragement, or by striving for competitive
advantage.

A.group of students at the Latter-day Saints College

 

Vfi—v ff

26Richard L. Evans, “Historical Highlights of Radio
Station KSL,“ unpublished typescript, 1934, p. 1.

27Deseget News, May 3, 1962.

68

in Salt Lake City, calling themselves the Saints‘ Scien-
tific Society, had put together an amateur radio trans-
mitter in 1920 for the purpose of “broadcasting football
and basketball games and anything else of interest that
came to the L. D. S. College campus.”28 John Cape, Leo
Jensen, Rollow Kimball, and C. Richard Evans formed the
nucleus of the group.29 When the Deseret Nggg began
showing interest in radio, much of the equipment from
the L. D. S. College operation was moved to the roof of
the Neg; building and became part of KZN's first trans-
mitter. 30

Early in 1922 Carl F. Eyring, Physics Professor
at Brigham Young University, gave encouragement to radio
neophytes when he noted that “the 'hearing' was splendid“
on B. Y. U.'s amateur station, 6APL, and that "the ether,
the carrier of wireless waves, was teemingwith.messages.“3l
He marveled that:

, In this day of radio, man has literally imp

pregnated “ether space“ with the buzzing of dots
and dashes, the chatter of the human voice, and

strains of music. The master hand of science
reaches into this apparent confusion of ether waves

 

28Personal interview with Rollow Kimball, one of
the students who was involved in the L. D. S. College
igation and who today is KSL-TV Chief Engineer, July 14,.
67.

291bid.
3°Ib1d.

31Carl F. Eyring, “When Space Talks and Sings,“
W. Vol. xxv, No. 7 (May. 1922). p. 628-33.

1y

are;

lic

\U.

69

and picks out the series of waves desired-~a weather
report, a sermon by a noted preacher, or the song of
a beautiful singer. Our ”ether space“ is a veritable
fountain into which liquids of all sorts may be fed
and at which the prepared may quaff a favorite drink.
This is indeed the miracle of the age.32
The Improvement Egg, Mormon Church magazine, short-
ly before KZN went on the air, added its enthusiastic
approval of the radio work being done by its sister pub—
lication, the Deseret Newgz
It is not impossible that, by 1925, or sooner,
the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints may be able to deliver his sermons in the
Salt Lake Tabernacle and be heard by congregations
assembled in every settlement of the Church from
Canada to Mexico, and from California to Colorado.
There are a thousand thoughts that arise in the mind
in contemplation of this most wonderful instrument
and the possibilities arising therefrom One may
well exclaim, “What hath God Wroughtl‘3§
KDYL, Salt Lake City, the first competitor to KZN,
was racing to be the first Intermountain West commercial
station to go on the air. This, of course, added impetus
to the KZN drive to begin broadcasting before any other
station in the area. A group of Ogden, Utah, men intern
ested in radio also was making plans for a station in
that city.
Throughout the Intermountain West, interest in
radio transmission and reception climbed rapidly, with
‘KZN a focal point of that interest. According to Deseret

News accounts, the first programs on KZN were well

b

32Ibid.

p 45733Improvement Era, Vol. XXV, No. 5 (March, 1922),

70

received and, by the radio yardstick of the day, very
successful. But after the first flush of success died
down, many problems arose which had to be overcome before
KSL truly would merit the name of the radio voice of the

Intermountain West.

(1'

H.

CHAPTER v
THE VOICE DEVELOPS (KZN-KFPTBKSL)

There is an old story which tells of a young,
freckle-faced boy who wanted desperately to meet a
vivacious little red haired girl who had just moved into
the neighborhood. The opportunity presented itself un-
expectedly one afternoon, and he found himself alone
‘with her. She smiled warmly at him and held out her hand.
The boy gulped, pulled at his shirt collar, which all of
a sudden had become very constricting, and muttered, “Good
gosh, what do I do now?“

The Deseret News pioneer radio station operators
found themselves in a similar predicament during the
first years of KZN operation. Radio, alluring, nearly
magical, had smiled warmly at them and stretched forth
her arms for an embrace. It was a heady experience:
but once the radio dreamers found themselves alone with
her, with that first exciting encounter a thing of the
past, they looked at each other and said, in effect,
“Good gosh, what do we do now?“

It was one thing to bring a group of dignitaries

to the station and to have them give glowing speeches

71

ma

8'2

in
re

De

Gr:

72

concerning the potential of this new marvel of commun-
ication. It was quite another thing to find something
to say or to do on the air on a regular daily basis. As
a result, the station was on the air only thirty minutes
a day to begin withp-from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. Gradually
broadcast time was extended to an hour and a half-~from
8:00 to 9:30 p.m.

.Although daily broadcasts were confined to short
periods of time while KZN was groping to find its voice,
many ideas were develOped which foreshadowed the commercial
system of broadcasting with which we are familiar today.

Even though no appreciable advertising appeared on
KZN until the Radio Service Corporation of Utah was formed
in June, 1924, the advertising potential of radio was
recognized at once by a few merchandisers. The ZCMI
Department Store inserted an advertisement in the Deseret
N325 of May 9, 1922, three days after the premier broad-
cast on KZN, advising readers of the N33; that: “a radio
message that would be of unusual interest within a radius
of 200 miles if broadcast, would be the message that the
Greatest Merchandising Event of the Entire Year is about
to be announced.“1

The Pantages Theater, anxious to be identified with
‘ohe new radio marvel, released an advertisement in the

News of May 13, 1922, the day prior to Mothers' Day:

 

1Deseret News, May 9, 1922.

73

To Mother
Whose heart is the broadcasting station for
all the love we have ever known. Whose outstretched
arms are the antenna from which radiates the affection
of the universe-~whose breast is the receiving station
for all our joys and sorrows--whose voice is the mag—
navox which distributes God's own message--
To Mother, yours and mine, we dedicate this dayb-
Sunday, May Fourteenth
Nineteen Twenty Two.2
In an editorial, May 9, 1922, the Deseret News
heralded the birth of radio station KZN as ”an epoch in
the history of the paper quite as significant as any
ushered in since the establishment of the institution
nearly 72 years ago."3
This enthusiasm at the News, however, was short
lived. Within two years the News divested itself of all
interest in radio station operation. As long as Elias
Woodruff had remained General Manager of the newspaper,
radio interest remained high:4 but when B. F. Grant took
over management, he “would have nothing to do with radio."5
It is, however, important to recognize that broad-
casting in its early days in Utah received a great amount
of encouragement through the publicity afforded it by the

Deseret News .

 

22.19.19... May 13, 1922.
3;2i§., May 9, 1922.
4Interviewwith Nathan 0. Fullmer, June 20, 1967.
5Earl J. Glade, undated handwritten article con-

cerhing early days at KSL. Nathan 0. Fullmer agreed with
this appraisal during interview, June 20, 1967.

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Daly, )
Singer
'GYpsy
'Feathe
Ten Lit
You” I
"Nerf
B
‘4’ high
Th1. hr.

74

Less than a week after the initial broadcast, full
page advertisements appeared in the‘gggg offering radio
receiving sets free with six new subscriptions to the
paper. 6

The weekly radio section of theugggg continued to
keep readers up-to-date on the growth and development
of radio. An early program on KZN included news bulletins,
weather forecast, stock market report, and music during
the afternoon. The evening program.of the same day was
devoted to music-~with a live presentation by Miss May
Daly, known professionally as ”Mammy,” a ”black face”
singer and comedian, and by phonograph records, including
”Gypsy Blues,” ”Birds of a Feather,” ”Blue Danube Blues,”
”Feather Bed Lane,” ”Mammy Lou,” ”Ten Little Fingers and
Ten Little Toes,” ”April Showers,” ”All that I Need is
Ybu,” ”Granny, You're My Mammy's Mammy,” and ”That
Wonderful Mother of Mine.”7

Before KZN was a week old, a broadcast.was beamed
to high school students visiting the university of Utah.8
'This broadcast so impressed university officials that it
‘was suggested that a permanent receiving station be in-

stalled at the university for the purpose of receiving

 

6Deseret News, May ll, 1922.

7KZN program for May 11, 1922, as reported in
Deseret News of same date.

8Deseret News, May 12, 1922.

75

”the best the country has to offer in lectures, concerts
and other entertainment.”9 This broadcast also resulted
in an announcement by university officials that a course
in radio would be given at the school with the opening
of the fall quarter in September, 1922. The possibility
of an extension course was also being considered.

To celebrate its first week on the air, KZN secured
the services of two musical comedy stars who were appear-
ing in Salt Lake City at the Salt Lake Theater: Miss Mabel
Kronan and Mr. Philip Ryder, stars of abie's Irish Rose.
Arrangements were made through the show's producer,
Oliver Morosco, and George D. Pyper, Manager of the Salt
Lake Theater.

KZN was the originating station for ”the first
extensive radio dance in the West according to all infor-
mation.”10 .A special 10-piece band played the latest
dance selections from the studios on top of theifiggg
building. The music was picked up by the ”receiving
station” installed at the Odeon Dance Hall and amplified
to the dance floor by means of a large magnavOK. It
was estimated that about 2,000 persons were in attendance
to dance to the radio music and to listen to a tenor
solo by.Alfred Best, who sang ”Pagliacci” over the facili-
ties of KZN.

 

91bid.
1°Ibid., May 27, 1922.

76

One of Nathan Pullmer's desires was to secure the
use of the McCune School of Music, two blocks north of
the station, from which to broadcast musical programs.11
The recital hall and several other rooms there had acous-
tics far superior to those of the studios of KZN. ”Remote”
broadcasts from the McCune School were accomplished by
stringing a wire from that building, down the street to
the north corner of the Temple wall, then along the wall
to the Bureau of Information building, and from there to
the transmitter on top of the.§g!§ building. These re-
mote broadcasts eliminated much of the echo that had
been prevalent in many earlier broadcasts.12

Fullmer also was instrumental in bringing the music
of Owen Sweeten's Band from Saltair, through the switch-
boards of the Telephone Company, and from there to the KZN
transmitter.

It did not take long to realize that KZN's signal
was covering a large territory. By October 14, 1922,
letters and radiograms had been received from eighteen
states, Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, and as far away in the
Pacific as 2,865 miles from Salt Lake City.

A letter from Upland, California, stated: ”We
all get you here as loud as the best Los Angeles station

which is some record, comparing distance--how do you

 

11Utah gistorical Quarterly, p. 140.
lzlbid.

77

do it?”13

B. B. Hinman from.Prescott, Arizona, wrote: ”Lis-
tened in on your entertainment last night and enjoyed
your program immensely. Have listened from Kansas City,
Denver and Los Angeles, but your station came in clearer
and with the best results I have received.”14

”YOur broadcasting came in very clearly last even-
ing,” said V. I. Daniels of Geerin, Nebraska.15

”Perhaps it may interest you to know that on
Thursday night I tuned in on your broadcasting, and al-
though faint was quite clear,” reported a listener in
Bismarck, North Dakota.16

Mr. and Mrs. George E. Marygold of Burbank, Cal-
ifornia, reported that: ”We are 11 miles nerth of Los
,mngeles and we get your concerts on our loud speaker. . . .
We get your concert much better than. Los Angeles.”17

Another letter from.Burbank read:

I heard him.say . . . that the broadcasting
station K.Z.N. was located in Salt Lake City. I
wish to tell you that I was flabbergasted to say

the least. My receiver is a cheap vacuum tube re-
generative set and until tonight I had never heard

13Deseret News, September 16, 1922.
142.19..
15;2;g.
ldggig.
ljgéég.

78
anything that waslgoming from a greater distance
than fifty miles.

A letter from Hoquiam, Washington stated: “Heard
you very QSA [very strong] here. Could understand you
100 feet from the phones, with a horn attached to one
phone.”19

”I had Just came [93.3] home from work, ” wrote Mr.
Donald Lewis, of Albia, Iowa, ”and tuned for Atlanta,
Georgia, when I picked you and a last musical selection,
and signed off K. 2. N. Could hear you about 3 feet from
phones.”20

A Vancouver, British Columbia, fan reported that:
”It may interest you to know that your broadcast of
music was picked up at Vancouver. . . . You came in very
clear, modulation, etc., fine.21

A Dexter, Minnesota listener reported receiving KZN
”very clearly. ”22

A radiogram, dated September 23, 1922, was received
from the Steam Ship ”Elkton, ” bound for Manila by way of
the Panama Canal. It read in part:

If some one were to tell me what I am about to

IBM.
191.19.13-
20mg.
21.3329.-
23l2i9-

79

tell you, I should very much doubt their statement,
but in my own case, at least, "hearing is believing.“

. . When about 1500 miles out from Balboa bound for
Honolulu I first intercepted KZN signals. . . . Each
night as we got farther off shore your signals came
in better. I can truthfully say were QSA and clear
as a bell. . . .

Again this evening I have heard you but could
only occasionally understand your announcements. The
music was Just fair. Was hardly loud enough to be
enjoyed however. But the fact ragains we heard you.
Estimated distance, 2,865 miles.

A Los Angeles newspaper expressed the Opinion that:

Prdbably the most wonderful station in the West
is KZN, the Deseret News phone at Salt Lake City.
Its signals come in throughout the entire Pacific
slope with almost the same strength as a local station.
PeOple with good crystal detectoS receivers in Los
Angeles are hearing KZN nightly.

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, in a letter dated Oc-

tOber 3, 1922, informed the Radio Editor of the Deseret

News that:

It is with pleasure we beg to report hearing
your station KZN on the evening of September 27
while installing a radiophone on the plantation on
the eastern side of the Island of Hawaii. We re-
ceived your concert loud and clear, even louder than
our own station only 250 miles away.

We were able to put'the music on the magnavox
and dance by it.

' ' ' é.’béli.6.'tfu£ Ehi.’w;.'tfi.':ir3t'tim3 hi!
it had ever been ggt on the magnavox and danced to,
at that distance.

But radio, even in its early days, was more than

m“Bic. News, weather reports, and sports scores were

‘

2?;9;g., October 7, 1922.
24;2;g., October 14, 1922.
251b1d.

80

given at regular intervals, along with stock market
quotations. -

Other types of public service programs, also, were
being developed. On October 18, 1922, Nathan Fullmer
wrote to the Commercial Club and Chamber of Commerce of
Salt Lake City offering KZN's services and suggesting
that:

. . . some one in your organization, if you
accept the use of our station, be appointed to arrange
with some good clear voiced speaker to deliver about a
five mdnute talk every evening over our radio in Salt
Lake City and Utah propaganda that may be arranged by
the Commercial Club.25

A program.designed especially to interest children
was added to the regular program schedule. This was the
Peter Rabbit Club, which broadcast musical selections
Performed by children and sent birthday greetings over
Uhe air to children belonging to the Club.27

William Jennings Bryan delivered a ten-minute
address over the facilities of KZN October 24, 1922."!8

.An unusual program*was aired December 9, 1922.29

Many'Utah residents and former residents were visiting or

living in California. KZN prepared a special broadcast

¥

25Letter from Nathan Fullmer to the Commercial Club
and Chamber of Commerce, Salt Lake City, October 18, 1922.

27Utah Historical anrterly, p. 141.
23Deseret News, October 25, 1922.

29Nathan 0. Fullmer, ”Nate Fullmer Recalls,” un-
Published typescript prepared by Fullmer for KSL, 1962.

81

for them.and introduced it as follows:

For the first time in the history of Salt Lake
radio a special concert has been arranged for Utahns
in California. Stars of the local musical world will
render selections over KZN. Reports from.Ocean Park
are that a large gathering of Salt Lake peOple will
be assembled at the home of O. H. Hewlett, a prominent
Salt Laker, for the entertainment. Mr. Hewlett has
telephoned the Deseret News that the residents of
that City are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to
hear real Utah talent in Los Angeles and San Francisco
are cooperating with KZN [sic] in the endeavor to give
every Utah citizen a chance to hear the artists of
the Bee Hive State.3o

One of the most ambitious undertakings of the young
station was to broadcast a speech by President Warren
G. Harding June 26, 1923, from the Mormon Tabernacle on
Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Many ”firsts” had to be accomplished before the
ibroadcast.became a reality. A radio micrOphone was
installed in the Tabernacle for the first tine.31 rela-
graph instruments ticked for the first time in the sixty-
one year history of the Tabernacle as Associated Press
«lispatches on President Harding's address were sent to
all.the major cities in the country.32 4A telegraph wire
had.never before been allowed in the auditorium. That
night, by consent of high officials of the Mormon Church,
the Associated Press wire between San Francisco and

Chicago was IOOped into the Tabernacle for President

¥

3°Ibid.
31Deseret News, June 27, 1923.

321bid.

82

Harding's address.

Automobiles, filled with people anxious to hear the
President's message, were allowed to enter the Temple
grounds for the first time in history.

The world-famous Mormon Tabernacle organ was heard
for the first time by means of radio.

According to the Deseret News, President Harding
addressed the largest audience ”which ever listened to a
public speaker west of the Rockies. How? Radio.”33

The eight thousand seat Tabernacle was filled to
overflowing, as was the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.
Six thousand additional persons listened to loud speakers
on the grounds around the Tabernacle and the Temple. ,At
lLiberty Park the Go-Getters' Club of the southeast section
01' the city had worked with the radio experts of Nathaniel
Baldwin, Inc., to install a receiving set and a dozen
loud speakers. Earl J. Glade, President of the Go-
Getters' Club at the time, later became the key man in
KSL's develOpment. Two thousand peOple listened from
automobiles and bleacher seats at Liberty Park. Others
flocked to the State Theater, and still more surrounded
a large receiving set on Federal Heights.

The speech was broadcast over the facilities of
KZN;

. . . in hundreds of homes in Salt Lake and in

33lbid.

83

thousands of others from Provo to Los Angeles and
from the desert regions on the south to the borders
of Canada. . . . Some were in homes-dwith receiving
telephone clamped to their ears or with the smaller
”loud-speakers” familiar to every radio fan. Others
thronged radio and electrical stores--which generally
were keeping ”Open shop” in honor of the occasion.

On July 14, 1923, KZN began remote broadcasts from
the Hotel Utah Roof Gardens.35 These broadcasts featured
the Roof Gardens Dance Orchestra and became a regular
nightly feature from 10 p.m. until midnight.

During those early days of radio, the KZN staff
included the following personnel: H. C. Wilson, Manager,
Operator, and Announcer: Miss Rheva Brown, Radio Secretary
in charge of all programs: and Clyde Nelson, Radio Guide

mend Studio Instructor.36

Although interest in radio remained high among
listeners, interest at the Deseret News soon began to
Wane. By May, 1924, all four of the men who had been
instrumental in promoting radio as a part of the News
had left the paper. Melvin R. Ballard left on April 1,
1922, to help organize the Covey-Ballard Motor Company.
H. Carter (Harry) Wilson, after a series of personal
Problems, left the‘Deseret News and Salt Lake City.

Nlthen O. Fullmer resigned from.his position at the News

—-¥

34Ibid.
351bid., July 14, 1923.

35”Facts about KZN,” January 1, 1923.

84

February 15, 1924, because of ill health and overwork.
Three months later, Elias Woodruff was released as General
Manager of the‘gggg, to be replaced by B. F. Grant, brother
of the President of the Mormon Church. As noted pre-
viously, B. F. Grant had no interest in radio as a part
of the newspaper operation. Within a month after his
appointment as General Manager, the Deseret News sold
its interest in KZN to John Cope, KZN radio engineer, and
to his father, F. W. Cope. The same month that the Copes
purchased the station, the call letters were changed to
KFPT (June 13, 1924), and Radio Service Corporation of
Utah was formed. Studios remained on tOp of the Dgggret
New; building, and power continued at 500 watts, but the
frequency'was changed from 833 to 1149 kilocycles.

During the first annual meeting of the stockholders
of Radio Service Corporation of Utah, held July 15, 1924,
JOhn N. COpe, S. E. Mulcock, H. C. Johnson, F. W. COpe,
and Ella M. Johnson were elected Directors of the Corpor-
ation.37 .An hour later the Directors met and elected
Jehn N. COpe, President: and Haber C. Johnson, Vice-
President. F. W. COpe was appointed Secretary of the

Corporation, and s. E. Mulcock.was elected Treasurer.38

 

37Minutes of the annual Stockholders' Meeting of the
Radio Service Corporation of Utah, held in the Company's
studios, July 15, 1924.

33Minutes of the Directors' Meeting of the Radio
Service Corporation of Utah, held in the Company's studios,
July 15, 1924.

85

On September 20, 1924, an event took place which
had far reaching effect upon the development of the Radio
Service Corporation of Utah. On that date an agreement
was entered into with Earl J. Glade, as follows:

This agreement made and entered into this 20th
day of September A. D. 1924 by and between Eadio
Service Corporation of Utah, party Of the first part,
and Earl J. Glade of Salt Lake City, Utah, party of
the second part:

WITNESSETHL [sic] That for and in consideration of
the covenants and agreements hereinafter mentioned
the parties hereto agree as follows:

lst.--The party Of the first part hereny lgic]
appoints Earl J. Glade a sales agent for and in
behalf of the party of the first part to sell service
upon the prices and terms agreed upon from time to
time.

2nd,--The party of the first part agrees to compensate
said party of the second part on the basis of fifteen
(15%) percent of the face value of all contracts
turned into the office of the party of the first part
prOperly signed and executed by authorized persons
by the party of the second part.

3rd.-The party of the first part agrees to pay to
said party of the second part on or before the 10th,
day Of each month all commissions due, which said
commissions shall be based on the actual cash payb
ments received by said party of the first part on
such business as is written by said party of the
second part, and paid during the succeeding calendar
month.

4th,--The party of the second part hereby agrees

to devote himself diligently to the interests of

the party of the first part and this contract may

be cancelled and become null and void if in the
Opinion Of the party Of the first part the party of
the second part fails to devote sufficient time and
attention to the interests of said party of the
first part. Notice of thirty days shall be given

by each party to the other in the event of intention
to cancel this contract.39

At a meeting of the Directors, November 17, 1924,

this agreement was approved, with the further stipulation:

 

39Minutes of Directors' Meeting, November 17, 1924.

86

”and in addition to the above commission Mr. Earl J.

Glade be paid a retainer fee Of Twenty five ($25.00)
dollars per month.”40 At this meeting Glade was appointed
Sales Manager and Advertising Counsel.

During the same meeting, 8. E. Mulcock was appointed
General Manager of the Corporation, and Charlie Hayes was
appointed Business Manager, with the following duties:

”To attend to all business details, including accounting
and program supervision and . . . to be available for
announcing at such times as may be required.”41

The history of KSL as a commercial Operation really
began when Earl J. Glade became affiliated with the Radio
Service Corporation of Utah. At that time he was a part-
time professor in the Business School at the University
of Utah and was also an advertising executive of the
Gillham Advertising Agency.

Glade sold the first commercial radio broadcasting
contract in Intermountain America.42 And this was no
easy task, for, as he reported during a number of his
public addresses: ”When the business men of the community
would see me coming, knowing I was trying to interest them

in buying radio time, they would sadly shake their heads

 

v7. V fl. wv—

4olbad.
41221d.
42Richard L. Evans, ”Historical Highlights of Radio

Service Corporation of Utah (KSL), unpublished typescript,
November, 1934, p. 2.

87

and feel sorry for my mother.”43

Recognizing the need for putting the corporation on
a sound financial footing, Glade began looking around for
ways to bring financial stability to the station. Five
months after the Directors of the Corporation approved
his appointment, he had found his answer. He interested
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
in participating in the erection of a 1,000 watt trans-
mitter. The Church loaned the station $5,000 for one
year, interest free, for the purpose of building the new
transmitter.44

Security for the loan was fiftybone per cent of the
capital stock of the Corporation and immediate voting
control. At the end of one year the Church had the option
of acquiring ownership of the fiftybone per cent of the
stock by cancelling the note and paying an additional
$2,500 (total capital stock was $15,000).

The Church further agreed to lease to the Cor-
poration for one year, free of charge, the west one-half
of the basement of the Vermont Building and a structure

behind the George Albert Smith residence on West Temple

 

430ne of these occasions was the Annual Communications
Awards Banquet, Brigham YOung university, Provo, Utah, May,
1965.

44The agreement between Radio Service Corporation of
Utah and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
was made a part of the minutes of the Board of Directors'
Meeting, April 21, 1925.

88

Street to be used for studios and operating rooms.

Radio Service Corporation of Utah, in return for
the waiving of interest charges and the free leases,
agreed to broadcast a sacred Church service each Sunday
evening and a Choir and organ concert each Thursday
evening, the music and speakers to be furnished by the
Church.

The agreement between the Church and the station
stipulated that Bishop David A. Smith would be issued
one share of stock in the corporation and would be elected
to the Board of Directors. It was also stipulated that
the Church would use its influence with the Utah Power
and Light Company to get permission to attach an antenna
to the south stack of the heating plant west of the Temple
Block.

In those early days of radio it was necessary to
secure a license from.American Telephone and Telegraph to
build and operate a station.45 Evidently management de-
cided to discontinue their ”boot leg” operation, and to
conform to the requirements of A. T. and T., since they
agreed to pay a $3,000 license fee.46

On April 29, 1925, Directors Ella M. Johnson and

Heber C. Johnson resigned: David A. Smdth and Earl J.

 

45Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, April 28,
1925.

45;bid.

89

Glade were elected directors, and Glade was appointed
General Manager of the Corporation.

-When Sylvester Q. Cannon, Presiding Bishop of the
Church, was elected a director, then elected President
a few months later, June 9, 1926, the basic pattern for
management of Radio Service Corporation of Utah for a
dozen years was established-~Sylvester Q. Cannon,
President: David A. Smith, Secretary and Treasurer: and
Earl J. Glade, Manager of Operations.

During this time of reorganization and realignment,
another important event occured. Earl J. Glade was
instrumental in securing ”the active co-operation of
. . . [thl,§3;§_hssg_lgihnng] . . . in stimulating interest
in radio and in various ways furnishing the news releases
required by an up-to-date radio station.”47 This align-
ment‘with the.§3;§_§akg_1;ibggg, which began in July,
1925, and continued until January 22, 1947, was the first
instance where the Tribune interests and the Mormon
Church worked together in a common business enterprise.
As part of the agreement the Salt Lake Tribune Publishing
Company secured a stock representation in the Radio
Service Corporation of Utah.

Before the Tribgne was approached, a similar offer

was presented to Deseret News management, ”but the tender

 

fi—

47Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, January
29, 1926.

90

was refused.“48

To complete the transition to new management, with
new ideas for making the station a commercially profitable
enterprise, the call letters were changed from.KPPT to
ESL. Because the letters, KEPT, had been hard to say and
difficult to understand, Glade traded call letters with
an Alaskan station --KEPT for KSL. The call letters, KSL,
became effective June 24, 1925.49

The first financial ledger prepared by Radio Service
Corporation of Utah indicates that the total income for
the station from June 9, 1924, to October 31 of the same
year was $265.0050

Early commercial accounts on the station were Salt
Lake Knitting Store (the first commercial account on the
station), D. A. V. Veterans, BPOE, Salt Lake Real Estate
Board, L. D. 8. Church, Glenn Brothers, University of
Utah, Superior Motor Company, Mullett-Kelley Company,
Rocky Mountain Electrical League, Capital Electric Com»
pany, Granite Lumber and Hardware Company, and Walker
Brothers D. G. Company.

By July 1, 1926, business on the station, though

 

43mg.

49Hazel Lee Craig Felt, ”The History of Radio Stations
in Utah to 1950, ”unpublished Master's Thesis, University
of Utah, 1950, pp. 5, 13.

soLedger of Radio Service Corporation of Utah, begin-
ning JUne 9, 1924. p. 2.

91

still small compared to today's standards, was increasing.
The staff was increasing, too, having grown to six members.
They, along with their monthly salaries, were as follows:
John N. Cape — Radio Engineer - $250.00
Cash $200

Credit 50 (to be paid when
company is able)

Earl J. Glade - Manager 25.00 plus 15%
of business
obtained.

Cyril Possay — Operator 125.00

Myrtle Eranstrum.- Stenographer 60.00

Harold Pingree - Bookkeeper 10.00

Janitor 30.0051

A.note attached to the salary schedule suggested
that finances were still a major problem of the station.
It stated that the salaries, so far as possible, would be
paid regularly each month between the fifth and the tenth.52

During his later years, Earl J. Glade spent a great
deal of time compiling, cross-checking, and recording his
notes and reminiscences on the early days of commercial
broadcasting on KSL. One handwritten document is es-
pecially rich in his recollections and contains much
material which explains well the facts and the fantasy
surrounding radio in those days. He writes of KSL
programs being picked up on the telephones in much of
Salt Lake City's downtown area.53 And he notes that one
of the beliefs of the day was that the KSL signal was

re-radiated from.the walls and spires of the Temple,

h
fir wr— _—__.— _,___.

511bid., note attached to page 121.

52Ibid.
53Earl J. Glade, a handwritten document, later

92

which was located across the street from the transmitter.54
Glade tells of the time when Herbert Hoover, who was
then United States Secretary of Commerce, visited Salt
Lake City. At that time the Department of Commerce had
Jurisdiction over radio broadcasting in the United States.
Hoover delivered a radio address over KSL from the Odeon
Spanish Ballroom located on North Temple Street between
Main and State Streets. He was so pleased with the
broadcast and with the response he received from various
parts of the country that he had Senator Reed Smoot
arrange to get Earl J. Glade over to the Secretary's
temporary headquarters at Hotel Utah for a personal thanks
and congratulations to the station.55
Equipment in those days was scarce and hard to come
by. Because Western Electric demanded royalties on the
use of their microphones, KSL had a micrOphone ”boot
legged” out of Canada.56 As it was the only microphone
the station possessed, keeping uninterrupted programming

on the air was a difficult and often impossible task.

One night Utah Governor Charles R. Mabey was

 

1.... fi—T

transcribed as ”Mayor Glade Recalls,” by KSL, undated,p. 2.
(Note: page numbers refer to the original handwritten doc-
'ument, in the possession of Earl J. Glade, Jr., pg; to the
typewritten copies held by several people.)

541b 2.
551bid., p. 4.
551bid.

93

delivering an address in the old Salt Lake Theater. The
Theater was packed: and the address was being carried
over KSL, using the single microphone owned by the station.
The Governor exceeded his allotted time: and a KSL tech-
nician went up on the stage while the governor was still
speaking, took the microphone and raced back to the
studios for another scheduled program. The station was
off the air while the technician ran between the two
locations.

Two famous Utah songs were popularized on KSL
during the early days of radio broadcasting. ”Utah
Trail” was sung for the first time by two soldier-
composers, Bob and Buster. They had written the words
in lead pencil on the back of an envelope and had come
to KSL, where they received permission to sing the song
over the air.57

”Springtime in the Rockies” lay dormant for three
years on the shelves of the DayneshBeebe Music Company.
Then one night a male quartet from the Brigham Young
University sang the song over KSL. The station aired the
song frequently. Before long,sa1es began to climb and
eventually reached the two million mark.58

Freeman F. Gosden and Charles J. Correll, better

known as Amos and Andy, performed for a week, ad lib, on

F

V_,

57.1.1249... 19. 6.
53119.49." 99- 6-7.

94

KSL before they gained their national reputation. They
received word of their first big contract while at KSL.59

Henry Luce and Briton Hadden, the founders of.2ig§,
.Ligg, Pgrtuge, and Spgrts Illustrated magazines, sent their
mdmeographed news copy to KSL, when they were first begin-
ning publication of gggg, with the request that KSL broad-
cast it. ”They were than Just about as poor as we were,”
stated Glade.60 KSL was happy to give them free adver-
tising in return for free news. Twentybfive years later,
when Hadden was visiting Salt Lake City, Glade asked him
where he got those early mimeographed news stories, to
which Hadden replied, ”We swiped them from the New York
2.1222- .61

The microphone was not readily accepted by many of
the artists associated with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
and organ. They were fearful that radio could not re-
produce the music of the organ and the choir with a
fidelity that would do them Justice.

John J. McClelland, famous Tabernacle Organist,
‘would not permit his talent to be broadcast by radio. .As
long as he lived, his music never appeared on any station.
JHis funeral, interestingly enough, was the first to be

broadcast from the Tabernacle.

¥

59212.. p. 8.
WERE-o p. 9.
6lIb1d.

95

Another Tabernacle Organist, Edward P. Kimball,
however, was a radio enthusiast; and through his help,
KSL technicians were permitted to experiment to discover
the best ways for reproducing Tabernacle music on radio.

One of the early uses of a transcontinental tele-
phone network was the radio broadcast of Charles A.
Lindbergh's arrival in the United States after his his-
toric flight to Paris. The broadcast took place Saturday,
June 11, 1927. KSL was one of the fifty stations comp
prising the network, largest assembled up to that time.62
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company set up a
high frequency note on the wire circuit of about 5,000
cycles which continued for three days and three nights.
This was done to test the constancy of the telephone
circuit. The network hookup proved successful: and when
Graham.McNamee, the announcer for Lindbergh's arrival,
was knocked over and trampled by the wildly excited
crowd, the overflow crowd at the Tabernacle on Temple
Square in Salt Lake City felt as though it were part of
the action.63

Perhaps the greatest,g;g§_p;g in the history of KSL
occurred during the time Earl J. Glade was recreating a
‘world Series baseball game from.telegraph reports for the
‘benefit of the KSL audience. Glade was in the remote

 

62Dunlap, Dunlap's Rgdio & Televisioniglmanac, p. 86.
63Glade, ”Earl Glade Recalls,” pp. 14-15.

96

control studio at the Tribune Building. A technician at
the studios in the Union Pacific Building inadvertently
threw the wrong switch: and the baseball broadcast, instead
of going out over the air, was fed into the public address
system in the Tabernacle on Temple Square where an over-
flow crowd of Mormons was listening to a religious address
by their President, Heber J. Grant. For eight minutes
the Saints were fed a sports spectacular instead of sal-
vation. The mistake was not corrected until Presiding
Bishop (and President of KSL) Sylvester Q. Cannon had run
the entire distance from the Tabernacle to the control
room and informed the technician that ”the heavens were
about to tumble.”64

Earl Glade, unaware of what had been going on,
completed his broadcast and came out onto Main Street,
where dozens of his friends commented on the outstanding
Mormon Conference session they had attended that day.
When he learned what had happened, he was certain that
the heavens, indeed, were about to tumble on his head, but:
”I am sure it was only President Ivins' [a member of the
First Presidency of the Church] fondness for baseball that
saved me from an ignominious firing.”65

Earl J. Glade was an innovator in a new industry

‘which was being built on innovations. Not only did he

~

6422iéo. pp. 16-18.
651bid., p. 13.

97

bring the Mormon and Catholic business interests of Utah
together (the Tribune ownership was Catholic): but when he
had difficulty selling time on KSL, he began buying large
blocks of time himself and reselling it to anyone whom he
could interest in radio. When there was no money for the
Janitor's salary, he would do the Janitorial work himself.
He took his turn as announcer and as technician, and his
wife played the piano on KSL for three years under the
name of Beverly Snow.66 There was no money to hire a
regular pianist.

In purchasing time from.KSL, Glade actually Operated
a company'within a company. He was manager of both com-
panies, kept separate records, and, as time progressed,
maintained separate staffs. On April 11, 1928, he contrac-
ted with KSL for three hours of time, from 8:00 to 11:00
a.m. each morning, for a flat sum of $350 per month, ”the
programs and times not to interfere with regular KSL
station programs.”67

By December of the same year, Glade had purchased from
the station: 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. (morning show), 4:00
jpum. to 5:00 p.m. (children's period), and 5:00 p.m. to

7:00 p.m. (Town Cryer).68 He paid a flat rate for these

‘

66Glade, ”Earl Glade Recalls,” p. 5.

67Minutes of Board of Directors” Meeting, April 11,
1928.

68Ibid., December 4, 1928.

98

time periods and in return could sell them for any price
he could get. In addition, for his work as Manager of KSL,
he received $25.00 a month plus twenty per cent commission
on all KSL sales.

The complicated arrangements between Glade and the
station are vividly portrayed in the minutes of the Board
of Directors' meeting, July 26, 1929:

Under the old arrangement, Mr. Glade used the
hours from eight to ten a.m. for which he paid $14.00
per day or approximately $378.00 per monthf’the‘
Children's Hour from four to five p.m., $5.00 per day
or $150.00 per month, two hours from four to six p.m.,
$15.00 per day or $450.00 per month. . . . Mr. Glade
proposed that he take the Morning Watch period,
three hours, more or less from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.,
less one-half hour for setting-up exercises, -- for
which he would pay $600.00 per month. If the fore-
going arrangement was lsic] adopted it would mean
that Mr. Glade would pay $1200.00 instead of $828.00
for the morning and evening periods.

It was also brought out that the Children's Hour
brings the station $25.00 a week from the resorts in
the summer time and the Pantages Theater in the winter
time, which amount has always been turned over to the
station. Mr. Glade has been receiving the amount of
$160.00 from the Royal Baking Company for this period
and he in turn paid Roscoe Grover's salary of $150.00
per month in addition to paying the station 5.00 for
the use of this period.

The matter of commission to be allowed Mr. Glade
for formal accounts was also discussed and President
Cannon stated that formerly the commission of 15% was
allowed and it was later raised to 20% when it was
found that Mr. Glade could not operate on 15%. No
special arrangements were made at that time on the
National Broadcasts. President Cannon also stated
that the National programs are spontaneous and that
little or no work is required in connection therewith,
and that after discussing this matter with Mr. Glade
that the latter had prOposed a commission of 10% on
these accounts. . . . Mr. Glade stated that as National
accounts increase the amounts due him for commissions
would naturally decrease as this would do away with
considerable time which would otherwise be sold to

99

local accounts. President Cannon stated that work on
the Nationals required approximately one—fourth as much
time as local and there was no selling expense, no
servicing, but that a fair commission should be allowed.69
Several times a Committee was appointed to decide
”whether KSL should take over all of the periods and pay
Mr. Glade a salary, or if they should continue to sell him
the time.”70 Each time the decision was deferred, and he
continued under these same general arrangements for years.
These were the formative years at KSL. Although
the station was never very far from a financial emergency,
the main concern of the early broadcasters was to find
ways to keep the voice of radio alive. They recognized
early that programming was of paramount importance to a
successful operation, and that decisions concerning pro-
gramming had to be made every daya-such as whether or not
the Intermountain audience wanted to listen to programs
originated by the Ku Klux Klan. It was KSL's decision not
to broadcast the Klan's programs.71
The formative years produced their share of com-
plaints leveled against the station's programs and person-
alities. Many of those complaints have a familiar ring
today, for example: ”Announcers put too much personality

into the announcements and consume considerable time in

691bid., July 25, 1929.

7OIbid. See also Minutes of Directors' Meeting,
November 26, 1929, and November 15, 1932.

 

71Ibid., October 14, 1927.

100

unnecessary talk.”72
Slowly a station philosophy of broadcasting began
to emerge. By October, 1927, KSL was able to state:
. . . that the policy of the station is to
encourage broadcasting by anyone at any time pro-
vided it does not encourage racial, religious, or
governmental prejudice, or anything indecent or pro-
fane, and that the station shall not be responsible
for statements made from the station by any individuals,

and that the president shall have the power to accept
or reJect any broadcasts.

As program philosophy developed, the management
also developed the desire to increase the power and range
of the station. On December 15, 1927, the Board of Direc-
tors instructed Earl J. Glade and Sylvester Q. Cannon to
check into the possibility of increasing power from 1,000
to 5,000 watts. A little more than a year later, January
10, 1929, the new 5,000 watt station had its formal open-
ing.

At the same time the new transmitter was being built,
KSL was checking into the possibility of becoming affiliated
‘with a national network. While negotiations in March,
1928, broke down, by July John COpe, after a visit to the
East, was able to report that he ”had a lengthy chat with
.Fu; Payne of the National Broadcasting Company, and was
.1nformed that it will be but a short time until the Nation-

aal Broadcasting Company will have something very interesting

__¥

721bid., February 9, 1927.

'73Ib1d.

101

to offer KSL in the way of a chain tie-up.74

On December 24, 1928, KSL became affiliated with
the National Broadcasting Company: and from that time on,
KSL was one of the basic stations of first, the NBC network,
and later, the CBS chain.

Prior to formal network affiliation, KSL had brought
in by means of privately chartered network facilities many
events of local and national importance: the famous
Washington Birthday address of President Coolidge, by direct
wire from Washington: the Dempsey-Sharkey fight, by direct
wire from New York: the reception to Colonel Charles A.
Lindbergh, by direct wire from Washington: the Tunney-
Dempsey fight, by direct wire from Chicago: the Utah
State University-Hawaii University football game, by radio
from Honolulu: the Moffat Tunnel opening from Denver:
the Elks' Minstrels, by direct wire from Elko, Nevada,and
Idaho Falls, Idaho: the Dodge Brothers programs from New
Orleans, Hollywood, New York, Chicago, and Detroit: the
University of Pittsburgh-Stanford football game from
Pasadena: President Coolidge, by direct wire from Gettys-
burg: the annual Speedway classic by direct wire from
Indianapolis: the Lions Club program from Pittsburgh:

find many other outstanding features.75

‘

74Ibid., July 19, 1923.

75Evans, ”Historical Highlights of Radio Station
KSL: s P0 6-

102

By early 1929, KSL was beginning to feel the con-
fidence that comes from experience and growth. Power had
been increased to 5,000 watts. Network affiliation, with
its accompanying professional programming, was a reality.
A.strong business tie between the Mormon Church and the
Salt Lake Tribune had put the station on a sound financial
footing. Although power, network affiliation, and the
financial situation of the station would all change greatly
in the next few years, KSL was well on its way to becoming

a mature radio voice of the Intermountain West.

CHAPTER VI
THE VOICE MATURES

Salt Lake City Chief of Police Burbidge made a

hurried call to Police Headquarters. He instructed the

dispatcher to send four burly police officers to the KSL
studios in the basement of the Vermont Building. They
arrived a few minutes later, and each of them was armed
With a pitchfork. When they entered the main studio, they
were confronted, not with law breakers, but with a record
breaking mountain of telegrams piled on the studio floor--
42,180 to be exact.1 These telegrams had been received

in response to one twenty-four hour program on K81P‘th.
program which officially dedicated the new 5,000 watt KSL
transmitter, January 10, 1929.2

The pitchfork wielding policemen were needed to
Ihuffle the telegrams for a drawing for a new Ford car.
The winning telegram, which had been selected at random
frOm telegrams received from every state in the Union,

from‘cgnada, Alaska, Hawaii, and from ships at sea,

‘

lGlade, ”Earl Glade Recalls,” po 10.

l 2KSL Program Department Log Book, beginning November
' 1928, p. 144.

103

104

came from Grand Junction, Colorado. The new transmitter,

located eight miles west of downtown Salt Lake City on
Fifth South Street,3 was performing well.

The dedicatory program started at 5:00 p.m., Jan-
uary 10, with the music of Donald Cope and his Salon Group.
This was followed by the Seventy-niners' Old Time Dance
Orchestra in a program of old familiar melodies. After a
”miniature symphony orchestra” presented a program of
excerpts from the classics, Utah Governor George H. Dam
and Salt Lake City Mayor John Bowman extended greetings.

At 9:00 p.m., M. A. Aylesworth, President of the
National Broadcasting Company, sent greetings from

N. B. C. and introduced Harold A. LaFount, U. S. Radio

Commissioner for the Fifth Zone, who spoke for ten

minutes.
At 10:00 o'clock, a special Utah program was aired

from the National Broadcasting Company studios in New
York. It featured Arnold Blackner, Utah Cowboy Tenor.
Programs throughout the night featured Utah talent
Ouch as John Stacey's Concert-Dance Orchestra, the Metro-
POlitan Male Chorus, an accordion trio, the Senator From

Sandpit County, Lowell Berry, Doug Isitt, Bud Averill,

‘nd others.
At 4:00 a.m., a program of selected recordings was

dedicated to listeners on the Atlantic Seaboard.

k

3G1ade, p. 10.

105

An hour later, a program, ”Good Morning to the Middle
West, ” was broadcast. This was followed at 6:00 a.m. with
a program of music and greetings to the Pacific Coast and
Mountain States residents.

For a period of twenty-four hours, listeners were
invited to send telegrams to KSL if they could hear the
station from its new high-powered transmitter. Their
possible reward-«a new Ford car. The results--42,180
telegrams.

But even the gratifying response from the added
coverage area did not satisfy KSL management. A year and
a half later, June 30, 1930, plans were well under way
for increasing power to 10,000 watts.4 When the Federal
Radio Commission informed the station that such a license
might be available, KSL began exploratory talks with
Radio Corporation of America to determine the costs of

C new transmitter.

During the following six weeks, KSL's President,
Sylvester Q. Cannon, visited a number of large stations
in the East and discussed with them the feasibility of
increasing RSL's power, possibly far beyond 10,000 watts.
30 also had numerous meetings with the National Broad-
ch-ting Company, the Federal Radio Commission, and Radio
c°rporation of America. On August 19, 1930, he presented

¥

4 : o
1930. Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting, May 2 ,

 

106

a proposal to the Board that KSL make application for an
increase in power to 50,000 watts. This prOposal was
approved, and Cannon and Glade were instructed to initiate
an application.

After the application was submitted, months dragged
by, but no word was heard from the Commission. A Mr.
Yost, Chief Examiner Of the Federal Radio Commission,
passed through Salt Lake City one day during January,
11931. Earl Glade, hoping to learn more about the status
(of KSL‘s application, met every train which came into the
<:ity that day, but he failed to locate the Examiner.

Another month went by before KSL heard from.Mr.
160st. His recommendation was that KSL apply for 25,000
‘iatts Of power. He gave the station twenty days in which
it might file any protests or Objections to his recom-
lnendations. The station immediately reconfirmed with

the Commission its desire to operate with 50 kilowatts

or power.5

A Construction Permit was finally granted the station
late in the year. The frequency, operating power, and
hours of Operation were listed as follows:

(a) Frequency . . . 1130 . . . kilocycles.

(b) Power (1) Night . . . 25 kilowatts, with an
additional 25 kilowatts on experimental basis.

(C) (2) Day . . . 25 kilowatts, with an
additional 25 kilowatts on experimental basis.

(d) Hours of Operation: Unlimited.6

I

5;b;d., March 3, 1931.
51bid., December 15, 1931.

107

By the time the Construction Permit was granted,
radio business in Salt Lake City was feeling the effects
of the depression. Money was tight, and KSL owners were
not at all sure that an additional $100,000-plus invest;-
ment in radio was economically sound. They wired Senator
Smoot requesting that he call upon the Radio Commission
and endeavor to secure a delay for one year.

On February 3, 1932, Senator Smoot wrote KSL that
he was of the opinion that the Commission would grant the
extension, but that he questioned the advisability of the
station's going on high power because “of the company's
financial inability to make it profitable.”

A few days later KSL received the following tele-
gram from Federal Radio Commissioner Harold A. Lal'ount;

At very urgent request and through good offices
of Senator Smoot Radio Commission today approved
present transmitter location for 50 KW installation.
Commission cannot grant extension of one year or
give definite assurance of favorable consideration
of any further applications for 50 KW power. . . . 8

A special meeting of the Board of Directors was
called, and costs of building and operating the proposed
new transmitter were reviewed. Earl Glade assured the

Board that the new station would bring in ”at least $500. 00

96:: day after deducting the talent charges. "9 Before the

k

 

71bid., February 11, 1931.
91b1d.
91bid., February 12, 1931.

108

meeting was over, the President and the Manager were
authorized to begin negotiations for a new transmitter
and to submit all necessary information to the Federal
Radio Commission.

At 9:00 p.m., Saturday, October 22, 1932, KSL's
new 50, 000 watt Western Electric transmitter officially
began broadcasting. The formal opening program, which
continued uninterrupted until 12:00 o'clock midnight the
following day,10 began at the transmitter studios at
8altair, Utah, with greetings from Earl J. Glade, Managing
1Director, and Eugene G. Pack, Chief Engineer. Pack had
direct supervision of construction and installation of the
new plant.“-

At 9:15 p.m., the program switched to the new KSL-
I'k>tel Utah studios, where “an impressive assemblage of
“rtists, public officials and other guests [told] the
Story of the greatest event in Western radio history,
°Ver a coast-to-coast Columbia Network. [The station
had changed from NBC to CBS the previous month.:|“12 A
I‘umber of the Columbia Broadcasting System personalities
cEms to Salt Lake City for the dedicatory programs.
Many more made reference to the new KSL facility on their

regularly scheduled programs during the two days of

\—

+— W

1°K3L news, x1, No. 3, p. 1.
11Ibid.
121b1d.

109

dedication.
Scores of Salt Lake City and Utah talent participated

in the event, including: Wi1liam Hardiman, violinist and
conductor: Virginia Breeze Barker, soprano: Annette
Richardson Dinwoodey, contralto; Richard Conde, tenor:
the King Sisters Trio: the McCune Symphony Orchestra,
directed by Frank W. Aspery Edward P. Kimball, Tabernacle
Organist; actress Louise Hill Howe and actor Joe Kearns:
“try Clark, baritone and organist: the Orpheus Male
Chorus, directed by Albert Southwicky and the Mormon

Tabernacle Choir.
An October 22, 1932, K§L News editorial, reflecting
on the station's recent accomplishments, stated with per-

haps pardonable pride 3

During the worst business depression of the
Twentieth Century, KSL has made its greatest pro-
91:688.
During the period of least business activity
in a generation, KSL has made the largest expenditure

in its history.

During a time when retrenchment was the general
policy, KSL has erected one of the most powerful and
most modern-~one of the greatest transmitters in all
America-~one that more than holds its own by compar-
ison with any transmitter, anywhere in any country.

During a time when men everywhere were being
laid off, KSL has held its entire staff intact, withp
out a single cut in salary, and has given employment
directly to scores and indirectly to thousands.

During a time when financial pressure forced
many similar institutions to resort to practices
that were ordinarily distasteful to them, KSL has
continually advanced its standards.13

KSL's dreams of dominant power did not end with the

lawlbid. 1 p0 2.

110

installation of the 50,000 watt transmitter. Although
50,000 watts was the maximum power allowed by law, the
Federal Communication Commission hinted that super-power
construction permits may be granted and that applications
would be considered.

On September 28, 1936, KSL applied for a permit to
construct a 500,000 watt transmitter. After many delays,
the time of the hearings on KSL's application was set for
May 16, 1938. Eugene Pack attended those meetings and
r‘POrted that the sentiment at the Commission was opposed
“5 the granting of increased wattage to high power sta-
tions, but that "during the hearings KSL secured con-
‘1derable mention and it was of a favorable nature. ”14

Three years later, in march, 1941, KSL petitioned
th. Commission for a review of its original 500, 000 watt
‘Pfilication. Ivor Sharp, the then Manager of Operations,
V‘nt to Washington to file the petition and reported that
"it: appeared to be an opportune time for such a filing."15

However, with the advent of war, rather than allowing

increased power, the Federal Communications Commission
°Il':c’iered a reduction in power of one decibel by all radio

stations in the country. This meant that KSL's power was

\

19 14Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, May 15:
38.

15;b1d., April 30, 1941.

111

reduced from so, 000 watts to approximately 39,000 watts.16
This reduction remained in effect until September 1, 1945,
for daytime operation and October 1, 1945, for nighttime
operation, at which times KSL returned to its full 50,000
watts of power.

Activity relative to increasing power to 500,000
watts has been going on intermittently to the present
time, but as yet no final action has been taken by the
Federal Communications Commission on KSL's application.

At the same time that KSL was working for maximum
power in order to serve the audience in its coverage area
more effectively, it also had a nearly constant problem
of defending its use of a clear channel--a frequency
used by no other station in the country. In February,
1930, KSL had accepted a change in frequency in order to
get a clear channel.

A year and a half later, clear channel probleme
began to arise. WJJD, Chicago, had been given approval
by the Commission to use KSL's frequency during certain
hours in the summer months. The Chicago station wanted
more time on the air, and thus applied to the Commission
for permission to extend its hours of operation. KSL

protested this move.

 

16Federal Communications Commission order No. 107,
Mimeograph 64345, Changes in Method or Methods of Deter-
mining Certain Operating;Constants of Standard Broadcast
Stations, November 6, 1942.

112

In the Fall of 1931, KSL received a letter from
‘WJJD in which a request was made for permission to oper-
ate on the same wave length as KSL each day until one hour
after sundown, Salt Lake City time.

After numerous negotiations, KSL received the follow-
ing letter, dated November 30, 1931, fromfiWJJD:

In accordance with our verbal understanding,
we desire to state that upon your advising the
Federal Radio Commission that you do not object to
the use of the frequency of 1130 kilocycles by our
station until 8:30 p.m. Central Standard Time, we
agree that we will not request any extension of time
after 8:30 p.m. Central Standard Time, and that we
will begin to reduce the power of our station each
evening at 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, until
there is a total reduction by 8:00 p.m. of 50%.or
10,000 watts, and that we will operate on that re-
duced power until 8:30 p.m. Central Standard Time
when we will sign off.

We will also cooperate fully with you and
support you in protecting the frequency of the 1130
kilocycles enjoyed by your and our station from
encroachment by other stations, either in the United
States or elsewhere, with the understanding that no
expense shall be incurred either directly or in-
directly without our approval.

Further, we agree to permit you to broadcast
for a period of ten minutes each day at a time to
be agreed upon, either for yourself or others, with
the understanding that we shall furnish an announcer
for the period and that you will provide the program
either directly or indirectly. This arrangement
shall continue as long as the understanding above
specified is in force.17

KSL sent the following reply to WJJD and forwarded
a copy of both letters to the Federal Radio Commission:

As per our verbal understanding on conditions
that you will make no further requests for Operating

17Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, December
15, 1931.

113

your station after 8:30 p.m. Central Standard Time:
that you will arrange to reduce the power of your
station each evening beginning at 7:00 p.m., and
obtain a total reduction of 50%, or 10,000 watts,
within one hour thereafter, or by 8:00 p.m., and
continue to operate at that power until 8:30 p.m.
when you will sign off, we agree that we will advise
the Federal Radio Commission that we hereby consent
to your continuing to broadcast until 8:30 p.m.
Central Standard Time.18
In the Fall of 1932, Earl Glade was informed that
‘WJJD was broadcasting until 9:15 p.m., and he notified
the Radio Commission with a request that they look into
the matter. The result from this action was a new agree-
ment between the two stations, in much greater detail
than the first--the 8:30 time became current Chicago
time instead of Central Standard Time, the period of time
on WJUD which had been made available to KSL was lengthened
to fifteen minutes and specified to be used between 7:45
p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and WJUD was to reduce power to 5,000
watts immediately at sunset Salt Lake City time.19
Sylvester Q. Cannon and Earl J. Glade visited the
Federal Communications Commission in late 1934 to discuss
other stations' requests to use KSL's clear channel. At
that time they served notice on the Commission that all
agreements with.WJJD were withdrawn.20

On December 28, 1934, KSL received a special request

 

Y_. a

181bid.
19Ibig., October 17, 1933.
29;2;§., December 18, 1934.

114

from the Columbia Broadcasting System to permit stations
WOV and WNYC, New Ybrk City, to share 1,000 watts of power
day and night on KSL's frequency. KSL agreed to the
request:

. . . as special consideration to the Columbia
Broadcasting System and with the provision and stipu-
lation that the proposed hearing about February 4th
of Station WOV and Station WJJD should become un-
necessary as far as Station WOV is concerned, and
with the understanding also that the Columbia Broad-
casting System will do everything possible to block
the application of Station WJJD for license to use
evening hours on KSL's frequency.21

In 1941, station‘WlAT, Philadelphia, made applica-
tion to the Federal Communications Commission for authority
to share KSL's frequency for both day and night operation.
WJJD's application was still pending before the Commission.

V By the end of the year 1943, the WJJD application
had been dismissed by the Commission: but a station in'
cuba, CMJK, had been authorized by the cuban government
to operate on KSL's frequency, contrary to the terms of
the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement. KSL
lodged a protest against the Cuban license with the
Federal Communications Commission and the State Department.

Because of pressure by other radio interests to
secure permflssion to use clear channel frequencies which
were already assigned, the Federal Communications Com-
mission scheduled clear channel hearings on May 9, 1945.

These hearings were delayed, however, until early 1946.

 

w
' vw ~— __,_

21Ibid., January 15, 1935.

115

One of the major orders of business was a review of the
programs provided by clear channel stations. KSL appeared
before the Commission May 7, 1946, and “so impressed those
of the Commission and others who sat in Hearing, that KSL
was commended highly for its record of performance and
its sound policies."22

Interpreting the results of the Hearing to KSL's
ownership, RalthW. Hardy, one of the station's represen-
tatives at the Hearing, stated:

Based on the merits of the case, and also the
presentations made to date before the Federal Commun-
ications Commission, it seems clear that if the
facilities of any clear channel station were to be
increased as a result of the Hearing, KSL should be
one of the stations selected.23

KSL presented its own case before the Commission.
It did not.want to Join with the other clear channel
stations because its management believed that the problem
of reaching the widely scattered audiences in the Inter-
mountain‘West.was different from.the problems of the other
clear channel operations.

That KSL's position was presented effectively is
evidenced by an excerpt from a Brief filed January 12,
1948, on behalf of the Regional Broadcasters Committee,

the spearhead of the opposition to clear channel

 

W _,‘ v—- vvvw yv Yv—r' ‘r Y *7 11— ,7 ~—yv Viv f *7. v— —_‘_

22Federal Communications Commission, Clea; Channel
Dock t No 74 o nta idence Station KS ,
may , 1946, p. 1.

23Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, May 27,
1946.

 

116

broadcasting:
These facts, without anything more, show that

the western part of the United States has been en-
tirely overlooked in the equitable distribution of
clear channel frequencies. It is obvious that clear
channel stations distributed as indicated are alloca-
ted in such a manner that they are precluded from
furnishing residents of Western states with programs
to meet their local needs.

This statement from the opposition strengthened
KSL's position concerning the need for clear channel
broadcasting in the Intermountain West. Although the
number of clear channel stations in America has been
reduced to less than half the number operating at the
time of the hearings, KSL remains the 50,000 watt clear
channel voice of Intermountain America.

As early as 1929, after KSL began broadcasting with
increased power and over a clear channel, the station
began questioning its contractual arrangements with the
National BroadcastingCompany. The Network's charges for
sustaining programs was one of the first problems which
caused friction between the Network and some of its
affiliated stations. KSL joined with affiliates on the
West Coast to negotiate for more favorable sustaining
programcharges.25

Another problem which concerned KSL was the low

 

24Regional Broadcasters Committee Brief, filed with
the Federal Communications Commission, January 12, 1948.

Excerpts reprinted in KSL Stockholders' Meeting Minutes,
January 27, 1948.

25Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, November
26, 1929.

117

rates paid by NBC for network commercial programs being
released on KSL. Station Manager, Earl Glade, reported

in March, 1931, that unless a satisfactory change could be
made, the company would receive less for the time turned
over to the National Broadcasting Company than if it were
sold locally. NBC assured the station that a survey was
being made and that a new rate schedule was forthcoming.

Later the same year, dissatisfaction was voiced by
KSL because of the time lost to local sponsorship due to
the Network's fifteen minute requirement for switching
from a program from the East to one from the West.

‘When KSL was negotiating for its 50,000 watt trans-
mitter in 1932, the National Broadcasting Company urged
the station to use RCA.equipment and promised a satis-
factory adjustment of rates for 50,000 watts of power.
But when KSL asked NBC to spell out its “satisfactory
adjustment,“ NBC would make no specific commitment.26

A month later, the President and the General Man-
ager of KSL went to New York to attempt to get a commit-
ment from NBC: and failing that, to check the possibilities
and advantages of affiliating with the Columbia Broadcasting
System.

In New Yerk, Cannon and Glade visited the National
Broadcasting Company Station Relations Representative

to find out, if possible, why the Network offered

261bid., May 17, 1932.

118

'high-power stations the same rate as lowbpower stations.“27
They were told that there were so many factors to take

into account that NBC had decided to make no variance in

the rates because of station power.

At the same time, NBC had requested an increase in
rates for network sustaining programs used by KSL from
$1,300.00 to $1,500.00 a month.

KSL then met withflWilliam.S. Paley, President of
the Columbia Broadcasting System, and with his Vice Pres-
ident in charge of Station Relations. A prOposed con-
tract was submitted by CBS which would about double the
rates being paid KSL by NBC, and which would permit KSL
the free use of all CBS sustaining programs. Although
there was some question as to the extent of CBS commercial
programs‘which would be available to KSL, the station,
after further meetings with NBC and CBS, decided to cast
its lot with CBS. On September 1, 1932, KSL changed its
affiliation to the Columbia Broadcasting System and, by so
doing, became the only high powered CBS outlet in the
eleven western states.28

I KSL Joined the National Association of Broadcasters
in mid-1931.

As KSL developed into a major advertising medium,

27Ibid., July 12, 1932.

28Evans, Historical Highlights of Radio Station
58...!!! P- 6-

119

and as the depression made the competition for the adver-
tising dollar keener, the three daily newspapers in Salt
Lake City discontinued entirely the listing of daily radio
programs. This continued for a period of two and a half
years, from April 19, 1932 until November 10, 1934.

Immediately after the newspapers refused their list-
ings, KSL began printing weekly program schedules on small
folders which were distributed locally through various
department stores and other agencies. Interested persons
who were willing to pay postage costs could get a schedule
mailed to them.

The attitudes at the newspapers seemed strange to
KSL, especially since the Tribune-Telegram interests also
owned a substantial interest in KSL, and since the Deseret
‘gggg ownership also owned controlling interest in the
station.

No real progress was made in overcoming the problem
until September, 1934, when negotiations to get radio
schedules back in the newspapers began to bear fruit.

The newspapers were agreeable to accepting the listings,
but in return they asked for fifteen minutes of time daily
from each Salt Lake City station for news and feature
releases from each newspaper. KSL was willing to accept
such an arrangement, but the other Salt Lake City radio
station, KDYL, held out, stating that five minutes daily

to each of the newspapers was all that the station would

120

give.29

On November 10, 1934, agreements were made with
each of the newspapers to have KSL program schedules pub-
lished. In return, KSL made fifteen minutes a day avail-
able to each newspaper and guaranteed that schedules
would be printed in no other publication in the Salt Lake
valley. KSL further agreed that when special programs
were developed by the station or the Columbia Broadcast-
ing System, “exclusive sponsorship shall be given to the
Salt Lake Tribune whenever and wherever feasible."30

A month after the newspapers began publishing the
listings, Jehn Fitzpatrick, Secretary of the Salt Lake
Tribune Publishing Company, and Vice President of Radio
Service Corporation of Utah (KSL), stated that the S315
Lake Tribune had received many favorable comments on the
radio station program schedules appearing in the Tribune
columns.31

During the 1930's and the early 1940's, KSL became

one of the key stations in radio's fight to loosen the

hold on broadcasting by the American Society of Composers,

b

29Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, September
18, 1934.

3°Agreement between Salt Lake Tribune Publishing
Company and Radio Service Corporation of Utah, dated
November 10, 1934. This agreement was made part of the
Fiinutes of the KSL Board of Directors' Meeting, November
20, 1934.

31Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, January
15. 1935.

121

Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

In 1932, the Society was making demands upon radio
stations for a fixed minimum.charge each month, together
with a percentage of earnings regardless of whether or
not music of the Society was used. The charge was ten
cents per radio set in the primary coverage area of the
station, plus three per cent of the net receipts of each
station. The yearly charge to KSL would have been about
five-thousand dollars plus three per cent of net receipts.

When it became apparent that a contract would have
to be signed with the Society, KSL negotiated for a
$3,500.00 settlement in lieu of the fixed minimum.

By December, 1934, two other music societies had
entered the picture: one, the Society of European Stage
Authors and Composers (SESAC): and the other, the Assoc-
iation of Music Publishers (AMP): both of which were
making demands simdlar to ASCAP. KSL management issued
instructions not to use any music under the control of
these two organizations. Manager Glade endeavored to
secure a list of music from.SESAC and AMP, but each
refused to provide a list, stating that it.was KSL's
3business to determine this before music was used.32

Earl J. Glade attended a meeting of the National

lassociation of Broadcasters in mid-1935, at which time

tihe NAB attitude was that the best method of settling the

h

321b;d., December 18, 1934.

122

differences between the radio stations and ASCAP was for
Congress to fix definitely the powers of the Society.

On January 12, 1936, KSL received a telegram from
ASCAP to the effect that unless the station signed a
contract by January 16, covering a period of five years,
the Society would bring action against Radio Service
Corporation of Utah on each count for each number under
the control of the Society which was sung or played over
the air. KSL signed the contract under protest.

In 1939, KSL Joined a new organization, Broadcast
Music, Incorporated, which was being formed by various
stations of the CBS Network to offset ASCAP, “whose de-
mands in the way of fixed fees and royalties were be-
coming exorbitant.“33

KSL's contract with ASCAP was expiring at the end
of 1940, and word reached KSL that the Society was plan-
ning to double its charges for music when new contracts
were being negotiated.

Plans by Broadcast Music, Incorporated (BMI) were
to collect $1,600,000.00 from supporting stations and
the CBS Network, the Network to pay $400,000.00 of that
<amount. KSL‘s initial obligation was for $10,600.00.

It was the plan of Broadcast Music, Incorporated
'to purchase some publishing houses and to encourage

<:omposers to sell their work to BMI. The new music

_k

33Ib;d., November 28, 1939.

123

licensing company would also encourage new music to be
written by new composers. It was hoped that BMI would
have sufficient music “to care for all demands, as of
January 1, 1941."34 By the fall of 1940, BMI'S catalogs
already contained 250,000 to 300,000 titles.35

In February, 1941, KSL endorsed a guarantee of payb
ment to the Edward B. Marks Music Corporation in the
maximum amount of $10,000.00. BMI was the Joint signer
on the note, which was partial payment for the Marks Music
catalog.

During the early summer of 1941, KSL sent letters
to a number of independent stations affiliated with the
Columbia Broadcasting System urging them to refrain from
making contracts with.ASCAP. These stations had invested
funds in BMI for the purpose of making it a permanent
music licensing organization. KSL's Board of Directors
went on record to state:

Inasmuch as the broadcasting industry has
succeeded very well with only BMI since January 1,
1941, that there was no sound reason whatsoever for
the broadggsting industry to play back into the hands
of ASCAP.

Within two months, the National Broadcasting Com—

pany and ASCAP had reached an agreement which meant return

of ASCAP music to that network. The CBS return to ASCAP

 

342219., October 18, 1940.
351b1d.

36Ibid., July 14, 1941.

124

appeared imminent.

When CBS signed a contract with.ASCAP, this left
KSL little or no choice but to sign an agreement with
the network for ASCAP music appearing on network programs
and broadcast by KSL: because, under the new contracts,
ASCAP music would be appearing throughout a large portion
of the network's programs, and failure by KSL to come to
an agreement would have meant virtual elimination of
network programs on KSL. Thus, KSL signed an‘ASCAP agree-
ment with CBS. The agreement called for KSL to return
to CBS 2 3/4 per cent of the revenue paid the station by
the network.

It‘was clear that ASCAP was solidly back on the air,
but KSL did what it could to show its displeasure with
ASCAP arrangements, especially with the blanket license
provision. The station signed an eight-year contract
with Broadcast Music, Incorporated, then reluctantly
agreed to an ASCAP contract for its non-network programs,
but only on a “per program" basis.

During the time that KSL was being faced with such
problems as music license fees and clear channel en-
croachment, it was develOping a dual desire to stay abreast
of electronic developments and to expand its communica-
tions holdings. To accomplish these two objectives, KSL
took a four-pronged approach to broadcasting: (1) continued

emphasis on improving its amplitude modulation (AM)

125

operations: (2) addition of a frequency modulation (FM)
facility; (3) analysis of the potential of television (TV):
and (4) acquisition of additional broadcasting facilities.

An application for a frequency modulation station
was submitted to the Federal Communications Commission
August 1, 1940.

A tentative site for the transmitter was selected
on tap of one of the hills near the mausoleum. .After
further study, however, it was decided to locate the
transmitter and studios at the Union Pacific Building.
This would make for more efficient Operation, because
KSL engineers could then also operate the FM facility.

‘With the advent of World War II, plans for FM
development lay generally dormant. But in September,
1945, KSL filed an amendment to its FM Construction Per-
mit, requesting a change from.l,000 watts to 3,000 watts
and a move to a site near Bingham.for the transmitter.

An appropriation of $10,000.00 was made for field intensity
measurements of the KSLnFM signal. At the time, little

was known of the characteristics of the FM signal within
mountainous regions.

FM develOpment at KSL was slow, but “the first FM
station in Utah"37 began operation from the roof of the

union Pacific Building on December 26, 1946. There was

 

37"Report to Stockholders,“ attached to Minutes of
KSL Stockholders' Meeting, January 28, 1947.

126

little fanfare attached to the formal opening of KSLPFM.

Two commercial clients had purchased time on KSLPFM
by March 10, 1947. Several reasons were given to explain
why FM, locally and nationally, had not develOped as
rapidly as had been anticipated: few FM receiving sets had
been distributed, prices were high, and a large percentage
of sets had been defective. FM.broadcasting had not
proved as pOpular as had been expected since most FM
stations had merely duplicated their AM service (KSL was
one of the few early stations which did program its AM
and FM facilities differently).

In an attempt to make KSL-FM more attractive as an
advertising medium, plans were made to provide a new
antenna which would improve the effectiveness of the
signal. Further plans called for increasing the hours of
operation to nine hours a dayb-noon to 9:00 p.m., and to
study the feasibility of locating the transmitter on a
mountain tOp west of Salt Lake City.

.At the beginning of the year 1947, it was estimated
that there would be five thousand or more FM receiving
sets in the Salt Lake valley‘by mid-year. This estimate,
however, proved to be optimistic--there were less than that
number by the beginning of the year 1948.38

Disappointing as the financial returns from.FM.were

 

38Annual Report to Stockholders, Radio Service
Corporation of Utah, 1947, attached to Minutes of the
Stockholders' Meeting, January 27, 1948.

127

during the early years of operations, station management
maintained that KSL had gained prestige as a result of
its leadership in pioneering FM operations in Utah, and
had gained many friends, particularly among those who
had become critical of AM radio programs.

Combining with the internal problems confronting
FM.in its struggle to find a place in the commercial
broadcasting world was an external force which was doing
its best to occupy the full time and energy of broad-
casters-~television.

As early as 1934, KSL's Vice President, John
Fitzpatrick had discussed television's potential with
Columbia Broadcasting System executives.

The following year, KSL President, Sylvester Q.
Cannon, encouraged management to ”keep in touch with this
phase of radio work in order that we may be prepared to
move along with it from.the very beginning."39

In the summer of 1936, the station received a letter
from Philo Farnsworth regarding the outlook for television.
In his letter, Farnsworth suggested that it was a good
time in which to make a study of television's possibilities
and perhaps “make a set-up for experimental purposes.'4°

While KSL's President wrote Farnsworth asking for

further detailed information regarding the matter, no

 

39Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, June 18,1935.

4°Ibid., August 17, 1936.

128

further action was taken.

As was the case witthM development, World War II
curtailed television's progress. When the war came to a
close, however, broadcasters once again could start to
dream of greater mass media miracles. But some of the
vision, the innovation of pre-war KSL seemed to be lack-
ing, as evidenced by the expression, as late as 1945, of
such attitudes as:

In respect to television . . . operations re-
quire such a‘tremendous amount of operating equipment
and personnel, there appears to be a long way to go
before television broadcasting will emerge from the
gresent experimental4fasis to one based on practical

usiness procedures.

But television could not be ignored. Its potential
for disseminating entertainment, news, and education was
catching the imagination of promoters and preachers,
hucksters and housewives. KSL applied to the Federal
Communications Commission for a license to Operate a
television station on May 26, 1948. The FCC granted a
Television Construction Permit to KSL on July 29th of
that year. Radio Station KALL, Salt Lake City, filed a
protest, which was denied by the FCC October let. The
FCC then instructed KSL to begin construction not later
than March 22, 1949.

General Manager C. Richard Evans made a trip to
New York City and Washington; and before he returned,

he had television network contracts from the American

 

411bld., March 26, 1945.

129

Broadcasting Company, the Columbia Broadcasting System,
and the DuMont Television Network. as held a number of
meetings with advertising agencies, several of these
agencies showing great interest in television as a poten-
tially powerful advertising medium. KSL's National Rep-
resentative, Radio Sales, said that many national accounts
would buy time on KSL-TV as soon as it started operation,
including Bulova, Chesterfield, Phillip Morris, American
Tobacco, BVD, Benrus Watch, swank Jewelry, Whitman
Chocolates, and Polaroid.

Following his return to Salt Lake City, Evans
presented three alternatives to KSL ownership on February
14, 1949: (1) to proceed according to the issued con-
struction permit: (2) to delay construction, which might
involve KSL in the Salt Lake City hearing and possibly
mean the loss of the construction permit: and (3) to file
an amendment to the application for the construction
permit, asking for a new corporation to handle television,
or for a change in location, or both. This would delay any
FCC action for permission to operate until all other Salt
Lake City competing stations had been through the “tele-
vision freeze“ and subsequent hearings. The danger was
that KSL might lose its VHF (very high frequency) channel
and end up with a UHF (ultra high frequency) channel,
which could not be received on the television sets then

available.

130

If KSL had been slow in recognizing the powerful
potential of television, that was a thing of the past
now. The TV'bug had bitten the radio broadcaster. Less
than four months from the time Evans presented the three
alternatives to the station's ownership, KSL-Television
was on the air (June 1, 1949).

But television and frequency modulation were not
the only areas into which KSL was interested in expanding.
Together with its majority stockholder, the Mormon Church,
it was contemplating the acquisition of an international
short wave station as early as September, 1936.

In 1939, Company President, J. Reuben Clark, Jr.,
went to Chicago to discuss with the Chicago Federation
of Labor the transfer of a short wave frequency to KSL.
However, he discovered that the Federal Communications
Commission had not issued a license to the Chicago Fed-
eration of Labor: and that, consequently, they had nothing
to transfer to KSL.

Later that year, KSL studied the feasibility and
desirability of participating in the establishment of
a 100 watt station in Murray, Utah. It also analyzed
the potential value of organizing a radio network, in-
cluding stations in Utah, and parts of Idaho and Wyomdng:
and of organizing a corporation to supply sustaining and
commercial programs to the proposed network.

In January, 1940, the Federal Communications Commission

131

dismissed KSL's application for a short wave station with-
out prejudice.

KBL purchased the controlling interest in the South-
ern Utah Broadcasting Company (KSUB, Cedar City); in April,
1944. CBS service was instituted at that station on a
bonus basis November 1, 1944.

The following year, KSUB studios were moved to the
Escalante Hotel in Cedar City, technical equipment was
updated, and the transmitter building was painted: and
on July 1, Roscoe Grover assumed the position of Manager.
The same year, an application was made to increase power
to 1,000 watts and to change frequency to 590 kilocycles.

From a financial point of view the acquisition of
KSUB was less than satisfactory. Cedar City and the
surrounding communities have small pOpulations, and the
entire coverage area of the station is sparsely settled.
However, under the guidance of KSL, the KSUB radio program
service for Southern Utah was greatly improved.

In addition to expanding southward, KSL began look-
ing toward Idaho for broadcast properties. The Idaho
Radio Corporation was organized December 28, 1944, and
KSL subscribed to 25 per cent of its capital stock. .At
the same time, an application for a 250 watt station in
Idaho Falls was filed with the Federal Communications
Commission.

Two months later, the owners of station KID, Idaho

132

Falls, approached the Idaho Radio Corporation with an
offer to sell their interests in their station for
$108,000.00 This offer was accepted, and the transfer
was approved by the Federal Communications Commission in
November, 1945.

KSL has since sold its interests in KSUB, Cedar
City: but today it still retains all or part ownership
in television and radio properties in Salt Lake City,
Utah: Idaho Falls and Boise, Idaho: and Seattle, Washington:
in addition to an international short wave facility in New
York City. Negotiations are currently underway for several
other properties across the country and throughout the

world.

CHAPTER VII
THE VOICE OF MUSIC AND THE SPOKEN WORD

Before the H-Bomb, before the atomic age,
before World War II, before “the long Presidency,"
before Hitler, before the Japanese seized Manchuria,
before the Great Depression, and even before the Wall
Street crash, long, long ago on July 15, 1929, a
great 375-voice choir began broadcasting coast-to-
coast from the Salt Lake City Tabernacle. Every Sun-
day morning in the intervening years, winter and
summer, war or peace, rain or shine, it has broadcast
its half hour of hymns old and new, of Bach and Handel
and of all the sweet and stately and spine-tingling
sounds from the whole library of Christendom's sacred
music. Behind the 375 voices swells an organ of
10,000 pipes.

The history of KSL's weekly broadcasts of the music
of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir began on Monday after-
noon at 3 o'clock, July 15, 1929. Edward B. (Ted)
Kimball climbed high on a ladder to a micrOphone above
the Tabernacle's pulpit to make the first announcement
and to introduce the program over the 30-station National
Broadcasting Company radio network.2 Earl J. Glade, KSL
General Manager, and creator of the idea of the Choir
network broadcasts, waited nervously on the sidelines,

hoping that the “pick-up" would be excellent and that

 

1Life Magazine, editorial, July 26, 1954, p. 20.

2Deseret News, Church Section, July 18, 1964, p. 8.

133

134

the Network's audience would be vocal in asking for more
Choir broadcasts.

In one sense, this first broadcast was nearly one
hundred years in preparation. The Mormon Trek from
Illinois to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847
was interspersed with the songs of the Saints. One of
these songs still holds an important place in the reper-
toire of the Tabernacle Choir:

Come, come ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear,

But with Joy wend your way.

Though hard to you this Journey may appear

Grace shall be as your day.

Less than a month after the Mormons reached the
Salt Lake Valley,their “tabernacle" was an improvised
bowery on what is now Temple Square.4 The Bowery was made
of adobe blocks and poles supporting a roof of branches
and leaves. In the Bowery,a space was set aside for a
choir.5

The Choir's first regular director was John Perry,
an Englishman who came to Utah in 1849.

In 1852, the Choir was housed in an adobe building--

 

3Church of Jesus Christ of Lattereday Saints Hymnal,
p. 13. '

4Facts about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, mimeo-
graphed brochure prepared by the Information Service of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt
Lake City, Utah, undated. P. l.

5The Salt Lake Mormon Tabernacle Choir, printed
brochure prepared by the Information Service of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah,
undated, p. 3.

135

the “Old Tabernacle.“ Another Englishman, Joseph Ridges,
built a pipe organ in Australia, got it aboard a char-
tered emigrant ship to America, and had it pulled by a
span of twelve mules from San Pedro, California, to Salt
Lake City.

Sixteen years after the first meeting in the Bowery,
the Mormons began building their permanent Tabernacle.

It was completed in 1867, is 250 feet long, and 150 feet
wide. Its roof rises eighty feet. The ceiling, a ten-
foot thick shell, is a latticework of timbers which are
still held together with wooden dowel pins and rawhide.
It seats approximately 8,000 peOple.

The auditorium's acoustics is so sensitive that
a pin dropped in one end can be heard in the other end
250 feet away.

A new organ, built largely of yellow pine hauled
by ox team from southwestern Utah 300 miles away, was
installed in the new structure. Other essential materials
came from the East. Parts of this organ are still in use
today. Here, in a new building,with a new organ, the
Choir poured forth the sacred songs of Christendom.

The reputation of the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir
grew rapidly. First, it began holding concerts in many
cities of Utah. Then, in 1893, it was invited to compete
in the choral contest at the Columbian Exposition in

Chicago, winning second prize and $1,000.00.

136

A tour to California followed. Next the Choir
was invited to sing at Madison Square Garden in New York
City. Its sponsor was the American Land and Irrigation
Exposition. Before it returned from this tour, it had
performed fifty concerts, including a command performance
before President and Mrs. William Howard Taft at the
White House.

The Choir appeared,by invitation.at the Century of
Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1924, and at the Cali-
fornia-Pacific International Exposition in San Diego,
California, the following year. It has sung with the
Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Leopold
Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy: and with the New York
Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. It has
sung in Great Britain, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Switzer-
land, and France, and in the Far East.

In Carnegie Hall, in the fall of 1958, the Choir
presented The Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
One Ngw;¥9£k Times reviewer asked, “Where on earth do the
Mormons find so many admirable voices?"6

The answer to that query is that Choir members come
literally from all walks of life. .Architects, attorneys,
and an agricultural statistician sing in the Choir. There
are bankers, beauticians, and business men. College pro-

fessors, carpenters, chemists, contractors: and

 

6Facts about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, p. 5.

137

chiropractors make the twice-weekly rehearsals. Doctors,
a dentist, and a dairyman add their special talents. Two
electrical linemen participate in the singing. Nearly
thirty per cent of the Choir members are homemakers.
Another thirteen per cent are school teachers. A lady
realtor sings soprano. A missile engineer is part of the
tenor section. A baritone sells autos six days a week.
And his friend who sings bass is an experienced welder.
One family boasts a tenor-alto-soprano trio. A carload
of Choir members travels over 10,000 miles a year Just
to attend the rehearsals.

Many peOple in many lands have heard and seen the
Choir in person. But many millions more have made a
tradition of listening to “Music and the Spoken.Word'
broadcast by KSL over the facilities of first, the
National Broadcasting Company, and for the past thirtyb
five years, over the Columbia Broadcasting System Network.

Earl J. Glade picked a good time to prOpose a series
of network Choir broadcasts to the National Broadcasting
Company. In 1929,the radio broadcasting industry was
becoming public-service conscious. Just the year before,
Walter Damrosch had pioneered the work in school music
with a series of symphony concerts nationally broadcast.
And “coincidental with Mr. Glade's visit to New York was
the appointment of a commission by the Secretary of

the Interior to study the educational possibilities

138

of radio."7

Negotiations were soon completed with NBC, and Earl
Glade hurried home to make final preparations for the
first broadcast.

For the first few minutes of the initial program
everything went well. Reception was described as “perfect“
by Eastern representatives of NBC.8 Then shortly after
the first organ selection, an annoying line hum became
so bad that a number of Eastern stations were obliged to
cut away from the network and fill with local programming.
However, by the time of the second scheduled broadcast a
week later, the technical difficulties had been corrected;
and many favorable comments concerning the broadcast were
received.

When KSL changed its affiliation from.NBC to CBS in
1932, the National Broadcasting Company attempted to
persuade the station to leave the Choir broadcasts on
NBC. But KSL management had decided to make a complete
changeover to CBS. Less than a week after the last NBC
program was broadcast, the first of the Sunday morning
broadcasts was aired by CBS. With the move to CBS,the
format was changed to include musical selections by the

Choir and short inspirational messages prepared by the

 

7.— fl

7WilliamMulder, “Music and the Spoken Word from
Temple Square,” Era, Vol. 42, No. 7, July, 1939, p. 440.

albid.

139

announcer,Richard L. Evans (not to be confused with
C. Richard Evans, engineer and later General Manager of
the KSL Corporation).

The program is not fundamentally a Mormon Church
program. It is, correctly speaking, a KSL-CBS public
service feature. The material of the spoken and musical
segments is non—sectarian in character, and the program
is not considered by the network or the originating
station to be promoting any one particular religious
denomination's beliefs. It is produced and presented as
a sustaining program of cultural value.

Turn-away crowds at the Tabernacle often greeted
the Choir as it presented its network radio programs.

On April 9, 1933, it was estimated that 15,000 people came
to hear the broadcast. When the Tabernacle doors were
closed prior to the broadcast, all standing room was
taken: and the neighboring Assembly Hall, which was equip-
ped with a public address system, was also filled.9

The Tabernacle Choir often met with unexpected
problems while preparing to broadcast. Perhaps the most
unusual broadcast occurred Memorial Day, 1937, when the
Choir was scheduled to broadcast nationwide from the foot

of the Great White Throne in Zion National Park.

 

9Robert W. Donigan,“An Outline History of Broadcasting
in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1922-
1963,“ unpublished typescript prepared as a term project in
historical research, Brigham YOung University, 1964, p. 19.

140

At six a.m., a special train bringing the members
of the Choir arrived in Cedar City amid a downpour of
rain. When the Choir reached the Park, the location at
the foot of the Great.White Throne was under water.

Equipment hurriedly was moved indoors to Zion Camp
Lodge. Thirty minutes before air time an entirely new
program had to be prepared. Choir Conductor Spencer
Cornwall rearranged the music, engineers worked feveré
ishly to complete the wiring, announcers Earl J.Glade and
Richard L. Evans redid the script. Two minutes before air
time a fuse blew and plunged the Lodge into semi-darkness.
This put the electric organ out of service. Organist
Frank Asper quickly changed over to the piano while tech-
nicians worked to correct the electric problem. Announcers
Glade and Evans, ad-libbing much of the time, handled the
program so smoothly that thefbroadeast was acclaimed “one
of the finest ever given."10

The regular weekly broadcast of the Choir origin-
ated from Sun Valley, Idaho, on Sunday, July 23, 1939.
The following year, the music of the Choir and organ was
brought to Carnegie Hall in stereophonic sound, along
with that of LeOpOld Stokowski's Philadelphia Orchestra
and Paul Robeson. This demonstration of stereOphonic
sound was conducted by Dr. Harvey Fletcher of the Bell

Telephone Laboratories, who was also President of the New

 

1°Mulder, p. 441.

141

Ybrk Stake of the Mormon Church.

Mrs. Dorothy Lewis, Coordinator of Listener Activi-
ties of the National Association of Broadcasters, visited
Salt Lake City in 1943 and stated that “millions of listen-
ers consider the coast—to-coast Tabernacle Choir and Organ
broadcasts one of their best beloved programs,“ and that
“listeners are even more appreciative when they discover
that the Choir is a group of unpaid singers."ll

The year 1944 was a year of honors for the Taber-
nacle Choir and its radio broadcasts. In April, the KSL-
originated broadcast was presented the George Poster
Peabody Award for outstanding entertainment in music.

The Columbia Broadcasting System, in its news release
concerning the award, noted that "The Peabody Awards
are administered jointly by the Dean of the Henry‘w.
Grady School of Journalism, University of Georgia, and
the National Association of Broadcasters. Selection is
made by sifting hundreds of entries made by stations
throughout the country.'12

The National Association of Press Women awarded
the broadcast a Certificate of Merit, July 29,1944:

. . in recognition of distinguished service
in behalf of national morale in the midst of war,

by means of the inspirational influence which comes
out of a radio program that has captured the attention

 

llzr , vol. 46, No. 12, December, 1943, p. 766.
12M" vol. 47, no. 6, June, 1944, p. 367.

142

and interests of millions of listeners. A program
which has achieved great spiritual significance in
time of stress.13

In the Columbia Broadcasting System!s Annual Report
to stockholders covering the year 1944, the Choir program
was ranked second in religious programs (the Church of the
Air was ranked first).14

Beginning with the broadcast of June 2, 1946, KSL
transcribed the Choir's weekly program and rebroadcast it
locally each Sunday evening.

It was in 1946 that Alexander Schreiner, Tabernacle
Organist, placed second in pOpularity among radio organ—
ists in a poll conducted by the magazine Musical America.
Over 500 music editors in the united States and Canada
participated in the selections.15

The Choir celebrated its twentieth year of network
broadcasting July 15, 1949. To honor the occasion, Dr.
Frank Stanton, President of the Columbia Broadcasting
System, came to Salt Lake City and presented the Choir
a gold-plated phonograph record of Choir music. In his
presentation address he stated:

‘As this broadcast begins its twenty-first year
on the air, I want to express our thanks to you for
this magnificent series of broadcasts. While I am

speaking directly on behalf of the Columbia-Broad-
casting System, I know from.my personal experience

 

132242., NO. 9, September, 1944, p. 550.
141103.91... Vol. 59, No. 11, November, 1955, p. 861.
152453,. Vol. 49, NO. 7, July, 1946, p. 466.

143

that what I say represents not only the feeling of
each of the stations that carries the program.but also
the millions of loyal listeners who make up the
audience.

Twenty years is a long time as we count time in
radio, and this program is by all odds the oldest
continuous series of broadcasts of any kind on the
Columbia Network. Those of us who are responsible
for knowing the preferences of the one hundred million
listeners who make up the Columbia audience each week,
know full well the pleasure and inspiration you pro-
vide the nation on Sunday morning. We are proud of
your excellent singing, of the unexcelled organ music,
and of the eloquent inspirational vignettes-~the
Spoken Word--and also of KSL's important part in this
twentybyear production. We recognize that participation
in the Choir is a labor of love, and that your year
round rehearsals and the early broadcasts on Sunday
morning all represent a real effort on the part of
each of you. Expressing appreciation for your service
is like thanking an old friend for something he has
done as a matter of personal pleasure.

As you begin your twenty-first year, or your
second twenty years, we at CBS want you to know Egat
you have our affection and sincere appreciation.

Production of the regular broadcasts from the Tab-
ernacle in Salt Lake City follows a routine which varies
very little from year to year.

Several months before a specific broadcast, the
Director selects the numbers to be sung, and the organ-
ists choose the organ selections. Copyright clearances
are secured by the Columbia Broadcasting System. In the
meantime, the numbers are placed on the Choir's rehearsal
schedule.

Some of the numbers are chosen for future long-

playing record albums, and these selections are recorded

 

16Albert L. zebell, Jr., "Twenty magnificent Years
on the Air,“ Ibid., vel. 52, No. 9, September, 1949,
pp. 549, 582-3.

144

either during rehearsals or during the actual broadcasts.

The Choir Director insists upon approximately six
weeks of rehearsals before he considers the numbers as
being ready for network broadcast.

The Thursday rehearsal before each Sunday broadcast
is spent in smoothing, perfecting, and timing each
number.

During the fiftybminute rehearsal Just prior to the
broadcast each Sunday morning, the conductor decides on
final interpretation of each selection; final timdngs are
made; and KSL engineers make last-minute checks on any
acoustical changes in the Tabernacle which may have occur-
red because of weather conditions and/or the size of the
audience.

During the broadcast, tape recorders in Chicago,

, Los Angeles, and other cities are busy transcribing the
program for later release. A recording studio in Salt
Lake City is making a permanent church record of each
broadcast, and also is preparing tapes for release of
the program in many foreign countries.17

The Choir's first network television program was
telecast in conjunction with its twenty-fifth anniversary
of broadcasting. The Choir appeared on Edward R. Murrow's

“See It Now“ program, July 15, 1954.18

 

17Ralph D. Rytting, "The Tabernacle Choir Broadcast,“
Ibid., Vol. 61, No. 5, May, 1958, pp. 312, 370-72.

18.9.5.9. V01. 59, No. 11, November, 1956, p. 861.

145

The Choir was selected to receive the “Grammy“ award
from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
in 1959. The award was for the Choir's Columbia record of
“Battle Hymn of the Republic,“ which was recorded with the
Philadelphia Orchestra. “Best performance by a vocal group
or chorus“ was the category. The Choir also was nominated
in the “Best Classical Performance-Opera Cast or Choral,“
through its album, “The Beloved Choruses,” recorded with
the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy.

Another honor came to the Choir in 1962, when it was
selected to participate in the first live.American tele-
cast to EurOpe via the communications satellite “Teleter.”
The Choir appeared in the amphitheater at the base of
Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, and sang the universallyb
loved hymn, !A Mighty Fortress is our God.“

W, in 1963, suggested that the Choir
broadcasts had "reshaped the world’s image of Mormonism.“19

To review the accomplishments of the Tabernacle Choir,
however, is only part of the story of I‘Music and the Spoken
Word,“ which is broadcast each Sunday from.Temp1e Square in
Salt Lake City. The “Spoken Word“ also is an important and
integral part of the success of these programs.

On Thursday, June 16, 1966, Richard L. Evans, the
man who is the “spoken word“ of the Choir broadcasts,

became President of Rotary International, a world wide

 

19mm. July 26, 1963, p. 66.

146

service organization with half a million members in some
11,000 clubs located in 123 countries.20 He is a member
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), one of the
main governing bodies of this church of some 2,500,000
members. Evans is a member of the Board of Trustees
of the largest church-related university in'America.21
He has written a weekly editorial for a New York news;
paper syndicate, which was published nationwide. as has
had eleven books published: and his writings have appeared
in numerous periodicals, including Readers' Digest, Coronet,
and,ngk.22

To millions of Americans, however, Richard L. Evans
is not the executive, the educator, the writer, but a
personal friend who drOps in on them on Sunday mornings
to introduce the selections to be performed by the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir and Organ, and to share with them his
short, inspirational messages.

In May, 1966, Richard L. Evans stated: ”I finish
thirtybsix years of association with this broadcast next

month."23 During those years,he has missed only one

 

20Francis A. Soper, “The Spoken Word,“ Listen,
Vol. 19, No. 4, April, 1966, p. 6.

2%252. Vol. 67, NO. 2. February, 1964, p. 104.

ZZIbid.

23Letter from.Richard L. Evans to Heber G. Wolsey,
dated May 6, 1966.

147

program.24

He has become so inseparably connected with the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir that it seemed the natural-~the
correct-~thing to do to have the Choir furnish the music
for the 1966 Annual Rotary International Convention in
which he was installed as President.

”Music and the Spoken Word" has been broadcast for
some thirty-eight years--1onger than any other nationwide
radio program.25 Richard L. Evans has been associated
with the program for all but the first ten months of its
existence.26

as was born March 23, 1906, in Salt Lake City,

Utah. When he was ten weeks old, his father died as a
result of an accident, leaving Richard's mother to rear
their nine children.27

Richard attended the public schools of Salt Lake
City, the Latter-day Saints university, and the university
of Utah. He was a member of the state high school champion-
ship debating team, for which he was awarded a University
of Utah scholarship. He was Editor of the Latter-day
Saints university school paper. At the University of Utah

he was manager of the freshman debating team.

 

r '7

24SOper, p, 4,
252igg, July 26, 1953, p. 66.
Zésoperl p0 4e

27Biographical material for Richard L. Evans is from
the Era, V01. 39, No. 2, February, 1936, pp. 74-75.

148

His university studies were interrupted for three
years by a call to fill a mission for his church in Great
Britain. Upon his return, he continued his schooling
at the University of Utah and received his A. B. degree
with a major in English, in 1931: and his M. A. degree
in 1932, with a major in Economics. Both diplomas were
awarded with honors.

Shortly after his return from the mission field,
and while he was continuing his studies at University of
Utah, he became associated with KSL, first as a staff
announcer, then, in turn, as production manager, super-
visor of announcers, and director of publicity.

In June, 1930, he became the announcer on the Choir
broadcasts. .According to Albert L. Zobell, Jr.s

.After the broadcast had been in progress some-
thing over ten months as a weekly concert feature,
Richard L. Evans joined the program as announcer,
writer and producer, and over the years a slow
evolution has taken place, first from an occasional
paragraph explaining the background of a Mormon hymn,
to the present day sermonette or “spoken word."28

Evans writes each of his sermonettes himself:

To prepare one, he dictates his thoughts for
a coming sermonette, has them transcribed, dictates
them again, and boils them down. He repeats the
process as often as necessary to compress what he
has into about three minutes. Being in charge of
the program, he can vary the length of "The Spoken

Word“ until he feels it expresses exactly what he
desires.29

 

28Albert L. Zebell, Jr., “From the Crossroads of the
West, with Music and the Spoken Word,',§£a, Vol. 49, No.
7, July, 1946, p. 438.

29Saper, pp. 4-5.

149

“There is no use saying a piece of cOpy is final
if you can improve it on or off the air,” Evans says.30
The program is produced ”live“ each week. “There
is something about a live performance, the reality of it,
that brings out the best everyone has,“ Evans observes.31
Evans' voice and his physical appearance are not
complementary. He is of slight build. His dress typifies
the successful, sOphisticated business man. His carriage
is sharp, precise. until recently he wore a small, well-
clipped black mustache. He lggkg the part of the President
of Rotary International.
From this sharp, sOphisticated business man comes a
voice that is deep, well modulated, warm and friendly.
The authoritative aspects of his voice appear to come
from a well of wisdom rather than from cultivated business
acumen.
One admirer of this radio voice, when he first saw
a picture of Evans, said in effect:
I have never been so disappointed in my life.
For years I have pictured a big man, broad shoulders,
wide girth, a shock of white hair and kindly eyes
that carry the compassion of eternity. Instead,
all I see is a man who appears to know far more of

a troubled stock market than of a troubled soul. I
wish I had never seen him.32 '

 

3°Ib;d.
31;b d.

32Remarks of Walter Parsons, a friend of the author,
during a conversation in Skokie, Illinois, while they were
both attending Northwestern University, 1949.

150

Today, at age sixty-one, Evans' hair has thinned
and greyed, his mustache is gone, and there is a softness
around his eyes and mouth. But to the members of his
radio audience his actual appearance is unimportant. They
create their own mental images from.the voice of “The
Spoken Word“ as it says: “Once more we welcome you within
these walls. . . .“

In his thirtyhseven years of continuous broadcasting
over KSL (as of 1967),he has written, produced, and de-
livered nearly two thousand sermonettes. The most pap-
ular of these miniature sermons have been compiled into
eleven books, most of which have been published by Harper
and Row.

Evans' basic purpose is to bring to his audience
“fundamental truth with brevity of expression.'33 In
explaining the genesis of the brief sermons, Evans has
said:

. . . these brief 'sermonettes,“ as radio
listeners have chosen to call them, have been “talked
off' on a dictaphone, under the pressure of a weekly
broadcast schedule. During that time many listeners
have inquired as to their source, their procurability,
their originality.

As to originalityb-that is, of course, a rel-
ative term. The words and phrases belong to the
author insofar as he is aware--except where there has
been a borrowing from scripture, in which case the
debt is acknowledged. .As to originality of thought--

well, they represent the author'stconvictions, the
source of which is that common heritage of truth

 

33Richard L. Evans, gate the 3311., New York, Harper
and Brothers, 1940, p. xi.

151

available to all who will be partakers of it.34

In the early days of the program,the question arose
as to whether or not this were a religious program, and,
if so, whether or not it could be considered denomina-
tional. This was an important issue because, if it were
classified as a Mormon religious program, many other
religious bodies in the United States could request
comparable time on the Columbia Broadcasting System
network.

This prompted a review of the program.and a change
in format to “a sustaining program of cultural value."35

To bear out the non-sectarian, cultural approach in
Evans' sermonettes, a recent compilation of these brief
messages included 249 quotations, of which 206 were
quotations from the great thinkers of the world (non-
scriptural), 23 were from the Bible, and 20 from other
scriptural sources.36

It was not uncommon for Evans to include specific

Mormon doctrine in early broadcasts. “Man was also in

the beginning with God."37 On another occasion, in a

3411616.

35Heber G. Wolsey, “Religious Broadcasting by the
L. D. S. (Mormon) Church,“ unpublished Master's Thesis,
School of Speech, Northwestern university, Evanston,
Illinois, August, 1949, pp. 12, 13.

36Evans, Faith in the Future, New York, Harper and
Row, 1961.

37Doctrine and Covenants, Section 93, Verse 29.
Quoted in Evans, Unto the Hills, p. 147.

152

discussion of one of the Choir's hymns, he stated;

It is a hymn that speaks of a previous personal
existence of man, a probationary present in a brief
but important school of life, and an illimitable
hereafter wherein men will find themselves eternally
progressing and will find continued existence under
circumstances determined by the deeds and the
thoughts and the usefulness of the life they now
live. It Speaks also of a Heavenly Father and an
Eternal Mother, and is known by the title, I‘0 My
Father.“38

As the program evolved from a semi-religious one
to “a sustaining program of cultural value,“ even the
scriptural references were selected for their univer-
sality rather than for any denominational overtones. In
a recent Christmas sermonette, Evans reminded his listeners
to “love one another,“ to "love our enemies."39 Mormon
scriptural quotations in recent sermons are no more con-
troversial than "seek . . . out of the best books . . .

"40 or “God grant that we may more often remind

wisdom,
ourselves what our fathers fought for, lived for, died
for: that 'this land shall be a land of liberty."41
Evans' style was develOped early in his career. In
essence, he seems to be saying to himself: say it simply,

say it honestly, and let few words paint large mental

 

38Evans, Unto the Hills, p. 146.
39Evans, Faith in the Future, p. 165.

40Doctrine and Covenants, Section 88, Verse 118.
Quoted in Evans, ngth in the Future, p. 124.

41Book of Mormon, II Nephi, 10:10-14. Quoted in
Evans, Faithgin the Future, p. 148.

153

pictures.

Compression of thought is his watchword. This is
both a strength and a weakness in his speaking. For the
KSL-CBS radio program it is a necessity, and he has gained
a nationwide following by developing this ability. How-
ever, when he is performing some of his other respon-
sibilities, notably delivering sermons to large congre-
ations of his Church, it is difficult for him to make the
transition from sermonette to sermon. As a result, his
sermons are short, and filled with so many thought-
provoking ideas that the listener finds it difficult to
absorb so much in so little time.

His delivery is slow to medium, about 125 words a
minute. Each word is enunciated clearly and distinctly.
He knows well the power of the pause, and his radio
announcer training has given him the ability to interpret
capy effectively. This ability was recognized as long ago
as 1934 when he was singled out by a nationally distributed
Bryan Davis radio publication as one of the best radio
announcers in the United States.42

He brings out meaning, not only with the pause,
but with well-chosen word emphasis and inflection. It
is evident that he is conscious of the sound of words,
that the words he selects are those whose meanings are

enhanced with speech.

 

421312.. Vol. 39. No. 2. February, 1936, p. 75.

154

He has a micrOphone voice. For all its rich quality
it does not project too well. Perhaps it would be more
.accurate to say that he would lose much of the warmth,
the friendliness, the personal quality, should he deliver
his messages with the projection that would be necessary
for him to be heard in a large group without the aid of
a well-placed micrOphone and adequate speakers.

. He uses few gestures while he is speaking--whether
it is a sermonette or a sermon. As a result, the speaker
is nearly unnoticed. Rather, it is his message that
occupies center stage. '

A great deal more will be written about this man
and his ability with the spoken word. During the past
year he visited some 123 different countries,bringing
the message of Rotary International to business and pro-
fessional men throughout the world. At least twice each
year his voice will be carried over hundreds of radio and
television stations in all parts of the world; as the
General Conference of the Mormon Church reaches inter-
ested listeners in Memphis and Melbourne, Syracuse and
Singapore, Lansing and London.

He will be respected for his work in many fields:
but, if an institution is the lengthened shadow of one
man, as Emerson suggests, the institution which most
completely falls under the shadow of Richard L. Evans

is the KSL—CBS radio production of ”Music and the Spoken

155

Word.“ This program has become a real, a living,
institution to millions of listeners.

Richard L. Evans, himself, has perhaps given us
the key to the continued pOpularity of “Music and the
Spoken‘Word' from the Tabernacle on Temple Square in
Salt Lake City. He writes:

To you, the listeners, the readers, to all of
you everywhere: We are grateful for your encourage-
ment, and for your confidence in what seems to have
become a common denominator, with the great and
moving music of many faiths, many PGOples, and
brief restatements of the truths of all time--and
for the great eternal principles and purposes that
give solid substance to our faith in the future.

May peace be with you, this dayb-and always.43

43Evans, Faith in the Future, p. 9.

CHAPTER VIII
THE VOICE OF AGRICULTURE

I have a pig that I bought as a weaner this
spring and after having it altered it got along fine,
grew fairly well, but was always inclined to be
rather choosey about its food. . . . I noticed that
its hind leg seemed to pain it and would not support
its weight. . . . Could it be rheumatism? I'd
surily appreciate any suggestions you could give
me.

we bought a cow and she had warts on her
teats. Now the whole herd has them. We have used
caster [sic] oil, lard, and cool [sic] oil, but it
doesn't help. Can you tell us what we can use?

I have a horse which I have had trouble with
lately. . . . When I got up this morning his ankles
and tendons were swollen. . . . He also limps when
he steps on small rocks. I was wondering if you
could tell me what causes it, how long it will take
to cure him, and if I could ride him during deer
season?

I would like to know if you can give me a
little advice and information about buying a farm
and borrowing money to finance the deal.

 

1Letter from J. D. Marshall to Radio Station KSL,

dated September 27. 1945.

2Letter from Mrs. A. Barney to Radio Station KSL,

dated March 1, 1945.

3Letter from J. R. Kirk, Jr., to Radio Station

KSL, dated October 1, 1945.

4Letter from Mrs. B. L. Sampson to Radio Station

KSL, dated October 12, 1945.

156

157

These are four of the hundreds of letters received
yearly by KSL relative to its farm programs. The letters
are all answered by agricultural specialists,often with
personal calls from County or State Agricultural Agents.

During the years KSL has been on the air, farming
has been a basic industry in the area served by KSL's
signal.

unlike the situation in many other agricultural
areas, most farming and ranching in the primary and
secondary areas serviced by KSL are carried on in small
valleys surrounded by high mountains. KSL, as the only
clear channel radio voice of Intermountain America,
recognized early its responsibility to bring farm news
and views to the widely scattered farmers and ranchers
of Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and wyoming.

The KSL Agricultural Director visits county agents,
farmers, and ranchers in forty-eight counties. Problems
are discussed, invitations are extended to participate in
the KSL farm program, and all are encouraged to send KSL
any information that would be helpful to others in their
area.5

Stanley C. Farnsworth is a typical example of the
KSL Agricultural Supervisor. A supervisor during the

'40's and formerly a successful farmer and dairy man from

 

5Federal Communications Commission, Clear Channel
.ggggipg. Docket No. 6741, Station KSLI Documentary Ex;-
dence, p. 49.

158

Idaho, he was thoroughly familiar with farm problems of the
Intermountain area. Farnsworth was a student of Agronomy
and Animal Husbandry, a member of the Service Committee of
the National Association of Radio Farm.Directors, a mem—
ber of the Jerome Creamery Cooperative, and a member of
the Southern Idaho Production Credit CoOperative. The
first twenty years of his life were spent with his father
on a ranch in Southern Utah, a dry farm.in Idaho, and an
irrigated farm in Northern Utah. Before coming to KSL,
he Operated his own farm and dairy herd in Rupert, Idaho.6

FA farm program,“ said Farnsworth, “ought to be
broadcast at the time when the most farmers can conven-
iently listen.“7

To find out the most convenient time, KSL asked
hundreds of Intermountain farmers the best time of day
for them to listen to the radio. The replies indicated
that the dinner hour (12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.) was best
for them because in the early morning they were busy
milking cows and getting the day's work started. Thus
KSL placed its major farm program.during the noon hour.

During a survey in March, 1944, KSL asked the
farmers what they would most like to hear on a farm

program. Four clear—cut areas were noted as being of

 

51bid.

7flhat_TheyiWant--When_Theyingt It, a KSL printed
brochure, undated, p. l.

159

most interest: (1) a concise summary of the day's
news developments, (2) the weather forecast, (3) the
market quotations, and (4) discussions of current farm
problems.8

The results of this survey helped KSL develOp a
format for its noon program, .‘This Business of Farming.“
The station arranged a direct line to the U. 8. Weather
Bureau. A writer and dramatic cast were assigned to
dramatize farm.problems instead of merely talking about
them. Special agricultural events were covered in the
program. Before long, other stations in Colorado, Idaho,
and Utah were requesting permission to pattern their farm
programs after the KSL production.

Following are several typical farm programs which
have been aired on KSL over the years:

I. “This Business of Farming“--broadcast during
the noon hour.

The program has been a regular farm feature of the
KSL farm service for over twenty years (it was started in
October, 1944). Presented in cooperation with the United
States Department of Agriculture, and State and County
agricultural groups and organizations, it was designed
especially for agriculturists, and over the years has

presented such varied information as:9

_.

81bid.

9FCC, Station KSLI Documentagy Evidence, p. 54.

A.
Agricultur
for the Ut

B.
special at
tion was e:
region.

C Sc
consistent]

D. 5
Region have
Bureau and
the Salt La
°°nStructed

dil‘6ct line;

offiCes by f

 

160

A. .A Victory Garden promotion in 1945. The KSL
Agricultural Supervisor was appointed publicity chairman
for the Utah State Victory Garden Committee.

B. During a major World War II War Loan drive,
special standing reports were broadcast and close coopera-
tion was extended to War Loan Committees throughout the
region.

C Soil Conservation programs have been presented
consistently and have received wide response.

D. Special weather reports for the Intermountain
Region have been prepared by the United States Weather
Bureau and broadcast direct from the Weather Bureau at
the Salt Lake Airport. .A Special broadcast booth was
constructed at the Weather Bureau by KSL engineers, and
direct lines have been maintained to the Weather Bureau
offices by KSL.

E. For many years a period of five minutes was
provided on each program for a dramatized discussion of
a farm problem. Farmers were encouraged to send in their
problems. This information was written in dialogue form,
with the information checked with federal and state
agricultural officials for authenticity. The problems
discussed were chosen for their high interest value to
farmers of the area.

F. Last-minute livestock market reports and
market quotations have been broadcast daily. This in-

formation is received by direct wire from the Ogden

Livestock Md
and from the
wire service
G. A
national new
3. In
organization
sented on th
States Depar
appropria te .
'About That 1
“rm-”Think,
I. Rex
intervals fr<
Junior Lives1
stOCk Show A1
C°°Perat1Ve 1
COEVEntiOn a1

g. l

J. A8
to thOUSands
Within d yea

I

 

 

161

Livestock Market and the North Salt Lake Livestock Market,
and from the national reports supplied by both major
wire services.

G. A summary of Intermountain, National, and Inter-
national news has been presented for years on each program.
H. Information from.ell the major agricultural
organizations in the Intermountain Region has been pre-
sented on this program. Transcriptions from the United

States Department of Agriculture have been used when
appropriate. Other governmental transcriptions such as
”About That Farm Yen Want To Buy,“ and “Before Ybu Buy A
Farmp-Think,' have been integrated into the program.

1. Remote broadcasts have been carried at regular
intervals from the Utah State Fair; the Intermountain
Junior Idyestock Show at North Salt Lake: the Ogden Live-
stock Show at Ogden, Utah: the Utah Celery Growers
COOperative.Association: the Utah State Future Farmers
Convention at Logan, Utah: and other events of importance
to farmers in the Intermountain West.

J. Assistance with farm problems has been given
to thousands of residents of the Intermountain Area.
Within a year and half after “This Business of Farming”
went on the air, responses from 62 counties in seven
'Western states had been received. The program has re-
ceived national recognition from the United States

Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

 

 

II. '
the early m<
each week da

This ;
of informati
Intermountai

A. Nev
Colleges of

and Utah.

 

162

II. “The Farm Breakfast Roundup“--broadcast in
the early morning hours, usually from 6:30 to 7:00 a.m.,
each week day.

This program has presented the following types
of information of interest to farmers and ranchers of the
Intermountain West:

A. News from the Extension Services of Agricultural
Colleges of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada,
and Utah.

B. Weather reports broadcast direct from.the
Intermountain Weather Bureau located in Salt Lake City.

C. Special interviews with 4-H Club members,
agricultural specialists, and agricultural organization
representatives covering current problems of special
interest to farmers and ranchers.

D. Agricultural news supplied by local weekly
newspapers and agricultural organizations.

III. “The Utah State Agricultural College Pro-
gram“--broadcast during the Saturday noon hour.

KSL started this series of programs in 1935.10
It has been prepared and presented by experts from
Utah State University (Utah State Agricultural College),
Logan, Utah. Prominent agriculturists, poultry producers,
cattlemen, and 4-H Club members and leaders are among the

persons presented on this program.

 

1°1b1d., p. 55.

 

Sub jec
activities,
agricultural
comnn to ma
West, forest
winter care
more stable

In add
pmgrams, Ks
activities 0

fOllows:12

 

163

Subjects for discussion have included 4-H Club
activities, crop insurance, insect control, training
agricultural leadership, pruning fruit trees, diseases
common to man and animal, the turkey industry of the
West, forest ranges, summer fallow, autumn landscaping,
'winter care of farm machinery, the Christmas tree, a
more stable agriculture, and water supply forecasts.11

In addition to regularly scheduled agricultural
programs, KSL consistently makes time available for
activities of high interest value to farmers and ranch-
ers. Some of these activities are handled by KSL as
followsxl2

1. The release of special weather reports and
frost warnings (any time of the day or night) during
seasons when this service may'be necessary.

2. The release of special farm programs, live-
stock shows, names of 4-H Club‘Winners, and programs
featuring nationally prominent agriculturists who may
be visiting the Intermountain area.

3. The KSL Farm Supervisor travels into the many
counties of the Intermountain West, often with federal
and state agriculturists, to observe county agents and
agricultural representatives, farmers,and ranchers, and

to encourage them to c00perate with the government

 

11.1119... pp. 88-90.
121bid., p. 119.

 

 

officials in

4. Sp
home demonst
meetings, as
harvest seas
Program Depa:

5. Th0
culturists 11
have been tr:
m released
with Special
Wt Particuj
39'1’icL11tm:iSt
perhaps never
meats and Opj

pmblems,

 

164

officials in putting new programs into effect.

4. Special announcements regarding meetings of
home demonstration agents, county agents, Farm Bureau
meetings, as well as emergency calls for help during the
harvest season, are given prominent attention by the KSL
Program Department.

5. The comments of county agents and other agri-
culturists in remote areas of the Intermountain West
have been transcribed by the KSL Agricultural Supervisor,
and released at a later date on one of KSL's farm.programs,
with special introductory comments to the listeners in
that particular area. Through these types of programs,
agriculturists and county agents are heard who would
perhaps never have an Opportunity to eXpress their comp
ments and Opinions over the radio concerning agricultural
problems.

KSL has given intermittent help to farmers almost
from the beginning of broadcasting by its predecessor,
KZN. Weather reports were given on the first official
broadcast, May 6, 1922. A prOgram commemorating Celery
Week in Utah was broadcast November 20, 1928. The
following year, Mountain States Implement Company began
a program which included information to farmers and
ranchers.

During the 1930's and 1940's, farm programming

on KSL took on major prOportions, and several innovations

were deve
built by 1
as given
lication a
of its efi
Remc
away as Ce
Pocatello,
Nail
seven Stat
from WYOml
has reache
California
A ge
Problems r
51:41:85°
KSL 1
mnitieS t2
”Ming. :
in Chicago‘

165

were develOped at the station. The sound-proof booth
built by KSL engineers at the Salt Lake Weather Station
was given special recognition in a national radio pub-
lication and was cOpied by other radio stations because
of its effectiveness.13

Remote broadcasts have been originated from as far
away as Cedar City and Price, Utah: and Idaho Falls and
Pocatello, Idaho.

Mail reSponse for the noon broadcasts has come from
seven states, extending from New Mexico to washington, and
from Wyoming to Nevada. The early morning farm program
has reached far beyond that area to include Arizona,
California, Montana, and Canada.

A general offer made by KSL to assist with farm
prOblems received responses from all eleven Western
States.

KSL Farm.Directors consistently visited farm.com-
munities throughout Utah, Southern Idaho, and Western
Wyoming. Special trips, such as to the 4aH Club Congress
in Chicago, were scheduled when news interest to farmers
demanded them.

And the reSponse from farmers and farm organizations

has been gratifying. A woman from Richmond, Utah, wrote:

 

13Letter from United States Weather Bureau in Salt
Lake City to the Federal Communications Commission, April
26, 1946. COpies of this letter and those following are
found in FCC, Station KSLI Documentary Evidence, pp. 52-
118.

'I think yc
I hope you
The C
KSL to llcom
a survey to
interested
Clyde
Utah Poultrj
his organize
For me
cellent
daily ur
We cannc
being re
getting

of fame
Prosram

 

166

“I think your program is wonderful, just what we need.

I hope you can stay with us for a long time."14

The County Agent from Laramie, Wyoming, wrote to
KSL to ”compliment you for this Splendid job of making
a survey to find out what agriculture [gig] peOple are
interested in.“15

Clyde C. Edmunds, Secretary and General Manager,
Utah Poultry Producers Cooperative Association, eXpressed
his organization's attitude toward KSL farm programmdng:

For many months past we have recognized the exe
cellent type of program.you have been putting on
daily under the title "This Business of Farming.“
We cannot help but feel that a dual service is
being rendered through this program, namely, you are
getting some good factual information into the hands
of farmers themselves, and at the same time your
program goes into thousands of city homes with the
result that a greater appreciation of the prObleme
of the farm is engendered in the thinking of the
city pOpulation.1

The Soil Conservation Service of the United States
Department Of Agriculture informed KSL:

In a letter Just received from Mr. Virgil 5.
Beck, Chief of our Regional Information Division,
he states that Our Washington office has received
COpies Of the first two programs on your current
series Of soil conservation broadcasts. They were
well pleased and exPressed the Opinion that this is

 

14Letter from Mrs. Alma Spackman to KSL's ”This
Business Of Farming,“ March 26, 1945.

15Letter from W. T. Kirk, County Agent, Laramie,
Wyoming, to Radio Station KSL, December 20, 1945.

15Letter from Clyde C. Edmunds, Secretary and General
Manager, Utah Poultry Producers COOperative Association,
Salt Lake City, Utah, to Radio Station KSL, August 3,
1945.

 

one of t}
country. 1

Vernal
State of Uta}
the state and
me of their a
on the ranges
regularly am

The Co]
Personnel reg
'that innate
Which are on
and 5° Preset
interesung.

George

Show: mlde t

mlicies:

 

167
one of the best soil conservation programs in the
country.17
Vernal A. Bergeson, Commissioner Of Agriculture,
State of Utah, told KSL: ”I have traveled considerably in
the state and . . . the livestock peOple . . . have told
me Of their appreciation for this newscast especially out
on the ranges where it is impossible to get a newspaper
regularly and on time."18
The Colorado State Conservationist noted that the
personnel responsible for the farm programs on KSL have
I'that innate ability to take ordinary circumstances,
which are on the farm.and ranch everyday occurrences,
and so present them to the public that they are extremely
interesting.“19
George S. Eccles, President Of the Ogden Livestock
Show, made this comment concerning KSL's farm program
policies: .
The generous COOperation Of KSL with our Ogden
Livestock Show activities has always been very sat-
isfactory, but the surprise you sprang on us this
year in giving us several programs originating right

at the show was not only unusual but unprecedented.
We want to let you know how sincerely and deeply we

 

17Letter from J. A. Libby, Assistant State Conser-
vationist for Utah, Soil Conservation Service, United
States Department Of Agriculture, tO Radio Station KSL,
September 27, 1945.

18Letter from Vernal A. Bergeson, Commissioner Of
Agriculture, State Of Utah, to KSL, march 7, 1945.

19Letter from Kenneth W. Chalmers, Colorado State
Conservationist, Fort Collins, Colorado, tO Station KSL,
October 16, 1945.

168

appreciate it.20

The Weather Bureau informed KSL that a sheep rancher
credited KSL's weathercasts with saving twelve hundred
ewes which had been sheared just prior to a cold snap.
The rancher, after hearing the cold weather warning on
KSL, immediately drove the ewes to cover.21

The farm programs produced by KSL and the responses
received from farmers, ranchers, and agricultural organ-
izations in the Intermountain West indicate that KSL is
fulfilling its objective “to render the listeners in the
KSL primary, secondary and tertiary areas a reliable,

informative, helpful and interesting farm program.service.”22

 

20Letter from George S. Eccles, President, Ogden

Livestock Show, Ogden Utah to Radio Station KSL Nov-
ember 16, 1945. ' ' '

21Letter from Archer B. Carpenter, Supervising Fore-
caster, United States Weather Bureau, to Radio Station
KSL, July 20, 1945.

22FCC, Station KSLl Documentary Evidence, p. 25.

CHAPTER IX

THE VOICE OF RELIGION

Throughout the fabric of recorded history, a per-
vading thread of religion has been inextricably interwoven.
This thread sometimes has been coarse and harsh, sometimes
soft with the compassion Of eternity. Sometimes it has
lain dull and dormant. At other times, its pure light
has brought brilliant heauty and new life to a world
grOping for guidance. While it has appeared in many
designs and in many variant hues, it has always been
there. And always, the voice Of the religionist has
been striving to find more effective ways to bring the
message Of salvation to those searching for religious
truth. But the age-Old problem has continued to exist--
so many who need the message, so few effective voices
to transmit it. When radio raised its voice to the world,
there were those who believed that the Lord was Opening
the way to the fulfillment of such prOphecy as:

Hearken ye peOple from afar; and ye that are
upon the islands Of the sea, listen together.
For verily the voice Of the Lord is unto all

men, and there is none to escape: and there is no
eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not

169

 

 

hear, he
Almost

have been ma
world with t
the Calvary
broadcast th
Dr. 3. J. Va
Church Chris
time on stat
At the
“0mm Presi
mice of th
of his reli
Since

been an int
example, Ks:
for a total
different d6
KSLIS

IEligiOuS t

 

I

\

lrh r
Christ Ofe L

 

 

P. eeoznunlér

3 .
Q14

4
FCC.

 

170

hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated.l

Almost from the beginning day Of radio, attempts
have been made to penetrate the collective heart of the
world with the gospel of salvation. On January 2, 1921,
the Calvary EpisCOpal Church Of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
broadcast the first religious service on station KDKA.
Dr. B. J. Van Etten was the minister.2 The Trinity
Church Christmas Eve service was broadcast for the first
time on station WEAF, December 24, 1923.3

At the dedicatory program on KZN (later KSL),
Mormon President Heber J. Grant, the first Official
voice of the station, quoted scripture and bore testimony
Of his religious convictions.

Since that first broadcast, religious services have
been an integral part Of KSL programming. In 1944, for
example, KSL carried 303 different religious programs,
for a total of 115 hours Of broadcasting. Twentybone
different denominations were represented.4

KSL's programming policy has been to have its
religious time shared approximately in the ratio Of the

denomination's pOpulation in KSL's coverage area compared

 

1The Doctrine and Covenants Of the Church Of Jesus
Christ Of Latter-day Saints, Section I, Verses l~2.

2Dunlap, Dunlap's Radio and Television Almanac,
p. 66.

31bid.

4FCC, Station KSL, Documentary Evidence, p. 147.

to the tot
population
(actually

Mormon Chu
thirty-two
cent of al
the Mormon
During tho.
with a p091
Mormons), 1
religious 1
the Meth

The Methodj

 

171

to the total pOpulation of the area. For example, the
pOpulation of Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming, in 1944
(actually the 1940 census figures) was 1,436,139.5 The
Mormon Church pOpulation in those areas was 460,817, or
thirty-two per cent of the total. In 1944, 25.2 per
cent of all religious programming on KSL was devoted to
the Mormon Church. In 1945, the percentage was 24.86.6
During those same years, the Roman Catholic Church,
with a pOpulation percentage of 4.5 (next highest to
Mormons), received 19r2per cent and 18.63 per cent Of the
religious time on KSL.7 The largest Protestant body was
the Methodists, with 1.4 per cent of the total pOpulation.
The Methodists received 5.9 per cent and 7.76 per cent Of
the religious time on KSL during 1944 and 1945.8 Among
other religious denominations with programs appearing

on KSL were Baptist, Christian Science, Church of Nazarene,
Congregational, EpiscOpal, Evangelical Free Church, Jewish,
Lutheran, Presbyterian,Sa1vation Army, Seventh Day Adven-
tists, Society Of Friends, and Unitarians.9

Of the 303 religious programs broadcast over KSL in

 

5U. S. Census figures for 1940, quoted in FCC,
Station KSL. Documentary Evidence, p. 149.

51bid., p. 147-48.
71bid.
81bid.

91bid.

 

 

 

15

of

Cl'

'1

IE

IE

172

1944, 199 originated locally with KSL and 104 originated
with the Columbia Broadcasting System.10

Special religious broadcasts carried by KSL during
the two years studied (1944-45) included the Catholic
Christmas Mass, Masonic Easter Sunrise Service, Lenten
Broadcasts by members of the Salt Lake Ministerial As-
sociation, special interviews with visiting churchmen, and
the annual and semi-annual General Conferences of the
Mormon Church.11 Programs which were composed primarily
of religious music included ”The Salt Lake Tabernacle
Choir and Organ,“ ”Your Hymns and Mine,“ “Chapel of the
Wasatch,“ “CBS Negro Choirs,f ”Wings over Jordan,'I and
'The Great Lakes Naval Choir."12

On January 30, 1940, the Board Of Directors of KSL
reviewed its policy in relationship to locally originated
religious programs. Exclusive Of special religious broad-
casts, KSL agreed to give the Mormon Church, the Catholic
Church, and the Ministerial Association of Salt Lake City,
each fifteen minutes per week of free time for the broad-
casting of religious services. If any church group
desired more than its allotted time for the broadcasting
Of strictly religious services, and time were available

for sale, it would be sold to the Church at one-half the

 

1°Ib1a., p. 147.
“ram” pp. 150-51.

lzIbid.

 

 

""

173

station's local rate. Any church group desiring time
for the broadcasting of programs which were commercial
in nature would be charged the station's full local rate.13
Catholic broadcasts on KSL are among the Oldest
continuous broadcasts on the station. BishOp Duane G.
Hunt “was well known to the Catholic and non-Catholic
people of the West through his radio sermbns over KSL.“14
Before studying for the Priesthood, he moved from
Chicago to Salt Lake City, where he became a speech
instructor at the University of Utah. It was while there
that he decided to study for the Priesthood: and at the
conclusion Of his seminary work in Menlo Park, California,
he returned to Utah. In 1927, BishOp Mitty “encouraged
Monsignor Hunt in his radio work in the defense of Catholic
Truth.“15 By 1928, he was “giving much Of his time to
radio work.~16
Earl J. Glade, Manager Of KSL during the 1920's and
1930's, noted that “In point Of length Of service the

broadcast Of the Salt Lake Diocese Of the Catholic Church

is one Of the Oldest on KSL."l7 Glade stated further that

 

13Minutes Of Board Of Directors' Meeting, January
30, 1940.

14Wain Sutton, UtahauA Centennial History, Vol. II,
pp. 743-44.

15Ibid., p. 742.
161bid., p. 744.

17Glade, “Earl Glade Recalls,“ p. 9f.

174

”I have been assured that KSL was the first radio station
in the world to broadcast a Midnight Mass."18

KSL has been the originating station for a majority
of the Mormon Church's religious programming. Within a
year after KZN (KSL) went on the air, a General Conference
of the Mormon Church was “broadcast“ by loud speakers to
interested listeners on Temple Square. It was not until

October, 1924, however, that a General Conference of the

Church was actually broadcast over the air.19

In reviewing the effect of this broadcast, Earl J.
Glade 851d:

Possibly the most convincing demonstration of the
power of radio to convey the gospel message was made
at the late semi-annual conference of the Church
[October, 1924].

It is no exaggeration t report that the result
was very reassuring. Letters and cards, as well as
telegrams, received from various points in Western
America and Canada, were convincing evidence of how
much this service was appreciated.20

Further comment concerning this broadcast came from
a member of the First Presidency of the Church, Charles
W. Penrose, who was ill during the Conference sessions.
A radio receiver was put in his bedroom by KSL technicians:

and after hearing the gospel messages and the religious

 

181bid.

19Albert L. Zobell, Jr., “Radio and the Gospel
Message,“ Era, Vol. 50, NO. 4, April, 1947, p. 205.

20Earl J. Glade, ”Preaching the Gospel Through the
Radio,“ Era, Vol. 28, NO. 3, January, 1925, pp. 242-44.

175

music, he said, ”It has been one of the most thrilling
experiences of my life.'21

KSL originated another Mormon religious broadcast
on November 16, 1924. The program consisted Of a twenty-
five minute sermon and thirtybfive minutes of sacred
music.22 This program, while changing format on occasions,
has been a regular Sunday evening broadcast on KSL until
the present time.

For many years the program consisted Of a three to
six month series of talks, together with apprOpriate music,
each series having an over-all theme such as: “The Church
in War and Peace," ”Constancy Amid Change,“ and 'YOuth and
the Church.“23

Currently, Elder Sterling W. Sill, Assistant to
the Council of the Twelve, is featured on this program.

In March, 1929, the Era reported that much favorable
comment on the Sunday evening broadcasts continued to come
in. It also noted that.a new programuwas being develOped
as follows:

Another step in the direction of adult education
and one which will have a far reaching effect, is the
broadcasting of the M. I. A. [Mutual Improvement
Association of the Mormon Church] hour arranged by the

Adult Committee Of the General Boards through the
courtesy of KSL, Salt Lake City. One hour each Sunday

 

211b1d.
221bid., p. 308.

23Wolsey, ~Religious Broadcasting by the L. D. S.
(Mormon) Church,” p. 15.

176

afternoon, for twelve weeks, from 3:30 to 4:30, will

be devoted to discussions on science, child hygiene,

and literature. These lectures are delivered by

trained people and are interSpersed with music. Al-

together a vegy delightful and instructive program

is furnished.

Another Mormon Church program began in 1930.

Actually, it was not a religious program, as such: but
it was programmed with the COOperation of Mormon Church
leadership and with Mormon talent. It started out as a
“brain child“ Of Earl J. Glade, who was convinced that a
formal organ concert at midnight would be well received.
The initial general reaction to the idea was that it would
not be well received because the public would not be
interested in it. With KSL's broad night-time coverage,
however, the program was exposed to listeners in every
state of the Union, in Canada, and Hawaii, and was con-
sistently picked up in New Zealand, about 7,000 miles from
Salt Lake City. Letters of appreciation by the thousands
began piling up at the station: from among others, a
banker in Montreal, Quebec: a consul in Guatemala City,
Central America: a fisherman in Coos Bay, Oregon; a
musician in Brooklyn, New York: a farmer in Broken Bow,
Nebraska: a fur trader in Ketchikan, Alaska: a canner
in Honolulu, Hawaii: a minister in Portland, Oregon: a

rancher in Saskatchewan, Canada: a liquor dealer in

Vancouver, British Columbia: a miner in Montana: a radio

 

24"Church Events,“ Era, Vol. 32. NO. 7. MAY: 1929:
p. 617.

 

 

I)

177

manufacturer in Camden, New Jersey.25

In 1935, the Era reviewed the progress Of this
program:

It was back in September of 1930 that this
weekly musical program of two hemispheres began.
Originally conceived as a sort Of hobby by Western
America's pioneer broadcaster, Earl J. Glade, it
quickly outgrew the “hobby" stage and became an
institution of international prOportions.

Originally this program was known as the KSL
Midnight Hour. It featured Frank Asper, organist,
and William Hardiman, violinist, and now after more
than four and a half unbroken years on the air,
this radio offering, unique in all the world, has
come to be known as “Sunday Evening on Temple Square,”
with Frank Asper, organist, Richard Condie, Utah
Tenor, and Earl J. Glade, announcing.

TO begin with the feature was heard three times
each week, and more than three hundred such programs
have been announced by Earl Glade. Today, however,
“Sunday Evening on Temple Square“ is heard only Sun-
day evening.2

The “KSL Midnight Hour-Sunday Evening on Temple
Square,“ and the ”Tabernacle Choir Broadcasts“ were building
a national reputation for KSL's sacred and classical
music productions. When Glade, in 1930, suggested to the
National Broadcasting Company that Salt Lake City be
permitted to furnish the annual N. B. C. radio broadcast
Of the oratorio, "The Messiah,“ the network consented.27

Four times each year the Mormon Church participates

on the Columbia Broadcasting System's “Church Of the.Air,“

 

25Earl J. Glade, “TO the Ends of the Western Hemi-
Sphere,' Era, Vol. 34, NO. 4, February, 1931, pp. 222-23.

25“At the Crossroads Of the West,“ Era, Vol. 38,
No. 4, April, 1935, pp. 239, 257-58.

27Glade, “TO the Ends Of the Western Hemisphere,” p. 223.

178

most Of these Mormon programs originating with station
KSL. The Columbia Broadcasting System makes time avail-
able to representatives of the major faiths, with the
stipulation that the material presented be nonpcontrover-
sial. The Mormon Church usually originates one of these
programs in connection with its annual General Conference
in April, one with its semiaannual General Conference

in October, one during the Christmas season, and one in
the summer months.

Many listeners write in for reprints Of these pro-
grams. As many as 7,500 requests have been received for
one program.28 Following five Mormon programs in the
1947-1948 season, the Church.Radio and Publicity Depart~
ment distributed 672, 886, 1064, 464, and 755 reprints.29

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, pOpularized by the
KSL-CBS broadcasts, was selected as “the Best All-America
Choir“ by an American-Welsh newspaper, the grgig, pub-
lished December 15, 1932, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.30

William James DuBourdieu conducted a survey of
religious programming in the United States during one

week in 1932. This survey revealed that nineteen different

28Donigan, ”An Outline History Of Broadcasting in
the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, 1922»
1963" pa 520

29Wolsey, p. 14.

3°Reported in KSL News, Vol. XII, No. 2, January 8,
1933' ppo 1"‘29

179

Mormon programs were being broadcast during that week and
that Mormon radio broadcasts, pioneered by KSL, were
beginning to expand across the land.31

The Mormon Tabernacle and its famous organ were a
part Of an unusual broadcast during the “KSL Midnight
Heur' program of February 5, 1933. The entire program
was in the nature of an acoustical experiment.32 Various
organ stOps and combinations were tested on the air by
means of a parabolic reflector and micrOphone placed
nearly two hundred feet away from the pipes Of the organ.
A drOp of a pin and a whispered conversation from the
same distance were also broadcast. These two latter
demonstrations are made daily at the Tabernacle to show
visitors the unusual acoustical prOperties of the
Tabernacle.

The parabolic tests were scarcely underway when a
long distance telephone call was received from Union-
town, Pennsylvania. John A. Irwin, of the union Trust
Company of Pittsburgh, had become so enthusiastic with
the reception of the experiment that he called KSL, then
held his telephone in front of the radio so that KSL
personnel could hear for themselves how effective their

experiment had been.

 

31William James DuBOurdieu, ”Religious Broadcasting
in the United States,“ unpublished Ph. D. dissertation,
College of Education, Northwestern University, 1933,p. 140.

3?§§L_§gy§, Vol. XII, Nos. 6 and 7, February 5 and
12, 1933.

180

By 1933, about sixty stations affiliated with the
Columbia Broadcasting System were carrying the Tabernacle
Choir and organ program. Its pOpularity prompted CBS to
invite KSL to increase the thirty-minute program to an
hour in length. This continued until congested network
radio schedules in September, 1936, necessitated a re-
duction to the original one-half hour.33

Response to the “KSL Midnight Hour“ program that
year came from ”more than thirty foreign countries as far
away as the Asiatic mainland in the West, to-the Scan-
dinavian Peninsula in the East.“34 The Mormon Relief
Society Singing Mothers appeared on the program.af
November 19, 1933. 35

The following June, the Festival Chorus of the
Mutual Improvement Association of the Mormon Church-- a
chorus of 3,500 voices--broadcast a one-hour program
over KSL.36

One of the more ambitious religious radio programs
produced under the direction of the Mormon Church was the
“Fullness Of Times“series of recordings. These re-
cordings were broadcast over station KSL, and subsequently

over at least 125 other radio stations in.America. 37 The

 

331914.. NO. 14, April 2, 1933, pp. 1, 2.
311219., No. 47, November 19, 1933, pp. 1, 2.
35113241.

351229., Vol. XIII, NO. 25, June 17, 1934, p. 1.
37W0188Y, p. 19.

 

SU

Te

in

An

ed

 

181

series consisted of thirty-nine half-hour dramatic presen-
tatiOns Of Mormon Church history. Detailed research

was conducted before the scripts were written, and auth-
enticity was carefully maintained. The first thirteen
scripts were written by Chase varney of Hollywood, and

the remaining twentybsix by Joseph J. Cannon and Gordon

B. Hinckley of Salt Lake City. All were produced by
Mertens and Price, Inc. Of Hollywood. The casts included
such professional radio personalities as John Hiestand,
Ted Osborn, Louis Merrill, and Henley Stafford.

At the conclusion Of the series when it was presen-
ted On KSL, a booklet which contained information concern-
ing the programs was Offered to interested listeners.

An immediate response was received which took all of an
edition Of three thousand cOpies.

”The Miracle of the Seagulls,“ a Mormon radio
program commemorating Utah's pioneers, was broadcast
July 24, 1941, on the KSL-CBS program ”Death Valley
Days."38

The Women's Relief Society was the subject of a
KSL radio program on March 17, 1942. The program featured
speeches by Mormon President Heber J. Grant, and Relief
Society President Amy Brown Lyman, and a dramatized

historical sketch of the Society.39

 

3822. Vol. 44, NO. 9, September, 1941, pp. 542-43.

39Ibid., Vol. 45, NO. 4, April, 1942, p. 221.

 

 

182

A series of round-table religious discussions
began on KSL on Sunday, July 19, 1942, these programs
replacing the “Fullness of Times“ series which had been
running for thirty-nine weeks.40

During World War II, the Mormon Church General
Conferences were not Open to the public, and the general
Church membership had to rely on radio broadcasts for
the Conference messages from their leaders. During the
period that the Tabernacle was closed, KSL broadcast
not only Conference sessions twice a year but daily
organ recitals as well. i

In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the dedi-
cation of the Salt Lake Temple, a fortybfive minute
dramatic presentation was aired on KSL April 6, 1943.
Interesting events which occured during construction of
the Temple were dramatized, and the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir sang hymns which were heard fifty years before at
the Temple's dedication.41

Also during 1943, two quarter-hour radio programs
were being presented on KSL by authorities of the Mormon
Church: one, a series of discussions entitled, I'The Home--
The WOrkshOp of the World," by Elder Bryant 8. Hinckley:
the other, a series of talks entitled, "When Two Genera-

tions Meet,“ by Elder Adam S. Bennion.42

 

401.193., No. 9, September, 1942, p. 574.
41110.49... Vol. 46, NO. 5, May, 1943, p. 286.
4?;2;Q.. NO. 9, September, 1943, p. 543.

183

On May 14, 1945, Mormon President Heber J.Grant
died. Radio played a major part in bringing to Inter-
mountain America historical highlights of President
Grant's life and details of his funeral services. On
the evening of his death, KSL prepared a memorial program
featuring the music of Seldon Heaps and Harry Clark
and a spoken tribute to President Grant. Four days
later, the day of the funeral, KSL originated a special
broadcast describing the scenes at the Tabernacle. This
program, carried also by stations KSUB, Cedar City:

KVNU, Logan; and KID, Idaho Falls: was aired for fif-

teen minutes prior to the funeral services which were

also broadcast in their entirety over these stations.

The following day, Sunday, the regular Sunday evening
religious programxwas dedicated to the memory of President
Grant. During the program, excerpts from the President's
General Conference addresses of past years were played.
Alexander Schreiner was at the Tabernacle organ: Jessie
Evans Smith sang: and Richard L. Evans added the spoken
word.43

KSL has been the originating station for a majority
of Mormon Church radio programming. However, because
Church programming also originates elsewhere, it would
seem wise to review briefly other religious broadcasting

activities of the Church, so that KSL's contribution may

 

4312ig., Vol. 48, No. 6, June, 1945, p. 331.

be placed 1
approach tc
H47, Gordc
to the Chur
Comittee,

years of 1:1

Choir 1
used t]
are nor
letter:
ers. :
Speakir
for th;

grams i
7,500 :
Single
come f:

Summ‘
originl
Franc1
York,
enligh
confin

radic
local
SChed;
and 1:
stati;
theSe
Radio

 

 

184

be placed in perspective in relation to the over-all
approach to religious broadcasting by the Church. In
1947, Gordon B. Hinckley, the former Executive Secretary
to the Church Radio, Publicity, and Mission Literature
Committee, in a Church News article, reviewed twenty-five
years Of broadcasting on KSL, then added:

In recent years distant lands have heard the

Choir by means of transcriptions. The armed services
used them on their far flung stations and recordings
are now shipped overseas for rebroadcast. Scores Of
letters have been received from appreciative listen-
ers. Some from EurOpe have been filled with pathos,
speaking of hunger and privation along with gratitude
for this soul comforting music.

tThe Mormon Columbia Church of the Airj pro-
grams are also of great missionary value. As many as
7,500 requests have been received for reprints of a
single Church Of the Air talk. Most of these have
come from non—members.

Summer and winter Church Of the Air programs have
originated with local members in Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, New
YOrk, and Washington, D. C. This has served to
enlighten those who have believed that Mormonism is
confined to the valleys of the mountains.

One highly important feature Of the Church

radio ministry is the production Of programs over
local stations in the missions. At the present time
scheduled broadcasts are presented by missionaries
and local Church members on approximately thirty-five
stations in various parts of the country. Most of
these utilize transcriptions issued by the Church
Radio, Publicity and Mission Literature Committee.

To meet Opportunities for fifteenuminute pro»
grams the Committee has recorded on standard radio
transcriptions almost one hundred numbers rendered
by the Tabernacle Choir and organists. Five minute
mimeographed talks are issued with these. The
missionaries then build their programs utilizing the
transcribed music and the mimeographed talks. Other
music and program aids are now in the course Of
preparation. Missionaries report that no one thing
helps so greatly in Opening doors when tracting as
do these radio programs.

185

All of this activity in the missions has in-
creased the Opportunity for Special radio programs
built around such matters as the visits of the
General Authorities.

Recentl KSUB in Cedar City h 3 carried the. . .
[Conference] programs. During the last Conference

an Idaho station sent a portable recorder tO a
mountain where reception was good, transcribed the
proceedings, and rebroadcast them.to its listeners.
Recordings were also made in Salt Lake City and
shipped by air to an Arizona station for rebroadcast
the following day. . . .

Through the COOperation Of KDYL in Salt Lake
City, the Primary Association has produced an inter-
esting children's program each Saturday morning
during recent months. Stories from_The Children{§
Friend are dramatized with good effect. The broad-
cast is designed to give children wholesome character-
building stories to offset the vast amount of question-
able material aimed at children by radio and publishers.

When the Church began its radio work in a small
way twentyhfive years ago, it was under the direction
of the Presiding BishOp. Later a member of the Council
of the Twelve supervised local broadcasts.

In October, 1935, to meet the ever increasing
demands and Opportunities, the Church Radio, Pub-
licity, and Mission Literature Committee was organ-
ized and given reSponsibility for the preparation
and supervision of materials used in proselyting
activities.

This Committee is comprised Of members of the
Council f the Twelve and First Council of Seventy,
with an Executive Secretary and assistants. Elder
Stephen L. Richards has served as chairman since its
establishment. Under its direction radio has become
a growing power in Spreading the message of the
Church. The past quarter Of a century has witnessed
significant progress. The next twentyufive [years]
should see the work greatly eXpanded. The mission Of
the Church is to spread the glad tidings of the
gospel. Radio has been a power and it should become
an even greater force in filling that mission.44

The year that the Tabernacle Choir celebrated twenty

years Of network radio broadcasting, 1949, was also the

44Gordon B. Hinckley, “Twenty Five Years of Radio
Ministry,“ Deseret News (Church News Section), April 26,
1947, pp. 4,5.

4

.4:

11

(n

186

year that a Mormon General Conference was first telecast,
on KSL-Television. General Conference sessions have been
telecast every year since then.

During the years since television was added to KSL's
Operation, KSL Radio has continued to bring religious
programming of all major faiths to its listeners. However,
the approach to religious programming on KSL has changed but
little during those years. There are still the Catholic Sun-
day evening sermons, the Protestant talks and music programs,
the Tabernacle Choir broadcasts, the Sunday evening Mormon
programs, the CBS Church of the Air, and the annual and semi-
annual Mormon General Conference broadcasts. There are
exceptions, of course, such as the 1961 KSL-originated CBS
religious-patriotic telecast, “Let Freedom.Ring,"which
featured the Tabernacle Choir, Laraine Day, and Richard
Boone. A study in broadcasting simplicity and beauty, it
won for KSL another George Foster Peabody award.

However, much remains to be done before religious
programming on KSL, and other broadcasting stations, reaches
the heights Of effectiveness envisioned by its producers.45
The radio and television media are available. The message
is vital. The next step, hOpefully, will be a concerted
effort to find more effective ways to present the message

over the broadcast media.

45See Everett C. Parker, David W. Barry, and Dallas
W. Smythe, The TelevisionuRadio Audience and Religion (New
YOrk: Harper and Brothers, 1955).

A! 5

by“

 

 

CHAPTER X
KSL~~A BALANCED VOICE

When Paul A. Walker was Chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission, he said: ”It is diversifi-
cation and balance of control that we want in American
radio."l That statement, with minor alterations, well
expresses KSL's avowed philosOphy of broadcasting, which,
in effect, states: It is diversification and balance in
our staff and our program offerings that we want at KSL.

In testimony before the Federal Communications Com-
mission during the 1946 Clear Channel Hearings, KSL
Public Service Director, Ralph W. Hardy, stated: “The KSL
staff is told that since KSL's radio audience represents
a cross-section Of the pOpulation of the Intermountain
area, programs should be designed to meet the desires and
requirements of as great a representative part of the
audience as possible.“2

How well has KSL accomplished its avowed purpose?

 

1Emery, p. 29.
2Ralph W. Hardy, “Testimony in behalf Of Radio

Station KSL,” Federal Communications Commission, Clear
Channel Hearing, Docket Number 6741, May, 1946, p. 16.

187

 

n?
as
u

re:

E31

188

Part Of the answer to that question is found in the three
preceding chapters dealing with KSL's involvement in
religion, agriculture, and music and the Spoken word.
However, to assess more fully KSL as a balanced voice, it
will be necessary to review not only a broader sCOpe of
its programming, but also the backgrounds of those

people at the station who have been involved in making
decisions which affect the image presented by KSL to its
audience.

A major change in station management, which re-
sulted in many changes in station policy, took place in
1938. In the spring of that year, KSL President, Sylvester
Q. Cannon, was sent to Europe by the Mormon Church. While
he was away, J. Reuben Clark, Jr. was elected President of
the Corporation, August 12, 1938. President Clark's first
order of business was to ask the Board to consider “the
Operating arrangement of the company with the Managing
Director [Earl J. Glade].3

At the next Board of Directors' meeting a new
agreement between Earl Glade and KSL was signed. It
stipulated in part:

1. Radio Broadcasters will write no more time
after October 1.
2. After October 1 Earl Glade will be paid a

salary of $9,000 per year. All Of Mr. Glade's
commissions on CBS and national programs will cease

 

3Minutes of Board Of Directors' Meeting, August
12, 1938.

 

 

 

ce:
in

V8:

QR!

we:

3&2

ca;

189

on October 1.

5. KSL will pay to Earl Glade a commission
of 6% on the absolute net Of KSL collections for each
year.
. . 7.. All Radio Breadcasters: contracts for broad-
casting will be taken over by KSL. . . . The employees
Of Radio Broadcasters will be taken over temporarily
by KSL.4

At the same meeting, salesmen's compensation was
scaled down from a 10-15 per cent range to an 8-12 per
cent range. President Clark also pointed out the need,
in his Opinion, of an adjustment in connection with the
various announcers' salaries, and he made note Of the
fact that KSL was overstaffed. He also ”felt the necessity
Of relieving Mr. Glade of the burden of the accounting
and detail management, leaving him free for promotiOnal
work.“5

Ivor Sharp was approved “to take over the financial
management of the Corporation, and also to act in the
capacity as an Assistant to the President."6 The fol-
lowing May, Sharp became Director of Station Operations,7
and a new trend was begun at KSL-~away from the innovative
sales and programming procedures Of the past, toward

financial conservatism and an emphasis on engineering

techniques.

 

4;p;g., October 12, 1938.
5110.13 .

62218-

1gbig., May 10, 1939.

190

Many of KSL's key personnel were lost for the dura-
tion of World War II. By 1946, however, many Of them
had returned, and KSL's staff, a mixture of the old and
the new, could accurately be referred to as a representa-
tive sample Of the men and women who have guided KSL's
fortunes from the beginning until today.8

J. Reuben Clark, Jr., President and Director of
the Corporation, was a former solicitor in the United
States State Department: under~secretary in the State
Department: a lawyer in New YOrk City and Washington, D. C.:
and U. S. Ambassador to Mexico. He was a director in
numerous companies including the Western Pacific Railroad
Company and the Equitable Life Assurance Company.

John F. Fitzpatrick, Vice President and Director
of KSL, was also a director of Silver King Coalition
Mines and Silver King Mining and Milling Company. He
was a director and Secretary of the Kearns Corporation:
Secretary and Treasurer of the Salt Lake Tribune Pub-
lishing Company: and Secretary and Treasurer of the Salt
Lake Telegram Publishing Company. He later became Pub—
lisher of those two newSpapers.

Ivor Sharp, Vice President, General Manager, and
Director, came to KSL from the American Telephone and

Telegraph Company where, for sixteen years, he had acted

8The brief sketches of the lives Of KSL personnel
which follow are taken from FCC, Clear Channel Hearigg,
Docket NO. 6741, Station KSL, Documentary Evidence, May,
1946, p. 35, 4l~45.

191

as a statistician, toll rate engineer, and commercial
problems engineer. He also was President and Director of
Southern Utah Broadcasting Company and Director of Idaho
Radio Corporation.

Joseph L. Wirthlin, Secretarbereasurer and Dir—
ector of KSL, was founder and partner in J. W. Wirthlin
and Sons, Wholesale and Retail Meat Market, Salt Lake
City: President of Joseph Wirthlin Company (family
investment company): President, Crown Consolidated Mining
Company: Second Counselor to the Presiding BishOp of
the Mormon Church: Director of Southern Utah Broadcasting
Company and of Idaho Radio Corporation.

Daniel H. Vincent, Assistant Treasurer, spent
eighteen years with the Accounting Department Of the Union
Pacific Railroad Company, followed by eighteen years (as
°f'll946) with KSL, successively as Commercial Manager,
Sales Manager, Purchasing Agent, Auditor, and Assistant
Treasurer.

Paul S. Dixon, Comptroller, was Vice President
of' the Equity Conservation Corporation Of New York City
for three years, and Supervisor, Trust and Real Estate
Departments, Bank Of the Manhattan Company, New York
City, for twelve years. He joined KSL as the Comptroller
in March, 1945.

Arch L. Madsen, Director Of Commercial Operations,

Spent two years with the United States Army Signal Corps

192

in charge of radio communications facilities at Fort
Iwissoula, Montana, before joining the KSL Engineering
Department in 1935. He has held management reSponsibilities
111 stations WLS, Chicago: KSL, Salt Lake City: KUTA, Salt
IAake City: KOVO, Provo: KSUB, Cedar City: KID, Idaho Falls:
and the Intermountain Network. In recent years he has
been a member of the Board of Directors of the National
Association Of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising
Bureau, and has been the Assistant Executive Director of
the Association of Maximum Service Telecasters. Today,
Ins is President of Bonneville International Corporation,
the corporate organization controlling all the broadcast
facilities of the Mormon Church.

Frank B. McLatchy, Sales Manager, had a background
1J1 general newspaper eXperience for seven years, as a
nEWSpaper advertising manager for two years, and a business
manager for a group Of three newspapers for two years.
He was an account executive at KSL for fifteen years
befcare becoming Sales Manager in 1945.

Lynn McKinley, Program Manager, had completed a
twt) year course plus one year post-graduate work at the
paSadena Playhouse School Of the Theater. He joined KSL
131 September, 1937, as Staff Announcer and Dramatic Artist.
331 1938, he was a finalist in a nationwide talent search,
"Gateway to Hollywood. “ His responsibilities at KSL evol-

ved from announcer, actor, and producer, to Supervisor Of

193

Public Service Broadcasts, Acting Program Manager, and
Program Manager.

Ralph‘W. Hardy, Public Service Director, began his
ennployment at KSL on April 1, 1937, as an announcer and
Eerducer. Two years later, he was appointed Continuity
IDirector. In 1940, he became a sales representative: then
is; 1942, he was appointed News and Information Supervisor
and Coordinator of National Defense Activities for the
station. During the following two years, he was, first,
'Ehe Program Manager, then the Public Service Director,
and was appointed a member of the National Association
Of Broadcasters Program Committee. In later years, he
became a Columbia Broadcasting System Vice President,
then the National Association of Broadcasters' Director
of Government Relations.

D. Lennox Murdoch, Director, Station Relations,
“363 hired as a KSL announcer in 1930. He progressed
t1"lll‘ough reSponsibilities as a writer, editor, and commerc-
c1111 manager. One of his major reSponsibilities after
he*‘was appointed Director, Station Relations, was to den
VelOp the farm prOgrams on KSL, which received wide local,
regional, and national recognition. Later he became
Director of Television Operations and a vice president
of the corporation.

Wayne F. Richards, Program Finance Supervisor, was

employed in various positions in the program department

194

from 1937 to 1941. He Spent his active duty years in
World War II as a Base and Staff Personnel Officer in
the Army Air Forces, and left the service with the rank
cof Lieutenant Colonel. Shortly after he rejoined the KSL
staffphe was appointed Program Finance Supervisor.

Edward B. Kimball, Supervisor, Public Service Pro-
4grams, started in radio work at KSL in 1926. He supervised
all children's programs and acted as a special events
rannouncer until 1929. He spent three years studying in
IErance and Switzerland, then returned to KSL in 1932 as
a staff announcer. From 1934 to 1938, he was employed
In! the National Broadcasting Company as an announcer,
producer, writer, and special events coordinator. He
served as Program Manager and Public Relations Manager of
Station KDYL, Salt Lake City, during 1938 and 1939. He
then returned to KSL: and from 1939 through 1942, was a
8taff announcer, producer, continuity director, and
aCJIiculture director. After World War II, he rejoined
time KSL staff and shortly was appointed Supervisor Of
Pliblic Service Programs.

Paul F. Royall, Supervisor, Commercial Programs,
Spent three years with Swift and Company before joining
KSL in 1942 as a staff announcer. He became a newscaster
and a producer in 1944, and was appointed Supervisor,
Coflmercial Programs, in September, 1945.

Richard W. Ashard, Supervisor, Program Operations,

195

studied radio announcing, writing, and producing with

Dona Balli of Radio Arts Academy. He started in radio

in 1935. He wrote, produced, and announced the radio
pxrogram “Embarrassing Moments." He was a staff member

(of “Radio Newsreel,“ where he handled Special events,
interviews, and newscasting. He was Owner-Manager of

'the Ace Recording Company and an active member of Hollywood
‘theater groups. In 1943, he joined the staff of KSL as
(an.announcer, newscaster, and producer.

Stanley C. Farnsworth, Farm Program Supervisor, was,
duudng'most of his early life a successful, practical
farmer. He spent several years on the stage and in radio
1J1 Los Angeles before becoming a KSL farm.writer in 1944,
and the KSL Farm Program Supervisor in 1945. His back-
ground and qualifications were discussed more fully in
the chapter on agricultural programming.

Lawson S. C. Davies, News Editor, spent two years
983 News Editor, Writer, and Announcer at station.KOVO,
P-‘l='<3vo, before joining the KSL staff in 1941. After four
Years of service during World War II, he returned to KSL
Elma shortly thereafter was made News Director.

Louise Hill Howe, Producer, received a Master of
Aarts degree from the University Of Utah, with a major in
Speech and Theater. She started her career in radio in
1932, Spent two years in a professional stock company,
and did additional graduate work in radio (with an emphasis

in radio writing) at the University Of Wisconsin. She

196

started the radio theatrical group, ”KSL Players,” which
continued to produce radio drama for KSL‘s audience for
rmore than fifteen years.

Francis Urry, Producer, had twenty years background
:Ln.amateur and professional stage acting and production
before coming to KSL. He joined the KSL staff in 1936 as
a dramatic artist, actor, and producer. He Spent six
jyears instructing in dramatic arts and speech, including
ran.affiliation with the McCune School Of Music and Art,
Salt Lake City. He was a free lance radio character
actor on such network productions as “Guiding Light, "
“Amrica in the Air, " and “Chicago Theater of the Air.”

Parley Baer, Producer, had appeared in more than
fifty dramatic and musical productions by 1946. He was
erl'lployed by KSL in 1938, and served as Assistant Produc-
tion manager and Director of Special Events as well as
fillfilling assignments as commentator, actor, and producer.
After the War, he returned to KSL as Program Director of
RisLaffiliated stations. He went to Hollywood shortly
tJIereafter, where he has appeared as a character actor
111 dozens of radio, television, and motion picture
Productions, including the role of Chester in the radio
Series, “Gun Smoke."

James A. Peterson, AnnounceruPrOducer, started his
radio career with station KICK, Atlantic, Iowa. He

traveled widely in the United States, Canada, Cuba, and

197

Central America before joining the KSL staff in 1942, Spec-
ializing in news and special events broadcasts.

Paul Alexander, Announcer-Producer, was an announ-
<:er for station WCAX, Carthage, Illinois, in 1938 and
11939. He came to Salt Lake City in 1939 and was announ-
<:er and Musical Director of station KUTA during 1939
‘through 1941. He produced and emceed many servicemen's
news and entertainment programs during the War, and he was
an American Broadcasting Company representative in North-
ern Australia during six months of his service career.
Inpon release from the service in 1945, he joined the staff
of KSL.

Carl Greyson, Announcer-Producer, began his radio
career with station WHA, Madison, Wisconsin, in 1934.
AUEter Spending three years there, he affiliated with a
8thinner stock company in New York City during the 1937
season. He came to KSL in 1939 as a staff announcer and
d-‘l‘-"amatic artist. His radio career was interrupted for
ff>ur years while he served in World War II, after which
he returned to KSL in 1946.

Dan Keeler, Announcer-Producer, develOped his real
1J1terest in radio as a director of the Radio WorkshOp
at the University Of Utah. He gained micrOphone ex-
Perience at KOVO, Provo, and KSUB, Cedar City, Utah.

He joined the staff Of KSL in 1944 as an announcer-

Producer .

198

J. Allen Jensen, Announcer-Producer, was employed
'by KSL in 1936 as a Staff announcer. He traveled ex-
‘tensively in EurOpe during 1937-39, and served as an
executive Officer in the Army Special Services Division
:1n the entertainment and education section during the
VVar. He studied at Trinity College of Music, London,
and returned to KSL in 1946.

John Woolf, Announcer-Producer, spent 1934-36 with
'the Columbia Broadcasting System in New York in guest
.relations, sound effects, scripting and staging. He was
an Operator-announcer at KID, Idaho Falls, Idaho, during
£1938. During the years 1939-44, he was an announcer,
writer, Assistant Program Manager,and Assistant Program
Director of station KDYL, Salt Lake City. He was
lnmarded the H. P. Davis Award for outstanding announ-
cing by the National Broadcasting Company in 1943. In
1946, after two years in the Armed Forces, he joined KSL
‘8 an announcer-producer.

Wayne Kearl, Supervisor of Continuity, received
his university training in journalism at Brigham Young
University, where he became an instructor in journalism
End the Editor of the school magazine. He was the
Assistant Director of the Publicity Bureau at Brigham
Young University for two years, and later he became
Editor of the Cardston Weekly News in Alberta, Canada.

He was Continuity Editor and News Editor of station

199

KOVO before he joined the staff of KSL as News Editor.
Later, he became Continuity Editor of the station. Today,
he is the General Manager Of the Columbia Broadcasting
System television outlet in San Antonio, Texas.

Foster COpe, Director, Staff Orchestra, graduated
from the New England Conservatory Of Music, Boston,
Massachusetts. He was music arranger for station KHJ,
Los Angeles, California, and also the Arranger and Assis-
tant Musical Director for Ferde Grofs', Hollywood Play-
house, the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles, and the Geary
and Alcazar Theaters in San Francisco. He conducted
the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and worked with
the National Broadcasting Company in San Francisco be-

fore joining the KSL staff in 1942.

C. Richard Evans, Chief Engineer, was an engineer
for station KDYL for two years, KLO for six months and
KJR for one year. He joined KSL in 1927, became Assis-
tathhief Engineer in 1941 and Chief Engineer in 1944.
During 1942-44, he worked with the Office of Scientific
ROeearch and DevelOpment, united States Government.
Later, he became General Manager of the KSL Corporation
find was instrumental in setting up a television facility
in Hawaii.

Eugene G. Pack, Technical Director, started his

radio career as an engineer at station KLO, Ogden. He

JOined KSL in 1930 and was made Chief Engineer the same

200

year. In 1944, he did special research with the Office
of Scientific Research and DevelOpment, being assigned to
the Technical Liaison Division, Office of Chief Signal
Officer, Paris.

Rollow C. Kimball, Operations Engineer, has been
With KSL sine 1929. He was transmitter supervisor in
1942 when called into the Signal Corps. He returned to
KSL in 1945 as Operations Engineer. Today, he is Chief
Engineer, KSL-Television.

Melvin B. Wright, Studio Supervisor, spent two
Years at a radio trade school before joining KSL in 1932.
Ten years later, after working in many engineering re-
sPOI‘isibilities, he was appointed KSL Studio Supervisor.

Maurice J. Jones, Transmitter Supervisor, began his
radio career at station KID, Idaho Falls, Idaho. He
Joined the KSL engineering staff in 1939, and was made
KSL Transmitter Supervisor in 1945. Today, he is Chief
Eu9:1.neer, KSL-Radio.

To evaluate further KSL's ”balanced voice“ philo-
'°Phy, several station studies were made covering the
1941-45 period.9 In 1941, sustaining programs on KSL
‘mlnounted to 41.4 per cent of total time on the air.
c-‘-<>lumercially sponsored programs amounted to 58.6 per
cCut. The four subsequent years showed 41.4 and 58.6,
36.3 and 63.2, 32.7 and 76.3, and 34.6 and 65.4 per

\

92212., pp. 137-41.

201

cent, respectively.

In analyzing the ratio of program origination bee
tween KSL and CBS, it was found that in 1941, KSL origin-
ated 40.4 per cent of all programs. CBS originated 59.6
per cent. In the following four years, the comparable
percentages were 41.9 and 58.1, 42.2 and 57.8, 38.0 and
62- o, and 37.3 and 62.7.

In classifying KSL programs as to content, it was
found that, in 1941, KSL programmed its average broad-
cast day with 72.9 per cent entertainment, 20.07 per
cent. education and news, 3.67 per cent religion, 1.9 per
cent agriculture, 1.28 per cent government, and .8 per
cent civic programs. The following four years showed
a11>.r.31:'oximately the same pattern except that entertainment
Programs drOpped about seven percentage points while
educational and news programs increased about four per-
°°ntage points, with the remaining three percentage
Points picked up by the other types of programming.

Public service programs aired by KSL in 1944
‘mountaa to 1,344348 hours, with KSL originating 660: 30
h°urs and CBS originating 684318 hours. In 1945, total
time given to public service programming on KSL was
138.1325 hours, with KSL originating 695:57 hours and CBS
OJTiginating 685328 hours.

During the four year period, 1942 to 1945, inclusive,

KSIL. received a total Of 119,198 pieces of mail from

202

listeners in all but four counties Of the eleven Western
States.10 Following are some of the public service
programs, which, together with programs noted in previous
chapters, elicited this mail reSponseg

On Tuesday, September 4, 1945, KSL broadcast exp
clusively the full proceedings Of the Mass Interdenom—
inational Peace Meeting.ll It was aired from 8:00 to
9: 30 p.m., Mountain War Time. President George Albert
Smith of the Mormon Church conducted the program. There
were talks by BishOp Arthur W. Moulton of the Episcopal
Church, BishOp Duane G. Hunt of the Catholic Church,
Reverend Lyons of the Salt Lake Ministerial Association,
Rabbi Luchs of Temple B'nai Israel, and J. Reuben Clark,
Jr., . First Counselor to the President of the Mormon
Church. The music for the program was provided by the
Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir.

In November, 1944, a series of programs, I'Utah
cDileges on the Air“ was instituted.‘12 These programs
°riginated with the three institutions of higher learning
in the State, namely: the University of Utah, the Utah
stfite Agricultural College, and the Brigham Young Univer-
sity. Programs were heard Friday evenings from 10:00

t° 10:30 O'clock. The purpose Of the series was to give
\

1°Ib1d., p. 11.
111bid., p. 142.
lzlbid.

203

each university the Opportunity to express itself on
tapics with which it was especially interested. In
conjunction with this program, KSL offered each school
an annual $200.00 scholarship to be awarded to students
who showed outstanding ability in the field of radio
broadcasting (writing, announcing, production, etc.).

On Christmas Eve, 1945, KSL presented the “Christmas
Carol“ from 10:00 to 11:00 o'clock, which had been trans-
cribed earlier from.the CBS network. From.ll:00 p.m.
to uddnight, KSL presented, in its initial appearance,
the Utah State Symphony Orchestra from Kingsbury Hall at
the University of Utah campus, with a program of Christmas
“naic. At midnight, the Christmas Eve Mass from.the
Cathederal of the Madeleine was presented, with Catholic
Bli-shop Duane 6. Hunt presiding and officiating."L3

In cooperation with the Geneva Steel Company and
the Union Pacific Railroad Company, on August 19, 1944,
KSL originated a Columbia Broadcasting System program
On the growth, develOpment, and status of the Geneva
Steel Plant near Provo, Utah, the largest steel plant
'Which had been built west of the Mississippi River.14

It had been built at a cost of $200,000,000.00.
Howard R. Driggs of New Yerk university, who was President

of the American Pioneer Trails Association, narrated the

¥

13Ibid.
1412.120. p. 143.

204

broadcast. The program included a narrative of the
colonization of the West, including Brigham Young's
prOphecy in 1859 to the effect that a large steel plant
would one day be built in Utah Valley. MicrOphones had
been placed at strategic locations throughout the plant
at Geneva, and Department Supervisors gave graphic
descriptions of operations at this ultra-modern steel
plant.

In mid~December of 1940 and 1941, KSL originated
mass meetings of all the churches which had participated
in the series of programs, “Ybur Hymns and Mine."15
SOloists and choirs and musical groups of nineteen dif-
ferent denominations came together for a broadcast of
Seasonal music representative of the various groups.
Some 400 different musicians participated in this
Program.

A series of seventy-eight programs dramatizing
‘Ehe events of the history of the area covered by KSL's
Signal was presented each Wednesday evening from 9:30
to 10:00 o'clock. The KSL Players participated in this
series.16

For three summers, 1943, 1944, and 1945, KSL
arranged broadcasts of the internationally famous Roth

String Quartette when it made its appearance at the

_‘

151bid., p. 144.
161bid.

 

 

Brigharr
years.

A
was air
states
unite t'
the MI

E.
year by
and the
Of these
System,
made ava

On
local Sp
to bring
DEIano R
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death, K
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205

Brigham Young University Music Festival each of those
years.17

.A special program concerning the War Bond Drive
was aired on KSL February 12, 1944. Governors of the
states of Utah and Idaho appeared on the program to
unite the efforts of the two states in the interests of
the Drive.18

Election night coverage was provided each election
year by KSL in cooperation with the Salt Lake Tribune
and the Wire Services. Through the combined efforts
Of these organizations and the Columbia Broadcasting
SYstem, complete local, state, and national returns were
made available to KSL listeners.19

On April 13, 14, and 15, 1945, KSL cancelled all
local spot announcements and commercial programs in order
‘UD bring the memorial services for President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt to the peOple of the Intermountain West.2°
At 9:30 o‘clock on the night of President Roosevelt's
death, KSL fed a program of apprOpriate music by the
‘Tabernacle Choir and organ to the CBS network.

The problems faced by amputee veterans returning

to civilian life were highlighted in an Army Day broadcast

‘

17%.
18M.
.1.9“]_;_}___,__j-__¢_1.o
20_];lg__;_1_go

206

originated by KSL from the Army's Bushnell General Hos-
pital and carried over the CBS network.21 The program
was carried on the network April 6, 1946. Interviews
with amputees were conducted. Their message, in effect,
was: I‘We've proved our manhood, treat us like men. We ask
no special favors, only an even break. Given a fair
chance we can pull our ownweight."22

There have been many assaults made on the “measured
mile“ of the Bonneville Salt Flats, 120 miles west of
Salt Lake City. KSL had been there to report most of
these.

Sir Malcolm Campbell selected the Utah Salt Flats
£8 the site for his attempt to break the land speed
record in 1935. KSL reported, in September of that year,
that he was the first man to drive a car over 300 miles
anhour.23

In the months of August and September of 1938,
Captain George E. T. Eyston and John R. Cobb each made
JPUns over the measured mile. For these events KSL fed
7broadcasts to New YOrk City, where they, in turn, were
rebroadcast across the Atlantic to the British Broad-
casting Corporation. A year later, in August, 1939,

John Cobb set a world's record on the Salt Flats of 368.8

¥

211bid., p. 145.
221bid.

23Ibid.

207

mniles an hour.

For all these runs, KSL provided thorough broad-
<=ast coverage. The station installed four shortwave
'transmitters and kept a complete engineering staff at the
‘Salt.Flats to maintain them. A complete announcing and
jproduction staff was also on hand to bring minute-bye
minute results of these events.

For a period of some sixteen years, 1932 to 1948,
hundreds of dramatic radio plays were written and produced
at KSL.24 The “KSL Radio Playhouse“ was one of the most
familiar and most popular programs aired on KSL. The
KSL Players were in constant demand, both at the station
and at many of the local legitimate stage Operations.
Some of the dramatic broadcasts offered by KSL were:

”The Choice of the People“—-a twentybsix week series
dramatizing the lives of the nation's presidents.

“Pioneer Trails'--a twenty-six week series which
dramatized the cultural and industrial develOpments of
communities in the Intermountain West.

“The Intermountain Empire March of Progress'--a
twenty program series which spanned three seasons. This
program saluted communities in Idaho, Arizona, Nevada,

and Utah, and was broadcast to coincide with local

celebrations.

”Tall Tales“-a series dramatizing humorous whoppers

 

24%. , pp. 152-53.

208

submitted by listeners .

“Mary and John'--the first locally produced daytime
serial .

”Good Morning, Judge“--a series based on actual
acriminal court records, dedicated to the problem of com-
‘bating Juvenile delinquency.

“Headlines in the News'--a rapid-fire ‘March of
Time' type broadcast which dramatized important news events
while they were still news.

“Trails of the Great Northwest“--a dramatization
of the fur-trading industry of the Northwest.

“John D. Spencer“--a series featuring one of the
old guards at the famous Salt Lake Theater. This series
depicted the settlement, growth, and cultural develOp-

ment of Salt Lake City.

"The Death.Watchfi--a series of mystery thrillers,
some of them based on actual Utah State Prison records.

”Junior League“--a series of dramatizations concerned
with children's stories. This was a regular Saturday
morning feature for many years, produced in cooperation
with the Salt Lake City Junior League.

“Story Telling Time“««a fiveutimes~a-week series
which continued for three seasons. The series presented
dramatized fairy tales~-some old favorites, some new

originals. Young peOple and their parents were invited to

the studios to watch the broadcasts.

209

“Pioneer Tales'--a new treatment of old tales con-
cerning the develOpment of the Intermountain West.

"Gerald and Edwin Bates"--a series of weekly half-
hour comedy drama shows. This comedy team made hundreds
of personal appearances in behalf of local charities as
KSL representatives.

“Special Dramatic Salutes"--programs prepared to
commemorate such events as 'The Driving of the Golden
Spike,‘ and 'Birthday of California Statehood.’

During one thirteen-week series of dramatic pre-
sentations, a listener response survey was conducted.
Requests for pictures of the KSL Players were received
from 49,600 listeners in forty states, Alaska, Hawaii,
Mexico, and South America.25

The KSL Players, in 1940 and 1941, presented two
J~°gitimate productions at a downtown Salt Lake City
theater and one in an Ogden theater. Proceeds from these
Productions were turned over to the American Red Cross--
mOre than $5,000.00 to the Salt Lake County chapter: more
than $2,000 to the Weber County chapter.26

Tastes in music always have varied widely among
KSL's large, heterogeneous audience: and KSL has recog-

nized its responsibility for programming to these divergent
thates.

k

A review of a week's program schedule in July,

251bid., p. 153.

26Ibid.

210

1945, for example, revealed this musical potpourri: Taber-
nacle Choir and organ music, the Stradavari Orchestra,
the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Nocturnal
Symphony, Songs of Harry Clarke, Western Jamboree, Tic Toc
Tunes, Hits of the Day, Band of the Day, Songs of Carol
Francis, Jimmy Carroll Sings, Johnny White Orchestra,
Music of the Americas, Great Moments in Music, the Henry
King Orchestra, Invitation to Music, America Melody
Hour, Interlude for Strings, Columbia Masterworks, Sun
Up Tune Time, Moods in Rhythm, Show Tune Time, Donald
Vorhees Orchestra, Eddie Stone Orchestra, the KSL Orches-
tra, the Les Brown Orchestra, Irene Beasley Songs, the
Korn Kobblers, The Chansonettes All-Girl Chorus, Easy
Rhythm, Songs by Jack Kerr, St. Louis Municipal Opera,
Your Hit Parade, Saturday Night Serenade, Gene Krupa
Orchestra, Hollywood Barn Dance, and Georgie Guld
Orchestra.

As an added service to its listeners, KSL, in 1934,
hrranged to have a time signal “beep tone“ tripped on
the hour by Western Union circuit direct from the Naval
C3bi=3.ervatcry at Arlington, Virginia.27 It was soon
diScovered that oneuninth of a second was lost in the
transmission of the signal from Arlington to Salt Lake
City. KSL engineers, after consulting with Western Union

e”gineers, worked out a way to compensate for this loss

N

-—---——- --A _M ..u-.__.- ——_..__

27Ibid., p. 270.

211

Of time during transmission of the signal. As a result,
KSL‘ s time signal is highly and dependably accurate.

One of the problems in putting this time signal
861:"?1ce into Operation was the selection of the tone which
would most suit the average listener. It was decided
that 2,500 cycles would be the best average frequency,
but it was soon discovered that some individuals could
not; hear a tone of that frequency. As a result, a 1,200
CYC 1e tone was added, and one-half of the 2,500 cycle
tone was retained. With this combination, almost every-
one could hear the tone and still not be Jarred when it
was broadcast.

Since the inauguration of the time signal on KSL,
January 1, 1934, residents in KSL's coverage area have
C3<>Iue to depend on this hourly signal for accurate time.
caED‘tzains of ships at sea have written to express their
‘ppreciation for its value in checking the accuracy of
the 1r chronometers. Airplane instruments at military
installations have been checked for accuracy against
the KSL time signal. Seismic stations of the U. S.
Goa st and Geodetic Survey have been synchronized with
this signal.

Over the years, KSL has received a number of awards
in recognition of outstanding public service broadcasting.

SQme of the major awards received during the time covered

212

by this study are:28

The _V_a_1:_i_e£y magazine Showmanship Award of 1937.
This award was presented to KSL for “Community Showmanship
on a Prestige Subsidiary Station.“

The George Foster Peabody Radio Awards of 1944
recOgnized KSL for “Outstanding Entertainment in Music”
for its 'Music and the Spoken Word' series featuring

the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and organ and the voice of

Riel-lard L. Evans.

KSL received the award “for the most educational
bOOth at the Utah State Fair“ in 1943. A similar award

was presented KSL in 1944.
The City College of New YOrk presented an Honorable

Mention award to KSL in 1946 “for an unusually effective
PUblic service radio program develOped by a clear channel
at“-Q‘tion: 'This Business of Farming.”

On May 6th of the same year, the Institute for
ECilstcation by Radio, Columbus, Ohio, presented a first
‘"Ward to KSL for “This Business of Farming.“ Competition
W‘s among regional and clear channel stations. The
Q"~'—‘-'Qompanying citation read; “For informational content
find lively entertaining style, also for unusually good
Judgment in program planning and production resulting

in high listener interest.“

From the early days of American radio, stations have
\ ._
ZQLQiso. pp. 181u860

213

been charged with the responsibility of programming “in
the public interest, convenience, or necessity.“ Stations
such as KSL, reaching vast areas with clear channel
Signals, have had the reSponsibility compounded because
Of the widely divergent audiences within their coverage
areas. To meet this reSponsibility, KSL, as a matter

0f policy, has attempted to program to the many audiences
renter than to one Specialized segment of the total

and ience. KSL never has been a primarily-music station
or a. primarily-news station or a primarily-sports station
or a primrilywdrana station. Rather, it has striven
for a well-rounded diversification in its plans, its
Personnel, its programming. Both its precepts and its
Practices have been based on the philosOphy Of creating a
balanced radio voice for the peOple of the Intermountain

West.

CHAPTER XI

THE VOICE'S POLICIES AND STANDARDS

Emerson once said; "What you are stands over you

thee *while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you

5a}; 1

0 0 O

This quotation suggests that performance is

moxree important than policy, and there are few who would

disscagree with such philOSOphy. However, in an historical

Stladiy, it would seem wise to analyze both performance and
Policy with the thought of comparing the two, and of seek-

ing to discover when and how policy has affected perfor-

maJice. Preceding chapters have gone into some detail

cml‘tlining the performance of radio station KSL. This

chapter will be concerned with the policies and standards

develOped at the s taticn over the years, and with the

relationship of these policies and standards to the actual
Performance Of the station.

The most complete statement of policy prepared by

KSLwasdeveloped during the early 1940's. It was

Published in 1942 in a book of instructions called

w

1Ralph Waldo Emerson, L§:ters and Social Aims,
quoted in John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations (Boston:

Little, Brown and Company, 1951) p. 415.

 

214

215

Station KSL at Work--0Lerating Practices."2 During the
frillowing four years these instructions were revised several
‘tiJnes. In 1946 they were presented to the Federal Commun-
ications Commission as part of KSL's case for continuation
of its clear channel status. These 1946 statements of
KSL policy, which appear in the Appendixes of this study,
mirmclude “general program standards and policies, specific
program policies, news program standards, agricultural
program policies, religious program standards, educational
Program standards, public service program standards,
Sustaining program standards, political program standards,
Stzandards for children's programs, and KSL commercial
8 tandard s . “ 3

These standards and policies were the result of
‘txwenty years of broadcasting experience: and although much
0f the early eXperience was from trial and error, a thread
<31: station policy was present from the very beginning. A
rcsminder was given on the first program on KZN that "By
“Keane of this radio station, the peseret News proposes to
..rve you daily with news bulletins, music, weather re-
POrts and other data of interest.“

It is apparent that KSL never considered itself

merely a Salt Lake City station or merely a Utah station

¥

2FCC, §tation KSLJDocumentary Evidence, p. 18.
31bid., pp. 19-33.

4Deseret News, May 8, 1922.

216

because its programming and promotion consistently in-
cluded reference to important happenings of interest to
zcasidents in Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, California,
and beyond. Special programs were beamed to the East
<3c>astq the Mid—West, the Far North, the Far East, and to
slaios at sea. Such programs helped fulfill KSL's policy
tlaat ”Every individual within KSL's area should daily
fzind some of his Special interests reflected in KSL
programs. "5

An early policy statement encouraged "broadcasting
13)r anyone at any time provided it does not encourage
.r61cial, religious, or governmental prejudice, or anything
iridecent or profane."6

Although it was common practice to use a great deal
be3 local musical talent in early broadcasting, KSL went
<Dr1e step farther in its policy concerning music presented
<Dr1 the station, and encouraged listeners throughout the
Iratermountain area to compose words and music for possible
broadcast use by KSL.7

On occasions, KSL served both major radio networks
SiJnultaneously. A speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the
Salt Lake City Tabernacle in 1932, for example, was fed to

both networks by KSL.E3

5FCC, gtation KQLJ Docgmgntary Evidence, p. 19.

6Board of Directors' Meeting Minutes, October 14, 1927.
793.51., July 31, 1931, and September 15, 1931.

8mg” September 20, 1932.

217

All available KSL records indicate that public
service programs received ample air time each year. For
example, during the first six months of 1934, approximately
455 hours of public service programs were broadcast (an
average of two and one-half hours a day). These broad-
casts included programs for educational institutions,
civic groups, charitable and public health organizations,
churches and other religious bodies, governmental and
political organizations, and farm and labor groups.9

As an indication of the monetary value of public
service programs broadcast free by KSL, in l939,those
Programs would have cost $20,764.00 at the regular com-
mercial rate. Public service programs broadcast in 1940,
figured on the same basis, would have cost $23,149.00.

KSL was active in getting a radio artists bureau
Started "to develop talent, [and to] organize talent
for use not only for radio stations but for other enter-
tainmntfldo

Quality of KSL programming was a prime concern
With ownership and management. "Make it comparable
to the most outstanding network production, “ seemed to
be their constant goal. And when local production per-
sonnel could not come up to KSL standards, suggestions

were made I'that a first class director be brought in for

_.

91bid., September 18, 1934.

1°Ib1d., April 20, 1936.

218

instructing purposes in order to provide programs that
would be comparable to the best. “11

During World War II, when many employees were
entering the armed services, radio personnel were in short
supply and long demand. This resulted in the practice of
radio stations "raiding" other radio stations for needed
employees. Since 50,000 watt, clear channel KSL carried
with it a certain aura of prestige in the Intermountain
area, the temptation to find replacements from other local
stations was present. To clarify KSL's position on this
touchy matter, Ivor Sharp, KSL General Manager, issued a
statement that “Station Management had not and would not
solicit, encourage, or otherwise attempt to entice em-
ployees of radio stations in this vicinity to work at
KSL to the detriment of the other station.“2

Following World War II, KSL was criticized for the
lfirge number of mystery programs which were appearing on
the station during periods of high listening by children.
Several suggestions were made by management, such as
11uniting the scheduling of such programs until after
93 30 p.m.l3 Although no policy was formally adOpted, a
nutTiber of network programs deemed unsatisfactory for

children were taken off the air.
\_

11.1.1933.“ February 7, 1940.
”leis.“ August 10, 1942.

113-1&9.“ July 31. 1947.

219

The problem of who controls program.policy--the
sales department or the program.department--was brought

into focus in 1946. In analyzing the problem, Ivor Sharp

stated:

Radio salesmen have insisted that they were
in the best position to know about the needs of the
Sponsor, that they were the ones who should arrange
the schedule satisfactory to him, and moreover, that
they were best able to Judge the type of program the
Sponsor would purchase. As a consequence, the Pro-
gram peOple, who are supposed to know more about
programs than anyone else, have been left on the
outside in reapect to many vital program considera-
tions. In many instances, the Sales peOple have
sold that which appealed to them personally, rather
than the programs prepared for sale, or the type
most suited to the schedule. While we fully appreciate
the necessity of meeting the needs of the sponsors,
nevertheless, we believe they can be better served by
the change proposed [returning the control of program
policy to the Program Department].14

The new policy was initiated at KSL in the fall of
1946°

KSL guarded its image closely, not only concerning
PITJgramming but also concerning commercial announcements
‘niixch might appear over its facilities. During the early
1940's, when transcriptions were becoming more pOpular,
advertisers in Salt Lake City began suggesting that tran-
Scribed commercials using talent from one station could
‘“5141 be used on other stations. KSL issued the policy
t¥uaizg

KSL should not be a party with other local
stations in the presentation of the same broadcast

 

l‘eradio Service Corporation of Utah, Report to the
Write. September 12, 1946.

220

for business firms: that such broadcasting was not

in the best public interest or the best interest of
the station as the practice would bring all stations
to the same level: therefore, KSL would neither make
transcription records or accept transcription records
made by other local stations for commercial release.15

Although KSL today recognizes all of the major
lxocal advertising agencies, and works with them very
cfilosely and harmoniously, station management was slow to

accept the local agencies' expansion into radio adver-

txising. As late as November, 1946, KSL's official attitude
tcnaard local advertising agencies, as reported by the

General Manager to the President, was:

Local advertising agencies have never, nor are
they now performing a real service to radio. As a
matter of fact, they offer a problem to us rather
than a help, and better relations should be established
between radio stations and local advertising agencies.
Now these agencies offer a continual threat by their

attempts to dictate program policies. For the most
part they have not to date made a contribution to radio

in this area.16
As a part of its policy toward education, KSL,
in; 1944, established radio scholarships at the three
fCHar-year institutions of higher learning in Utah-~Utah
State Agricultural College, University of Utah, and
31‘ igham Young University. Each scholarship was in the
“mount of $200.00 and was to be awarded to those who had

shown outstanding ability in speech, writing, improvement

\

194 15Board of Directors' Meeting minutes, October 18,
3.

16Radio Service Corporation of Utah (Radio Station
KSL), Report to the President,_Progress Summaries, Finan-

§§E5l_§tatements, Special Studies, bound typescript, Novemp
*er'lS, 1946, p. 2 of ”Pending Problems at KSL.“

221

of farm broadcasts, or similar endeavors.l7

At this same time, KSL made' available one-half
hour each week to be shared on a rotating basis by the
three universities}8 Programs were to be prepared and
produced by the universities, with facilities and engin-
eering personnel provided by KSL.

One of the knotty problems with which KSL has been
faced for years is the development of a policy toward the
advertising of tea, coffee, tobacco, and alcoholic bev-
erages on the station. The Mormdn Church, KSL majority
stockholder since 1925, advocates a policy which speaks of
the deleterious effect of these products on the human
body. This "Word of Wisdom" is a deeply religious prin-
ciple in many Mormons' lives. Setting policy to please
Church membership and, at the same time, to fulfill its
Obligation to the entire audience of its 50,000 watt,
c=~'Lear channel signal, has been a difficult and often
frustrating experience for KSL Management.

In the early days of radio, KSL would permit no
aavert-rising of tea, coffee, tobacco, beer, or wine over
its facilities. Gradually, however, this ban was relaxed
On everything but alcoholic beverages (concerning tobacco,

KSL, on several occasions, found itself in the paradoxical

\

17Board of Directors' Meeting minutes, September
25. 1944.

181big.

222

position of accepting tobacco advertising and antiutobacco

I

advertising simultaneously). In researching this area of

KSL's Operations, however, it was discovered that most of

the policy indecision and fluctuation occurred over the

advertising of beer and wine on KSL.19

In a Board of Directors' meeting in 1951, it was
brought out that "KSL formerly took beer sponsored programs
and they had been discontinued when he EJ. Reuben Clark,

Jr.,] became President of the Corporation [August 12, 1938]. “20

The agenda for a Board of Directors' meeting, Feb-
ruary 8, 1943, listed item number two as “Change in policy

of both networks in respect to liquor trade: NBC and CBS

ncnv accepting beer and wine accounts. KSL has refused to

carry.“ Minutes of this Board meeting, however, reveal no

discussion of this matter.

The refusal to carry beer or wine advertising on KSL

Continued for many years. In 1950, Station Manager 0.
Richard Evans “suggested that KSL's policy of accepting

no beer or wine advertising be enlarged to include 'no

demonstration of the Operation of a lethal weapon. “'21

As television began to develOp into a major advertising

\ —r ‘ A; ,AA __ _._

19See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 89, for a dis—
gussion of the Mormon Church's beliefs concerning tea, cofu-
ee, tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

195 20Minutes of Board of Directors' Meeting, October 25,
l.

1950 21Minutes of KSL Department Head Meeting, March 27,

223

medium, pressures on KSL from national beer advertisers,
through the Columbia Broadcasting System, began to be
:felt. Station President Clark held a meeting on the
snibject with other members of the General Authorities of
the Mormon Church. The minutes of a KSL Executive Com-
rnitxee meeting in 1951 summarized this meeting as follows:

President Clark reported a meeting with other
General Authorities in which the subject of discussion
was beer, wine, and tobacco advertising on KSL and
KSL-TV. Several points were made. (1) When KSL or
KSL~TV refuses such business, it does not stOp it
from reaching the young people, because KDYL and
KDYL—TV release the programs offered. (2) A decision
must be made to Operate KSL and KSL—TV in the very
best manner with the realization that to do so it
seems necessary to carry beer and tobacco advertising
or that the Church should get out Of the business
entirely. To do the latter thing would release the
control of the facilities to parties who may not
exercise any discrimination.2

At another Executive Committee meeting held a month
later, General Manager C. Richard Evans:

. . . reported the disturbed and insecure
status of present TV network affiliations. He enlarged
on the vigorous competition for time between ABC and
CBS [KSL-TV was carrying programs from‘both networks],
resulting largely from.KSL-TV's reluctance to accept
programs Sponsored by beer accounts. In the general
discussion which followed, a deep concern was eXpressed
over the loss to . . . competition of toP-rated pro-
grams'with beer commercials without accomplishing
the Church objective of keeping the young peOple free
from such inducements. Mr. Evans enlarged on the
advisability of maintaining affiliation with CBS and
prOposed that in the “squeeze,“ which is inevitable
and maybe immediate, that KSL Management be empOwered
to make a decision, subject to later reconsideration

22Minutes of the KSL Executive Committee meeting
rusld August 23, 1951, at 47 East South Temple Street,
Shalt Lake City, Utah.

224

by the Executive Committee.23
Policy concerning network broadcasts on KSL sponsored
by beer accounts was established at a Board of Directors'
meeting in October, 1951.

President Clark then raised for discussion the
question as to whether or not KSL and KSLPTV should
accept programs sponsored by beer accounts. He called
attention to KSLPAM.8 position, past and present,
as a clear channel station and its importance as a
link in the CBS Network: he outlined the changes in
the radio generally as the result of the growth of
television and the struggle for position and business
now going on among the networks, both AM and TV; he
called attention to the difficult positions in which
KSL had been placed recently as a result of its
policy against the acceptance of beer accounts and
stated that under the circumstances it appeared clear
that neither KSL nor KSL-TV could be dominant and
influential if the Corporation continued to refuse to
accept beer programs. In reaching his conclusion,
President Clark pointed out that the dominance of a
station depended not alone upon its physical equip-
ment, but also to an equal, if not a greater, extent
upon its audience: that to maintain an audience you
must have programs to which people will listen: that
if you lost a part of your audience (and audience
ratings were more or less carefully recorded by
advertising agencies) then the desirability of the
station as an advertising medium was reduced: that
this meant reduced revenue: that reduced revenue
meant a reduction in your ability to operate a first
class station; that all this spelled the reduction
of a dominant station to a second-rate or third-rate
station. President Clark explained that the mere
supplying of funds sufficient to maintain the station
by subsidy would not supply the audience which de-
pended upon the kind of programs which were broadcast
and,therefore, to maintain a dominant position a
station must provide the best programs available.
President Clark drew a distinction between the programs
themselves and the sponsors. He also noted that KSL
formerly took beer sponsored programs and they had
been discontinued when he became President of the
Corporation. He said that the answer, therefore,

”gig” September 13, 1951.

25,

225

to this problem was not one of subsidising the station
with funds sufficient to run it, but of maintaining
the audience. President Clark stated that the question
had been raised with the dominant stockholder as to
the possibility of selling the dominant interest in
the station, but that had been considered inadmissible.

President Clark then gave a digest of a recent
telephone conversation he had with Frank Stanton,
President of CBS, in which Mr. Stanton had informed
President Clark that while he was very sympathetic to
KSL's position in regard to beer, this matter came
down to a question of hard business and that the net-
work was forced to provide outlets for sponsors of
beer accounts. In answer to President Clark's ques-
tion as to whether the acceptance of beer now would
be followed by requests later to take whisky accounts,
Mr. Stanton stated he did not expect that to happen,
for public sentiment would be strongly Opposed to
whisky. Also, Mr. Stanton held out the prospect that
in a few years, when more TV stations were in Oper-
ation, the sponsorship of beer programs might then
cease to be a serious Network problem.

President Clark reported that upon three dif-
ferent occasions this matter had been presented to
the majority stockholders and that after careful
consideration they had arrived reluctantly at the
decision to accept Network beer sponsored programs,
if approved by the Directors. However, they urged
that the negative aspects of the commercials be
minimized to the extent possible. President Clark
stated that the decision of the majority of stock-
holders had been reached as a result of the recog-
nition that KSL, by virtue of its franchise'with
the Government, was serving in a public utility
relationship and, therefore, obliged to serve all
of the people and, also, because it seemed clear,
under existing conditions, that the continued refusal
of KSL-AM and KSL-TV to accept accounts under beer
sponsorship would reduce the high standing of this
Corporation in the radio industry.

. . . the Board voted unanimously to authorize
the Management to negotiate such contracts as are
necessary to protect and best serve the combined
interests of KSLpAM and KSL—TV, includin beer
business as may be required to this end. 4

Thus, the policy to accept beer advertising from

24Minutes of Board of Directors' meeting, October
1951.

226

the CBS network was established. At that time, KSL did
not accept either national non-network beer advertising
or local beer advertising. In the Spring Of 1952, for exp
ample, KSL refused a contract from.Anheuser Busch for
$50,000 and one from Lucky Lager for more than $83,000.25

The KSL rationale of accepting beer advertising from
the network but not from national spot or local advertisers
was constantly being questioned, within and without the
station, on ethical as well as economic grounds. Many
breweries which had less than national distribution be-
lieved that they had as much right to use the facilities
of KSL as did the breweries which used network programs
sung. After several years of examining and re—examining
its policy concerning beer advertising, KSL, in 1956,
Opened its facilities to national spot and local beer
advertisers as well as to network beer advertisers.

The manner in which a station promotes itself to
its audience and to prOSpective advertisers mirrors
to a great extent the philOSOphy behind the station's
policies. As pointed out by Jacob Evans, in his Selling
ggg_§romotingwgadio and Television: “The strength of a
station's advertising and promotion department influen-
ces greatly the station's standing among national and

local advertisers, as well as its prestige among its

...A.
~—_—.~-—— ——V _____7

25Minutes of the Executive Committee, June 12,
19520

227

IListeners or viewers. The promotion department is

the 'voice' of the station. “26 He points out further:
”It.is no coincidence that the most successful radio and
television stations in America also have the finest
gxromotion departments. One of the distinguishing features
<3f stations like . . . KSL, Salt Lake City . . . is their
<3utstanding promotional Operations.“27 An example Of

KSL's promotional efforts was the “In the West It's KSL“

«advertisement which appeared in Broadcasting and Printers'

.ng magazines during September, 1945. The illustration
‘which was prepared by an outstanding Western artist,
Paul Clowes, depicted a cowboy relaxing on his horse,

a portable radio strapped to the back of the saddle (a

cOpy of the advertisement appears in the appendixes of
this paper). The cOpy read;

In the West It's KSL

The West is big. In this land of vast spaces,
radio must be big too. It must leap the mountains,
span the rivers, and fly the deserts. In the West
it's KSL. This tradition is by no mere accident.
KSL can be heard most anywhere. This has been so for
years, and peOple have come to depend on KSL. To
serve such a vast area Of America from the busy
industrial cities of the Intermountain country to
the lone sheep harder on the high prairie is a challenge.
But Westerners know KSL and KSL knows and interprets
the spirit of this rugged, robust West.28

 

26Jacob A. Evans, Selling and Promoting Radio and
Television (New York: Printers‘ Ink Publishing Company,
19545, p. 212.

27Ibid.

2aggoadcasting Magazine, September 24, 1945.

228

Reaction to this ad was immediate. C. B. Larrabee,
President of Printers' Ink, wrote to KSL: “It really is a
swell job and ought to do a lot to emphasize the importance
«of KSL. I think your strategy is excellent.“29

Sol Taishoff, Editor and General Manager of Broad-
lcasting said: “It's more than outstanding promotion--
it's actually art. It is most pleasing to us to carry
OOpy of such calibre. It helps our prestige, too.“30

Bob Johnston, Promotion Manager, WHO, Des Moines,
Iowa, stated: "If that 'Lonesome Cowboy' ad doesn't rank
number one in reader interest among radio advertising for
1945, I'll be mighty surprised.“31

W. S. Clark, Manager, Howard R. Wilson Company,
added: "YOur full page ad in the September 24th issue
of Broadcasting knocked me for a 100p and I've got an
idea that it's going to affect a lot of time buyers in
the same manner. . . .It goes into my book as the #1
media advertisement for 1945."32

Following are excerpts from a few of the many other

comments received by KSL relative to this promotional

advertisement:

 

29Reproduced in Radio Service Corporation of Utah
(Radio Station KSL), Repgrt to the President, October 22,
1945. p. 1 of “Excerpts of Letters-~Re KSL 'Cowboy' ad.”

3°Ib1d.

311b1d.

321bid., p. 3.

229

Ralph Taylor, Promotion Director, CBS Pacific Net-
work: “I think your full color page advertisement is a
«dandy. YOur professional job is very impressive and I
am sure it will have high readership. “33

Jay W. Wright, Chief Radio Engineer, Columbia Broad-
casting System: “I was delighted to see the full color
cowboy picture of your advertisement in Broadcasting. . . .
It is a truly remarkable picture and a very effective
advertisement.“34

John Alexander, General Manager, radio station
KODY: “This is one of the finest pieces of promotion I
have seen for a good long time. As usual . . . KSL

continues to lead the field.“35

Walter E. Wagstaff, radio station KIDO: ”May I
compliment you on your ad in Broadcasting. . . . It is
the best station ad that Broadcasting has ever carried.“6
G. Bennett Larson, Manager, WPEN: ”Your recent ad
in Braodcasting is simply terrific. It is one of the
best ads for radio and your coverage problems that I

have ever seen.“37

Harry W. Marks, Advertising Director, Printers'_;g§:

 

332222.. p. 1.
34Ibid.

230

”I think the insert you had in the current issue of
Printers' Ink was most dramatic. The book has been out
«only a few days but I have already heard many favorable
comments about it."38

Harry W. Witt, AssistantGeneral Manager, CBS Pacific
lfietwork: “I have seen a reprint Of your cow puncher ad. . . .
‘I think it is superb.“39

Maury Long, Business Manager, Brogdgasting: “The
'cowboy' insert is really a stand-out job.~40

Milton L. Greensbaum, radio station WSAM: “May I
compliment you on your fine ad which appeared in Broad-
casting. . . . In fact, it intrigued me so much . . .
I am writing for a COpy which would be suitable for
framing.“41

Emile J. Gough, SESAC, Inc.: “Just saw that wonder-
ful colored ad in Broadgasting for KSL. It's a pip!
Congratulations! .Are you making reproductions? We'd
appreciate having one to frame in our office.“42

J. W. Conrow, West Coast Manager, Printerg' Ink:
“Your insert hit me right in the eye. From.an artistic

point of view it is truly a masterpiece. From the

 

38;g;g.. p. 2.
3922i9.
49lhlgo
4¥LE$Qo

421b1d.

231

commercial point of view I think you have done a very
:remerkable job as the sales message on the reverse side
'ties in with the art work very nicely.“43

Walter S. Reilly, Advertising Age: “I was very
lunch impressed by your recent advertisement. . . . This
is certainly an eye catcher."44

On a number of occasions, executives of the Col-
'umbia Broadcasting System and other broadcasting organ-
izations have expressed their Opinions on KSL's policies
and procedures.

In mid-summer, 1934, Manager Earl J. Glade reported
that officials of the Columbia Broadcasting System con-
sidered KSL as being “one of the eight best stations on
their network: that they were highly pleased with the
cOOperation of this station and are endeavoring to sell
all of their programs over KSL.45

An executive of the Columbia Broadcasting System
inspected the KSL studios and transmitter plant during
the spring Of 1936. He stated that KSL facilities were

equal to the best on the network and far superior to

most.46

43Ibid.
“reg... p. 3.

45Minutes of Board Of Directors' meeting, July 17,
1934.

461b1d., May 18, 1936.

232

During 1945, the network sent an engineering SpéCialv
:ist,.Dr. Chinn, to Salt Lake City to measure the acoustical
<1ualities of the KSL studios. He stated that the KSL
astudios represented the best in studio construction, and
“that this was the first time in CBS history that his
<rompany had measured any studio outside Of the ones built
by themselves . “47

E. W. Buckalew, Field Manager, Station Relations,
<zolumbia Broadcasting System, on a number of occasions
stated that he expected to see other station managers
<:ome to KSL to learn of its policies and practices.48
A¢.a 1946 National Association of Broadcasters convention
in Chicago, he told KSL’s Manager: "The strange thing
about KSL is that while I hear praise from all sides, I
never hear anyone speak negatively concerning your Oper-
ations.“49 -

Robert B. Hudson, Director of Education for the
Columbia Broadcasting System, stated in the presence of
two CBS station managers Of Owned and Operated stations:
"Mr. Ralph w. Hardy is connected with the cleanest Oper-

ated radio station in the United States-~KSL."50

 

47Ibid., June is, 1945.

 

48Radio Service Corporation of Utah (Radio Station
KSL), Report to the President, November 15 1946, section
headed “KSL, From Many Outside VieWpOints."

49Ib1d,

SOIbid.

233

President Justin Miller of the National Association
of Broadcasters told KSL Public Service Director, Ralph W.
Hardy: “The broadcasting industry can well be proud of
radio stations such as KSL who are Operating on high
standards and who are represented by men of outstanding
calibre--so recognized everywhere in the country.'51

A. D. Willard, Jr., Executive Vice President of the
National Association of Broadcasters, said: “If there
were more stations in this country like KSL, the problems
of the NAB would be of an entirely different character.
YOu are one of the few stations that has evolved a code
of practices, and is set up as a great institution with
permanence."52 ,

During the NAB Convention in Chicago, OctOber 21-
24, 1946, while discussing the 1946 Clear Channel Hearings,
Federal Communications Commissioner Ewell Jett stated:
"I remember how very much the Commission appreciated the
feeling that KSL seemed anxious to Offer any helpful tes-
timony, an attitude that was not characteristic of many
of the other parties in the hearing."53

Ray Morgan, Manager of the Los Angeles advertising
agency which bears his name, said: “We have had excellent

response from KSL. I am impressed with your conscientious

 

511bid.

521b1d.
53gbid.

234

and sincere efforts to please us and our clients. We like
to do business with KSL.“54

Robert Davis, Manager of Rhoades and Davis Adver-
tising Agency, San Francisco, stated: “KSL is an outstand-
ing station. You have done a better job in the handling
of our billings than any other station with whom we do
business. Your coverage and your methods of Operation
are unexcelled."55

When commercial radio began in America in the early
1920's, there were almost no guide lines recognized as
acceptable policies for reSponsible radio station Oper-
ation. Many stations, like TOpsy, just “growed,” fitting
the personality of the station to the whims of management,
or to the fickle and fast-changing entertainment fads of
the day. Other stations began early to recognize that a
station license carried with it a genuine responsibility
for develOping policies and performance which truly would
serve the “public interest, convenience, or necessity.“
KSL, on the strength of its published policies and its

actual performance, appears to qualify well for the latter

group.

 

54Ibid.
551b1d.

CHAPTER XII
THE VOICE'S LISTENERS TESTIFY

Alexander POpe, in his Essay on Criticigm, suggested:
"In ev'ry work regard the writer's end, Since none can
compass more than they intend; And if the means be just,
the conduct true, Applause, in Spite of trivial faults, is
due.“1

This advice need not be confined to literary crit-
icism alone. It could be helpful when almost any type
of criticism is undertaken. However, as so often happens,
the one doing the criticism, as POpe later suggests, tends
to pass judgment on "beauty“ or “lack of beauty“ by
merely viewing a "lip“ or an "eye“ rather than "the joint
force and full result of all."2 The "lip" or ”eye“
type of criticism was very evident in the available
critical comment which KSL has received over the years.

In the thousands of letters, postcards, and telegrams

reviewed for this study, only a handful discussed KSL's

 

lAlexander POpe, The Poetical Works Of Alexander
2223 5?. L. Burt Company Inc publisher's location or date
shown

21bid.

235

236

over-all programming and policies. The remainder, whether
negative or positive criticism, took one small portion of
KSL's Operation as the basis for liking or disliking the
station.

While the vast majority of comment has been of a
complimentary nature, the negative comment has tended to
highlight the problems implicit in the Operation of a
station which is controlled by one religious group but
licensed to serve a large geographic area pOpulated by
peOples of widely different political, social, economic,
and religious views.

Previous chapters have pointed out KSL'S recognition
of these problems and its performance in attempting to
solve them. This chapter will deal with the problems and
performance of KSL as interpreted by its listening
audience.

In the April 3, 1934, issue of Variety magazine,
an article titled “Air Showmanship Ratings” was published,
in which Salt Lake City radio was analyzed as follows:
”KDYL comes in at a trot. Has created number of nifty
programs including Kangaroo Club. Has Showmanship but
minimum need to use it. KSL owned by Mormon Church
provides creaky organ concerts and religious singing and
an open field for KDYL.”3

A few days later, KSL received a letter from Variety

3Variety, April 3, 1934. p. 37.

237

“expressing regret that the article uncomplimentary to
KSL . . . had been published."4

When Variety issued its 1937 Radio Showmanship
Awards “for distinction during 1937 within various cat-
egories of Showmanship,“ KSL was singled out as the

“Prestige Subsidiary Station."5

Variety explained the
“prestige subsidiary“ category as “an attempt to provide
room for recognition of stations that are 'voices' in
greater or less degree of auspices.“6 KSL's citation
read in part: “KSL, Salt Lake City, has connections with
the Mormon Church . . . [and] possesses definite person-
ality and character beyond that of the run-of-the-mill

commercial stations."7

In attempting to explain the basis upon which awards
are made, Vgriety stated:

Showmanship in its best sense is apt to be
synonymous with prestige. Variety's annual survey
and these supplemental citations particularly dis-
regard anything that might be considered irresponsible
publicitybseeking.

Showmanship is a calculated aspect of smart
station management. It has nothing to do with eccen-
tric exuberance or exaggerated and impractical ideas.3

Much of the negative criticism received by KSL has

been a result of the station's advertising those products

 

4Minutes of Board of Directors' meeting, May 15, 1934.
svariety, December 1, 1937. p. 37.

§Isiéo

Zzbido

81bid.

238

which are regarded as harmful by Mormon Church members.

Many Mormons voiced their diSpleasure strongly relative

to the advertising of these products, especially during

the time when KSL was in the process of adding television

to its radio Operation.

TV,

I would like to see KSL follow the splendid
lead of the other Church media and refuse advertising
which encourages the breaking of the Word of Wisdom.
Whether or not one is a Mormon, there are few informed
peOple who will deny that the Word of Wisdom is REAL
‘wisdom. Why can't the Church's TV outlet encourage
the keeping of this very beneficial teaching.9

Another writer, during the transition period into
asked:

Now for the 64 dollar question: Exactly ypy is
the Church in the TV business?

a) - To make money? If so we can understand why
we are bombarded with the allurements of alcohol,
tobacco, and the cheap side of sex, plus murder and
violence.

b) - To have control of communication, and thgs
increased Opportunity to guide our thinking and elp
gs s pe a better destiny? If so I cannot understand
why nine tenths of the stuff that appears on the
screen is allowed.

Can you?

I fully believe that business before decency is
inappropriate in a church. I fully believe that it is
more important to put out good TV programs for children
than it is to print “The Children's Friend,” because TV
is a more powerful influence on children than magazines
can ever be . . . .

TV is a power we should insist on controlling
rather than allowing it to control us--even if it
means money out of our pockets.

What does God think watching “Lucy“ show all
our little girls how pretty they can look smoking
cigarettes (I know a good L. D. S. woman whose only
daughter smokes for that reason)--at the same time
she makes marital suspicion and jealousy look

 

 

9Letter in KSL's files from.a Clearfield, Utah.

listener-viewer, dated April 12, 1953.

239

hilariously funny? To defile the mind of a little
child is the same thing as defiling the temple of

God. Yet Christ drove the money changers out of the
temple of God. KSL is a money changer--the temple

is the minds of our precious children. At Primary

we are not allowed to invite the mothers to a Mother's
Day Egg. We are instructed to call it a Mother‘s

Day Social. Yet KSL is telling the children to drink
Beer and trying to entice them by sight and sound
effects! How do you account for the split personality
in this Church? Do you think a little boring Sunday
preaching is going to make them forget the smile on
the beer drinker's face--the way he smacks his lips,
and the inviting gurgle of the bubbles in the beer?
zpp brought that into my home for me to fight! Into
my home where there was never a mention of beer before.
Let me tell you my grandfather was an alcoholic. I
know what you are doing! If my son should someday
ruin his excellent mind with alcohol I could now say
'0 Lord, your church did this to me!” And who are
you to deny it.10

Almost every type of program on KSL has been praised
and censured at one time or another. .Although today KSLP
originated Sports programming is the most pOpular in the
area, the station, over the years, has received numerous
critical comments from Sports enthusiasts and sports
detractors. One writer stated:

In the years I've been listening and looking
at KSL I have never known them to have enough sense
to get a man who could really understand what he was
talking about, at least--or particularlyb-in the
field of sports. You consistently insist in assigning
what apparently are staff announcers with mellifluous
notes and absolute ignorance-~or nearly so--about the
athletic event they are supposed to comment on.1

Another writer commented: “This sort of exhibition

[boxing and wrestling matches] is, in my Opinion brutal,

 

10Letter in KSL's files from a Salt Lake City, Utah,
listener-viewer, dated May 9, 1952.

11Letter in KSL'S files from a Salt Lake City, Utah,
listener-viewer, dated September 6, 1952.

240

bloody, and unsportsmanlike and is for that reason not a
fit thing to bring into any home. '12
An irate listener-viewer wrote:

Did it ever occur to you people that you might
do a little investigating as to TV viewer's interests
before you cut Off or cut out some of the best pro-
grams of the week to show hours and hours of that
damned stupid basketball.

You might find that there are more than a plenty
who don't give one damn in hell whether the 4th
L. D. S. Mormon Ward of Nephiville sic beats the 6th
L. D. S. Mormon Ward of Mantiville sic . [These
basketball games are broadcast once a year--the final
two nights' ames of the largest basketball tournament
in the world .

It's bad enough to have radio and TV knocked out
twice a year for the L. D. S. Mormon “Conference“ for
days and days at a time [four hours in the late morn-
ing and early afternoon on three days of early April
and early October].

SO Wake UP, you may be more diluted lsic] than
you think.13

Station personalities came in for their share of
kudos and K. 0.3 over the years. Long time KSL radio
and TV personality, Margaret Masters, who was one of the
- highest paid employees at the station because of her
pOpularity with national advertisers, was cheered and
jeered consistently. One of her fans wrote:

Let me put in a bouquet at this point for
Margaret Masters--a woman with an unfortunate voice
and a warm personality, who knows what makes life

worth living. She is . . . superior in her field . . .
[and] sweeps through the stench of TV shows like a

 

12Letter in KSL'S files from a Clearfield, Utah.
listener-viewer, dated April 12, 1953.

13Letter in KSL'S files from a listener-viewer
(no locality shown), dated March 6, 1954.

241

Spring breeze scented with blossoms.l4
In contrast, three Salt Lake City women wrote: “We

swish to register a complaint. We don't like Margaret
Phasters and we wish you would take her off the air.

Vie feel a great deal of the time she rattles on and ends

11p saying nothing.“15

KSL has received hundreds of thousands of pieces of
(sorrespondence over the years (42,180 in one 24-hour
19eriod in January, 1929, when the station began broadcast-
:1ng with 5,000 watts of power). Correspondence which was
:received during the early days of broadcasting has been
reviewed in previous chapters. The first part of this
(chapter has dealt with subsequent listener reaction of a
‘primarily negative nature. The remainder of the chapter
includes a summary of favorable correspondence received
by'KSL during the period of time from the middle 1930's
until television became a major broadcasting medium Of
the KSL Corporation.

In January, 1935, a listener in South Bellingham,
Washington, wrote to say that a friend who lived in Ice-
land listened to KSL regularly. He went on to say: “I
wish to express my appreciation to you and your artists

for the wonderful and inspiring universal language brought

14Letter in KSL's files from a Salt Lake City, Utah,
listener-viewer, dated May 9, 1952.

15Letter in KSL's files from three Salt Lake City
women, dated May 14, 1953.

242

‘to us through your broadcast Sunday night at Temple
Square . '16
A placer miner from Cottonwood, Idaho, said:

I write to thank you for the many pleasant
moments you have given me the last few months. You
see, I am a sniper, skinhdigger, or placer miner,
whichever you choose, down here on the Salmon River
in Idaho and quite out Of the world except for the
radio. Your music at 6:45 a.m. is divine and your
announcer is the best on the air-~no kiddin'.l

A mother from Fielding, Utah, wrote to express her
(displeasure with “Swing“ music, and to:
. . . thank you for the lovely programs of
Music History and science you put on the air. Sate
urday programs “Up and Down the Scale“ is eSpecially
educational-«our children are receiving the fine
benefits of listening to these sketches for they are
home from school and can enjoy that program thor-
oughly.18
The publisher of a newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada, wrote to request KSL'S program schedule: “As
your broadcast station seems to enjoy tOp position here
in Edmonton, no list of programs would be complete with-
out a schedule of your doings.”19

Another Canadian, from Chilliwoek, British Columbia,

 

16Letter to KSL from A. Auguston of South Bellingham,
Washington, January 10, 1935. Note: Letters referred to
in footnotes 16 through 44 may be found in FCC,C1ear

Channel Hearing, DOCKBQHEOQ 6741, Station KSL Documentary
Evidence.

17Letter to KSL fromflWilliam H. Bennington of Cotton-
wood, Idaho, December 23, 1938.

18Letter to KSL from Mrs. E. H. Packer of Fielding,
Utah, February, 1939.

19Letter to KSL from Llew McKenzie Of Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, March 4, 1939.

243

expressed appreciation for KSL's programming:

We . . . appreciate the good services of Dr.
Asper, Mr. Hardiman and the other artists who give
us such magnificent renditions of the best music in
the world. I would like at this time to express to
them all, and your station also our thanks and
appreciation for all they have done for us.20

A listener from Hyannis, Nebraska, stated: ”I have
often thought I would like to see a law prohibiting
many of the programs the public is obliged to endure,
but then after all, perhaps they serve a purpose, in
that we can all the better appreciate programs such as
yours.”21

KSL religious programs were singled out for Special
praise by a woman from Bone, Idaho:

I want to tell you how much I enjoy a great
many of your programs. I am eSpecially grateful for
the church programs. We live up here in the mountains
where we do not have the privilege of church.

I especially liked the recent Christian Science
programs released over your station and also the
speeches made at the L. D. S. Conference. Certainly
this should be a better world for all the good that
has gone out over the air to the people of this
country.

A.KSL Sponsor received a grateful letter from a
Wyoming mother relative to a broadcast which spoke of

her soldier son:

 

20Letter to KSL from Maurier White of Chilliwoek,
B. C., Canada, October 22, 1939.

21Letter to KSL from Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Wolf of
Hyannis, Nebraska, January 26, 1941.

22Letter to KSL from.Mrs. R. O. Breeding of Bone,
Idaho, October 23, 1941.

244

I wish to take this means of expressing to your
Company my sincere appreciation for the mention made
on your radio program from Station KSL on the 6:45
p.m. broadcast last night-~“Heroes of the War,“ in
which the name of my son Lieut. Allen C. Chase re-
ceived the salutation from.your program as the hero
of the week of the Intermountain country.23

A Californian, spending a week's vacation at Big
Bear Lake, San Bernardino, was in a reminiscing mood when
he'wrote:

On the table beside me is a small five tube
radio, and I have just heard from KSL the story of
Lu [sic] DeForest on the I'Passing Parade" and it
reminds me of the times years ago when we used to
camp at this lake, we carried a little one tube
regenerative squealer with head phones. At that
time KSL was our best station, and so then as now,
while the sun shines in summer the nearby coast
stations come in fairly well,then near sun-down
they start fading and the static takes over. Then
as the sun fades out KSL takes over and from then on
till you sign off, your signal is as strong and clear,
static free, as a local.

It's been a long time since I wrote a fan letter
to a radio station, but I just wanted to say, good
luck!

I hOpe to see Salt Lake City when this war is
over.24

A listener from Hawaii, on December 22, 1944, wrote:

My wife and I both say that KSL gives us the
most enjoyment from our radio of any of the programs
on the air. We can only tune you in late in the
afternoon but we usually stay tuned to you until you
sign off the air. Really your evening programs are
of the quality that other stations cannot possibly
come up to. Three phases of your programs that we
like best are: the better mmeic periods including
live talent as well as the recorded, the spiritual

 

23Letter to Dupler's Art Furs from M. Chase of\
Evanston, Wyoming, April 3, 1944.

24Letter to KSL from V. M. Hodgin of Whittier,
California, August 30, 1944.

245

type given by your different churches in Salt Lake, and
your news periods, eSpecially American Fur and the one
just one hour before. The music from the Tabernacle
organ and sometimes the choir is tOps. I wish that we
could get KSL more hours of the day but the ones that
we dgsget make up for the trash we get throughout the
day.

Following a memorial broadcast for Franklin D.
Roosevelt, KSL received a telegram from Indio, California,
dated April 13, 1945:

The peOple in cities and ranches of Coachella
Valley and desert surrounding for hundreds of miles
are unable to get radio reception with one exception
KSL in evening only. We would appreciate a rebroadcast
of Columbia's special broadcast of Warm Springs and
Robert Sherwood and others tonight.26

A Navy Lieutenant, on the U. S. S. Silverbell, wrote
to KSL while his vessel was west of the International
Data Line:

We left from Manila, a distance of about 7,000
miles from Salt Lake. With the end of the war we have
converted some of our radio receivers to peace time
use, thus enjoying the short wave Armed Forces pro-
grams while on duty on the bridge. One night just
before relieving the watch, I was excitedly told that
they were tuned in to KSL Salt Lake City. We knew at
once this was a direct hook-up because we not only
heard the familiar station break but also an announce-
ment of a “Xmas program in front of the Tribune
Building.“ We promptly sent the program over all
ships Speakers. Presently we heard the program,
”Sunday Evening on Temple Square.“

P. S. Since writing this letter we have passed
the International data line and are now able to pick
up numerous stations. The first station the Skipper

 

25Letter to KSL from Cecil M. Bernard of Hilo,
Hawaii, December 22, 1944.

25Telegram to KSL from w. H. Bell of Indio, Calif-
Ornia, April 13, 1945.

246

picked up on his little cabin radio was Salt Lake.27
.A listener in TOppenish,Washington, wrote in to
say:

At long last I have acquired a radio set, and
am.trying to learn how to get the most out of the
broadcasts available, the hard way: mostly through
trial and error. I early discovered that KSL is a
very outstanding station, standing in many ways,
head and shoulders over any other I have as yet tuned
in on. To me, its apex is the music of the Tabernacle
Organ, Sunday nights, than which, it is no exaggeration
to say, “There is none finer on earth.”

But can you help me just a bit? I need not
state I take no Salt Lake paper: but isn't there some
way I can get your programs in advance: so as to know
when to tune in on what?28

Another Northwest listener voiced his appreciation
of KSL programs: “Just a line to say that KSL comes in
swell here at night and I like the programs better than
any other station I can get. Particularly 'Wasatch Show,‘
'Memorable Melodies,’ and the night edition of 'American
Melody Hour.”29

A.farm wife from Glidden, Saskatchewan, expressed
her thanks for KSL programming, and noted: ”During the
winter months my husband and I listen every night to your
Masterpiece records. Living on a farm we derive the out-

:most pleasure out of good radio which we always seem to

27Letter to KSL from Paul E. Felt, aboard the USS
Silverbell sailing from Manila to the united States,
December 7, 1945.

28Letter to KSL from Henry R. Thayer of TOppenish,
Washington, December 18, 1945.

29Letter to KSL from.tred H. Kenney of.Alvadore,
Oregon, January 9, 1946.

247

get when we tune in to Salt Lake."30
KSL received a letter from a Garland, Texas, man who
had Spent part of World War II in the Pacific:

Just a note of congratulations on the very axe
cellent signal put out by your fine radio station.

The undersigned, an Executive Officer to Armed
Forces Radio Service in the Pacific, was “unable” to
,pp§,gpp KSL in any portion of the Pacific in which he
visited, (Marshalls, Gilberts, Western Carolines,
Marianas and the Bonin-Volcan Group).

I just felt you might get a kick out of knowing
that KSL stayed on the beam.throughout the central and
western Pacific.31

KSL often has been used by political candidates
from surrounding states who realized their local stations
did not have the necessary coverage afforded by KSL. As
an example, station KOH, Reno, Nevada, wrote to KSL as

follows:

The Primary Election will be held here in
Nevada September 3rd, and one Clarence Pugh is planning
a rather extensive-campaign throughout the State of
Nevada. This station does not reach Elko, Ely, McGill,
Pioche and Las Vegas, and I have suggested that he
transcribe his message here at our station and ship the
record to KSL.

He would like to have an evening quarter hour
on August 23rd between 7:00 and 8:00 O'clock, your
time. I wish that you would air mail special delivery
the available time and the cost for this period.32

Public service broadcasting always has been an im-

portant part of KSL's broadcast philOSOphy, and hundreds

-—¥

3°Letter to KSL from Ethel M. Genge, Pendomer Farms,
Glidden, Saskatchewan, January 31, 1946.

31Letter to KSL from Robert J. Roth, Jr., of Garland,
Texas, February 7, 1946.

32Letter to KSL from radio station KOH, Reno, Nevada,
(no date shown).

248

of public service organizations have expressed apprecia-
tion to KSL for its part in helping to promote their im-
portant work.

”The Evanston [Wyoming] Chamber of Commerce desires
in this way to express its sincere thanks to your station
for the broadcasting of the death and funeral arrangements
for the late President James Brown, Jr.“33

”The effort and expense to which radio station KSL
has gone for our [Clearfield, Utah,Naval Supply Depot]
Commissioning Day Ceremonies are greatly appreciated.'34

”The help given by your station was a large factor
in making possible the success of our campaign [1944 Salt
Lake County War Chest].“35

Within the past year the Wage and Hour and
Public Contracts Divisions of the United States
Department of Labor have had to depend upon radio--
and in particular Radio Station KSLm-to reach wage
earners throughout the country. . . .

It has always been the practice of these
Divisions to request radio facilities only when we
had information of vital interest to the public.

We came to you in August and again in October with
such a request. You granted it without hesitation.36

“During 1943 your station has cOOperated in every

 

33Letter to KSL from the Evanston, Wyoming, Chamber
of Commerce, July 6, 1939.

34Letter to KSL from the Clearfield, Utah, Naval
Supply Depot, April 15, 1943.

35Letter to KSL from Salt Lake County war Chest,
December 17, 1943.

36Letter to KSL from Public Contracts Division,
United States Department of Labor, New YOrk, January
13.1944.

249

way with the requests I have made . . . as Chairman Of
Radio Publicity for the Utah Defense Council. This
splendid effort on your part has contributed much to the
successful War Effort here at home.“37
Radio publicity has been an important factor
in putting Wyoming over the tOp in the qurth War
L07“. In parts of the state where KSL has a large
following, your network and local programs devoted
to the sale of war bonds have unggubtedly aided many
counties in making their quotas.

”It is getting to be a habit commending KSL for the
outstanding job it always does, but in this drive [Fifth
War Loan] they seem to have done even better.”39

”Thank you very much for your cOOperation in making
it possible for Mrs. Dorothy Lewis to present a broadcast
on Girl Scouting over your station during her recent visit
to your city.”40

”The wonderful support and cOOperation of KSL has
been most gratifying and a great factor in the success

of our annual Cancer Control Campaign.”41

 

37Letter to KSL from the State of Utah, Council of
Defense, Salt Lake City, February 21, 1944.

38Letter to KSL from the War Finance Committee,
Wyoming State Chairman, Cheyenne, Wyoming,February 26,
1944.

39Letter to KSL from.D. Howe Moffat, War Finance
Committee, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 14, 1944.

40Letter to KSL from Inez Kimball, Girl Scouts, New
YOrk, January 10, 1945.

41Letter to KSL from the American Cancer Society,
Salt Lake City, Utah, May 26, 1945.

250

You were very kind in arranging to have those
five splendid broadcasts made over your station during
Fire Prevention Week.

We feel that those programs really put over the
message of fire prevention and that you and your staff
performed a good public service in helping to make Salt
Lakers fire conscious.

”May I take this opportunity to thank you and your
staff for the wonderful cOOperation extended to this de-
partment in promoting several programs and spots on police
problems, especially that pertaining to traffic safety.”43

On behalf of [Utah's] Fiftieth Anniversary
Program Committee . . . I extend to you and your organ-
ization, our heartiest thanks and appreciation for the
splendid way in which you aided us in publicizing the
Anniversary Program held in the Tabernacle last night.44

Frequency modulation broadcasting at KSL, although
reaching only a small segment of the total audience, has
been the recipient of much favorable listener comment.

If a radio is worth the high price demanded, it
is only because the programs made possible through it
are worth it. In our case, it has been KSLPFM which
has made our RCAeVictor worth the sacrifice to us. . . .

FM puts the violin, the cello, the piano or the
voice right in our living room in soft rich tones
which make me feel that I can reach out my hand and
caress the instrument or smile into the eyes of the
performer in almost friendly understanding.45

”I wish to thank you for the exellent Isic] programs

 

42Letter to KSL from J. K. Piercey, Salt Lake City
Fire Department, October 17, 1945.

43Letter to KSL from L. C. Crowther, Chief of Police,
Salt Lake City, Utah, December 20, 1945.

44Letter to KSL from E. E. Monson, Secretary of State,
Utah, January 5, 1946.

45Letter to KSL from Charles A. Smith of Salt Lake
City, Utah, March 17, 1948.

251

you are presenting over your FM station. We have had our
new radio about a month now and I still can hardly believe
that such good music is available all afternoon.”46

”Please accept my appreciation and thanks for your
part in making life just a bit more worthwhile in this
community. I hOpe that you will never find it necessary
to reduce the high standard now being followed.”47

In summary, an analysis of KSL's history from the
viewpoints expressed by members of its listening audience,
beginning with the early days of radio and continuing
through the first days of television, shows that one thing
is particularly evident--those who write letters gpgp about
what is going out over the air. They may like or dislike
what they hear and see, but they gppp. Far too many of
them are concerned with only their personal reaction to a
particular program: but when all these reactions are com-
bined, a form, a pattern, a basis for programming policy
begins to emerge. And it would appear that, if audience
reaction is a basis for rating the effectiveness of a
station, KSL would merit Alexander POpe's Observation that

”applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due.”48

 

46Letter to KSL from Mr. Walter Knorr of Salt Lake
City, Utah, November 3, 1947.

47Letter to KSL from Colonel F. H. Black, Department
of Military Science and Tactics, University of Utah, Salt
Lake City, Utah, December 5, 1947.

48Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, 1. 58.

CHAPTER XIII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

SUMMARY

American commercial radio, during its less than
fifty years of history, has known burgeoning beginnings,

a golden age, heroic maturation during a world war, a
struggle for survival against a sister mediumr-television,
and a current social acceptance of such magnitude that
today there are more Operating radio sets in America than
there are peOple.

Radio, during those years, has been so busy making
history that few organized efforts have been made to re-
cord that history. The Journal of Broadcasting lists only
a handful of historical studies on radio stations. This
medium of mass communications deserves a more permanent
place in history than that which, to date, has been re-
corded in its name. With this in mind, the present study
has been undertaken to analyze how and why one of America's
major radio stations has develOped its policies, programs,
and personnel to accomplish its avowed purpose of becoming
an important and integral voice of the communities it

serves .

252

253

KSL, Salt Lake City, Utah, is a 50,000 watt, clear
channel radio station, Operating on 1160 kilocycles, and
affiliated with the COlumbia Broadcasting System. Since
a radio station does not Operate in a vacuum,it is impor-
tant to understand the cultural and social environment
with which it comes in contact. Only then can an analysis
of its role become meaningful. For this reason, as a
setting for the study, the historical background of the
peOple in the station's primary coverage area has been
analyzed, and a short review of radio's over-all develOp-
ment in America has been made.

Because the state of Utah and the Mormon Church have
so much of their develOpment in common, it would be in-
accurate as well as impractical to attempt the history of
one without including the history of the other. And certain-
ly, the dual history would be required if one were inter-
ested in understanding the background and phiIOSOphy of a
radio station whose signal covers the state of Utah and
whose majority stockholder is the Mormon Church.

Little interest was shown in the colonization of
Utah until it was discovered that the region posed a for-
midable barrier between two desirable areas--the South-and-
Mid-West and the Pacific Coast.

Catholic priests were among the first white men to
enter what is now known as the state of Utah. Fathers

Dominguez and Escalante passed through the area and preached

254

Christianity to the Indians in 1776. The Jesuit missionary
and explorer, Father Pierre Jean DeSmet, visited Utah twice,
the first time in 1841, six years before the Mormons arrived.

The Mormons entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 24,
'1847, but the Mormon influence on the area actually began
in Palmyra, New York, in 1820, when a fourteen-year-old boy
told a Methodist preacher that he had seen a vision of the
Father and the Son, and that he was to be instrumental in
restoring the true church to the earth. This boy, Joseph
Smith, according to his testimony, received divine in-
struction from heavenly beings: and throughout a tumultuous
ministry as PrOphet and President of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), he develOped a vital,
active church organization. The members of the Church he
organized were driven from New York to Ohio to Missouri to
Illinois because of their religious views,which conflicted
with the established religious concepts of the peOples in
those areas.

On June 27, 1844, in a small jail in Carthage,
Illinois, Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were shot
to death by a mob composed largely of militia men who had
been ordered diapersed by Illinois Governor Thomas Ford
when he recognized their rabid anti-Mormon sentiments.

Had the religion known as Mormonismwwithered and
died in Illinois with the death of its prOphet-founder,

there would be little value in studying its relationship

255

to the develOpment of the West. But out of the chaos of
Carthage there crystallized in the minds of the Mormons a
new determination to find a land where they could live the
gOSpel of Jesus Christ as they believed it. The man who
gave purpose and power and drive to this determination was
Brigham Young, a modern Moses who led the latter-day
Children of Israel through a forbidding wilderness to their
promised land, and in so doing, carved a chapter in history
unique in the annals of the old West.

Twenty thousand Mormons were forced out of Illinois
in 1846. When Brigham Young was asked where he could take
such an unwieldy mass of humanity, he said, “I am getting
them away from the Christiansl . . . The business of the
saints is to journey west.“

A The Saints spent the winter of 1846-47 near the
present site of Omaha, Nebraska. The following spring
they started West. On July 24, 1847, Brigham Young, sick
with mountain fever, raised himself from his wagon bed,
viewed the valley of the Great Salt Lake, and uttered his
famous pronouncement: ”It is enough. This is the right
place."

Utah grew and prospered. The railroads from the East
and the West joined at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. Gold and
silver miners sought their fortunes in the rich Utah mining
strikes. Rustlers and robbers such as Butch Cassidy, Harry

Tracy, and the Ketchum Gang plied their trades in Utah.

256

Before long, Salt Lake City became a crossroads for
communications and transportation between the East and the
West. The twentieth century saw a fusing of Mormon and
”gentile” culture. When radio fever flared across the
country in the early 1920's, Utah had its share of restless,
searching minds to give impetus to the infant industry.

Melvin R. Ballard, one of Utah's early radio pioneers,

went to work for the Deseret News in 1919. About this same
time, he was appointed Boy Scout Commissioner of the Ensign
Stake of the Mormon Church. Ballard's first thoughts about
a radio station included interesting the Deseret News in
building a Morse code sending station and getting the Boy
Scout troops in the state to put up receiving stations.
In this way, the boys could learn Morse code, the Deseret
Eggs could send out special news bulletins, and the boys
could transmit them.to the residents of each town. Before
long, Ballard started thinking of voice transmission in-
stead of Morse code. According to Ballard, Deseret News
management was singularly unimpressed with the idea, but
did apprOpriate a very modest sum (between $500 and $1,000)
to see what Ballard,and others interested in radio, could
do. Not long after this, in the autumn of 1921, a wooden
and tin radio shack was built on the roof of the Deseret
m building.

It was about this time that the name of Nathan 0.

Fullner began to appear in radio discussions at the News.

257

As Business Manager, he worked closely with Elias Woodruff,
General Manager, and H. Carter Wilson, International News
Service wire operator and radio engineer, in getting the
first commercially licensed radio station in Utah on the
air.

The dedicatory program of the new station (KZN) was
aired at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, May 6, 1922, with Church,
state, and city dignitaries lending an air of excitement
and importance to the occasion.

It was one thing to bring important personalities
to the station and to have them.give glowing speeches con-
cerning the potential of this new marvel of communication:
it was quite another thing to find something to say or to
do on the air on a regular daily basis. As a result, the
station was on the air only thirty minutes a day to begin
with-~from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. Gradually, broadcast time
was extended to an hour and a half--from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m.

The Deseret News heralded the birth of radio station
KZN as “an epoch in the history of the paper quite as
significant as any ushered in since the establishment of
the institution.“ This enthusiasm at the.gggg, however,
was short-lived. Within two years, the News divested
itself of all interest in radio station Operation, but
not before it had done a great deal to encourage the
development of radio through editorial and news columns and

newspaper advertisements. Less than a week after the

258

initial broadcast, full-page advertisements appeared in the
‘Nggg offering radio receiving sets free with six new sub-
scriptions to the paper.

During that first week,a broadcast was beamed to
high school students visiting the University of Utah. To
celebrate its first week on the air, KZN secured the ser-
vices of two musical comedy stars who were appearing at the
Salt Lake‘Theater: Mabel Kronan and Philip Ryder, stars of
gaie's Irish Rose.

KZN was the originator of the first radio dance in
the West, and very early was bringing remote broadcasts
from Saltair, Hotel Utah, the Odeon Dance Hall, and the
McCune School of Music.

It did not take long to realize that KZN's signal
was covering a large territory. ‘Within five months of the
time the station went on the air, correspondence had been
received from eighteen states, Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, and
as far away in the Pacific as 2,865 miles from Salt Lake
City.

William Jennings Bryan delivered a ten-minute ad~
dress over the facilities of KZN, October 24, 1922.

One of the most ambitious undertakings of the young
station was to broadcast a speech by President.Warren G.
Harding, June 26, 1923, from the Mormon Tabernacle on Temn
ple Square in Salt Lake City. Many “firsts” had to be

accomplished before the broadcast became a reality. A

259

radio microphone was installed in the Tabernacle for the
first time in the sixty-one year old Tabernacle. Auto-
mobiles, filled with people anxious to hear the President's
message, were allowed to enter the Temple grounds for the
first time in history. The world famous Mormon Tabernacle
Choir was heard for the first time by means of radio.

In June, 1924, the Deseret News sold its interest in
KZN to John COpe, KZN radio engineer, and to his father,

F. W. COpe, Radio Service Corporation of Utah was formed
the same month, and KZN's call letters were changed to KFPT.

On September 20, 1924, Earl J. Glade became affili-
ated with the station. The history of KSL as a commercial
operation really began at this time. Glade sold the first
commercial radio broadcasting contract in Intermountain
.America. He recognized the need for putting the station
on a sound financial footing, and he was instrumental in
interesting the Mormon Church and the Salt Lake Tribune
in acquiring substantial holdings in the stock of the
radio station.

When Sylvester Q. Cannon, Presiding Bishop of the
Mormon Church, was elected a director, then President of
the Corporation on June 9, 1926, the basic pattern for
management of Radio Service Corporation of Utah for a dozen
years was established--Sylvester Q. Cannon, President:
David A. Smith, Secretary and Treasurer: and Earl J. Glade,

Manager of Operations.

260

The call letters of the station were changed from
KFPT to KSL, June 24, 1925.

Earl J. Glade was an innovator in a new industry‘which
was being built on innovations. Not only did he bring the
Mormon and Catholic business interests of Utah together
(the Tribune ownership was Catholic): but when his sales-
men had difficulty selling time on KSL, he began buying
large blocks of time himself and reselling it to anyone
whom he could interest in radio. ‘When there was no money
for the Janitor's salary; he would do the Janitorial work
himself. He took his turn as announcer and as technician,
and his wife played the piano on KSL for three years under
the name of Beverly Snow. There was no money to hire a
regular pianist.

These were the formative years at KSL. Although
the station was never very far from a financial emergency,
the main concern of the early broadcasters was to find ways
to keep the voice of radio alive. They recognized early
that programming was of paramount importance to a success-
ful operation, and that decisions concerning programming
had to be made every dayh-such as whether or not the Inter-
mountain audience wanted to listen to programs originated
by the Ku Klux Klan. It was KSL's decision not to broad-
cast the Klan's programs.

The formative years produced their share of com—

plaints leveled against the station's programs and

261

personalities. Many of those complaints have a familiar
ring today, for example: “Announcers put too much personal-
ity into the announcements and consume considerable time in
unnecessary talk.“

Slowly a station philosophy of broadcasting began to
emerge. By October, 1927, KSL was able to state:

. . . that the policy of the station is to
encourage broadcasting by anyone at any time provided
it does not encourage racial, religious, or govern-
mental prejudice, or anything indecent or profane,
and that the station shall not be responsible for
statements made from the station by any individuals,
and that the president shall have power to accept or
reject any broadcasts.

By early 1929, KSL was beginning to feel the confidence
that comes from experience and growth. Power had been in-
creased to 5,000 watts. Network affiliation (NBC), with
its accompanying professional programming, was a reality.
The station had been put on a sound financial footing.
.Although power, network affiliation, and the financial
situation of the station would all change greatly in the
following few years, KSL was well on its way to becoming
a mature radio voice of the Intermountain West.

Almost as soon as KSL became a 5,000 watt station,
management began working for increased power. The 50,000
watt transmitter went on the air on October 22, 1932.

Four years later the station applied for a permit to
construct a 500,000 watt transmitter. Activity relative to
a super-power station has been going on intermittently to

the present time, but as yet no final action has been taken

262

by the Federal Communications Commission on KSL's
application.

At the same time that KSL‘was working for maximum
power in order to serve the audience in its coverage area
more effectively, it also had a nearly constant problem
of defending its use of a clear channele-a frequency used
by no other station in the country. The station's efforts
in this respect have been effective, because it has main-
tained its 50,000 watt, clear channel status, although
the number of clear channel stations in America has been
reduced by half over the past twenty years.

On September 1, 1932, KSL changed its affiliation
from the National Broadcasting Company to the Columbia
Broadcasting System and, by so doing, became the only high
powered CBS outlet in the eleven western states.

KSL joined the National Association of Broadcasters
in mid-1931.

In the 1930's and the early 1940's, KSL became one
of the key stations in radio's fight to loosen the hold on
broadcasting of the American Society of Composers, Authors
and Publishers (ASCAP).

During the time that KSL was being faced with such
problems as music license fees and clear channel en-
croachment, it was developing a dual desire to stay abreast
of electronic develOpments and to expand its communications

holdings. To accomplish these two objectives, KSL took a

lll‘lll ||WKD

263

four-pronged approach to broadcasting: (l) to do every-
thing necessary to remain a leader in the amplitude mod-
ulation (AM) field: (2) to study the advisability of
adding a frequency modulation (FM) facility: (3) to
analyze the potential of television (TV): and (4) to begin
acquiring additional broadcasting facilities in other
locations.

An application for a frequency modulation station
was submitted to the Federal Communications Commission
August 1, 1940. With the advent of World war II, plans
for FM development lay generally dormant, but KSL-FM,
the first FM station in Utah, began operating from the
roof of the union Pacific Building on December 26, 1946.

.As early as 1934, KSL management.was discussing
the potential of television with Columbia Broadcasting
System executives. The following year, KSL President
Sylvester Q. Cannon encouraged management to keep in
touch with television develOpment so that KSL could
“move along with it from.the very beginning.“

As was the case with FM develOpment, World War II
curtailed television's progress. When the war came to a
close, however, broadcasters once again could start to
dream of greater mass media miracles. But some of the
vision and the innovation of pre-war KSL seemed to be
lacking, as evidenced as late as 1945 by the expression of

such attitudes as: ”In respect to television . . .

264
Operations require such a tremendous amount of Operating
equipment and personnel, there appears to be a long way
to go before television broadcasting will emerge from the
present experimental basis to one based on practical
business procedures.“

But television could not be ignored. Its potential
for disseminating entertainment, news, and education was
catching the imagination of promoters and preachers,
hucksters and housewives. KSL applied to the Federal Comp
munications Commission for a license to Operate a television
station on May 26, 1948. A year later (June 1, 1949), KSL-
Television was on the air.

Television and frequency modulation were not the
only areas into which KSL was interested in expanding.
Together with its majority stockholder, the Mormon Church,
it was contemplating the acquisition of an international
short wave station as early as September, 1936.

KSL purchased the controlling interest in the South-
ern Utah Broadcasting Company (KSUB, Cedar City), in
April, 1944. The following year, KSL acquired a twenty-
five per cent interest in Idaho Radio Corporation and
station KID, Idaho Falls, Idaho.

KSL has since sold its interests in KSUB, Cedar
City: but today it still retains all or part ownership
in television and radio prOperties in Salt Lake City,

Utah: Idaho Falls and Boise, Idaho: and Seattle,

265

washington: in addition to an international short wave

facility in New York City. Negotiations are currently

under way for several other prOperties across the county
and throughOut the world.

KSL has been a voice to many and to widelybvaried
audiences. Earl J. Glade, in 1929, was successful in
getting the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the National Broad-
casting Company network on a regularly scheduled basis.
When KSL changed its affiliation to the Columbia Broadcast-
ing System in 1932, the Choir broadcasts were also changed
to CBS. They have been on that network on a regular weekly
basis ever since. ELM; magazine, in 1963, suggested that
the Choir broadcasts had reshaped the world's image of
Mormonism.

KSL, as the only clear channel radio voice of Inter-
mountain America, recognized early its responsibility to
bring farm news and views to the widely scattered farmers
and ranchers of Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming. The KSL
Agricultural Director visits county agents, farmers, and
ranchers in forty-eight counties. Problems are discussed,
invitations are extended to participate in the KSL farm
program, and all are encouraged to send KSL any infor-
mation that would be helpful to others in the KSL coverage
area.

Beginning with the first broadcast on KSL, religious
services have been an integral part of KSL programming.

In 1944, for example, KSL carried 303 different religious

266

programs, for a total of 115 hours of broadcasting.
Twentybone different denominations were represented.
Regular KSL religious programming includes Roman Catholic
Sunday evening sermons, Protestant talks and music pro-
grams, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Sunday Evening

on Temple Square programs, the CBS Church of the Air, and
the annual and semi-annua1.Mormon General Conference
broadcasts.

To analyze KSL's “balanced voice“ philosOphy,
station studies were made covering the period of time
between 1941 and 1945. During that time, approximately
35-40 per cent of the station's programs were sustaining,
and approximately 60-65 per cent were commercial. About
two-thirds of KSL's programs were of the entertainment
variety, one-fourth were educational and news, and the
remainder of the programs were religious, agricultural,
governmental, or civic in nature.

For a period of some sixteen years, 1932 to 1948,
hundreds of dramatic radio plays were written and produced
at KSL.

Music on KSL has varied from.the “New YOrk Phil-
harmonic Symphony Orchestra Program“ to “YOur Hit Parade“
to “Hollywood Barn Dance.“

Public service broadcasts on KSL averaged over one
thousand hours a year during the years surveyed--broad-

casts such as the Mass Interdenominational Peace Meeting,

267

Utah Colleges on the Air, Your Hymns and Mine, Election
Night Coverage, and the Bonneville Salt Flats Speed Runs.

It is apparent that KSL never considered itself mere-
ly a Salt Lake City station or merely a Utah station because
its programming and promotion consistently included ref-
erence to important happenings of interest to residents
in Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, California, and beyond.
Special programs were beamed to the East Coast, the Mid-
West, the Far North, the Far East, and to ships at sea.
Such programs helped to fulfill KSL's policy that “Every
individual within KSL area should daily find some of his
special interests reflected in KSL programs.”

As a part of its policy toward education, KSL
established radio scholarships at the three four-year
institutions of higher learning in Utah,and made available
a half-hour period each week to be shared on a rotating
basis by the three universities.

One Of the knotty prOblems with which KSL has been
faced for years is the develOpment of a policy toward
advertising tea, coffee, tObacco, and alcoholic beverages
on the station. The Mormon Church, KSL majority stock-
holder since 1925, advocates a policy which speaks of the
deleterious effects of these products on the human body.
This ”Word of Wisdom“ is a deeply religious principle in
many Mormons' lives. Setting policy to please Church

membership and, at the same time, to fulfill its obligation

268

to the entire audience of its 50,000 watt, clear channel
signal, has been a difficult and often frustrating exp
perience for KSL management.

KSL listeners have been demonstrative, and often
effusive, in passing judgment on KSL's programs, policies,
and personnel:.

“I wish to express my appreciation to you and your
artists for the wonderful and inspiring universal language
brought to us through your broadcast. . . .'

'YOu consistently insist in assigning what apparent-
ly are staff announcers with mellifluous notes and absolute
ignorance--or nearly so-about the athletic event they are
supposed to comment on.“

“We don't like Margaret Masters and we wish you would
take her off the air.“

“[Margaret Masters] sweeps through the stench of TV
shows like a spring breeze scented with‘blossoms.“

“KSL is a money changer.“

“Certainly this should be a better world for all
the good that has gone out over the air [from.KSL] to
the peOple of this country.“

The foregoing summary represents a few of the high—
lights of the history of KSL. Together with these high-
lights, some Observations and conclusions concerning

station policy and procedures are in order.

269

CONCLUSIONS

In an overall consideration Of KSL as a voice which
has been speaking to large audiences in Western America
and beyond for forty-five years, research has shown that
this station has defined well its audiences and recognized
its responsibilities to them. An analysis of its policies
and its practices reveals that the station may accurately
be considered as one of the outstanding clear channel
stations in America--a station which has become an im-
portant voice in the lives of millions of peOple--peOple
such as a cowhand in Cody, Wyoming: a connoisseur of
ChOpin in Salt Lake City, Utah: a wheat farmer in Franklin,
Idaho: a traveling Catholic bishop in Eastern Nevada: and
many others who have been looking to radio to fulfill
their entertainment and information needs.

One of KSL's recognized strengths throughout the
broadcasting industry has been its record of stability
relating to policy, personnel, and financial Operations.
The majority stockholder, the Mormon Church, has an avowed
conservative approach to business: and this conservative
philOSOphy has helped shape KSL into a stable segment of
an industry which is noted for frequent shifts in personnel,
programming policy, and business practices.

During most of the years covered by this study, this
conservative attutude seems to have enhanced rather than

to have hindered the station's desire to be at the forefront

270

in engineering and programming excellence. There have been
two periods of time, however, when this philOSOphy has
held back the develOpment of the station.

During the early years at the station, and from the
late 1930's to the middle 1950's, station policy was high-
ly conservative and so strongly business oriented that
aspects of Operation such as programming innovation and
showmanship were often neglected. For example, as noted
previously, the Deseret.Ng!§ started broadcasting over
KZN in 1922 with great visions of radio's potential.

Two years later, the desire had died at the News to make
radio an important communications voice, even though

radio interest was mushrooming across the country. Those
who promoted radio at the News were business-and-engineering
oriented. They lacked the ability to create programming
which would build audiences, which, in turn, would inter-
est advertisers in the medium. They sold the station in
June, 1924.

When Earl Glade became affiliated with the station,
in September, 1924, radio, as a financially attractive
Operation at KSL, began to become a reality. Glade was
a rare combination of showman and business man. He did
not follow the rules: he made the rules. And the station
prospered under his leadership (the highest dividend
ever paid at the station was paid during the last full

year that he was Manager of Operations, and approximately

271

the same amount of dividends was declared during his
last three years of management as during the following
five years).

Some of the ownership of the station believed that
Earl Glade's urge to innovate obstructed sound business
policies, and he was relieved of major management respon-
sibilities in 1938.

The station, for more than twenty years following
Glade's active participation, was managed by a statis-
tician, and two engineers. Several observations are
pertinent concerning the station's operation under the
direction of those three men. Ivor Sharp, C. Richard
Evans, and Jay Wright were highly qualified and respected
in their Specific fields. Never in the history of the
station have business reports been so thorough and de-
tailed. Management took great pains to produce a tech-
nically excellent voice. But in the process, what the
voice had to say, insofar as locally produced programming
is concerned, was relegated to a secondary position.

This is not to suggest that management was un-
interested in the programming of the station. Network
and syndicated programs kept KSL consistently at or near
the top of the pOpularity ratings. But this Observation
is meant to point out that during many of the years that
Sharp, Evans, and Wright managed the station, a path was.

followed which largely ignored local programming. It is

272

true that, during the late 1940's, the national trend with
network-affiliated stations was to rely more and more
heavily upon network programming. It is also true that
recorded syndicated programs, which generally were of a
higher quality than most locally produced programs, were
becoming available at very modest costs. A wise program
director certainly would select the best of the network
programs and the best of the syndicated productions, but
he also would recognize the importance of locally produced
programming. This latter point, during the late 1940's
and the early 1950's, was the weakest link in the KSL
programming chain. Following are several examples of
the problems faced by program personnel during those
years:

When KSL-Radio's News Director asked for a budget
to adequately cover local news he was told repeatedly that
wire service OOpy was sufficient. Program‘writer-producers
were informed that if their ideas meant any out—of-pocket
expense, they were to re-work the ideas so that programs
could be produced using only that which was already avail~
able at the station. In 1947, the position of program
manager was discontinued, and program decision making was
left with a Program Board composed of the Station Manager,
Assistant Station Manager, Sales Manager, Production
Manager, and Director of Publianffairs. Thus, KSL became

perhaps the only radio station in America without a Program

273

Manager-~a station whose program policies and procedures
were determined by a committee composed primarily Of
people who were not program oriented, and who were very
busy with their other responsibilities at the station.
Programming became a station football kicked about in
many directions. Decisions regarding programming became
harder and harder to reach. Budgets for programs already
on the air were curtailed materially. Programming per-
sonnel began “playing it safe“ rather than attempting to
get new ideas approved by the Program Board.

The Program Manager, shorn of his title and his
decision-making responsibilities, and assigned to a lesser
position in the program.department, wrestled with the
problem for several years, then left the station for other
employment. Within a one week period, the News Director,
the Promotion Manager, and the Management Secretary, all
left the station. For a number of years, local program-
ming on KSL was almost entirely an abbreviated continuation
of programs which had been initiated in the 1930's and the
early 1940's.

During the past several years, local programming at
KSL has again taken on added importance. And recently the
station has completed an in-depth survey of its programming
policies and personalities. This survey, which has con-
vinced KSL management to make major shifts in music policy,

music-talk ratio, and program types, could be a valuable

274

starting point for a research project designed to analyze
changing audience preferences of radio programs.

Another research study suggests itself herew-a de-
tailed study of the changes in a station's Operating
procedures when the Program Manager's responsibilities
are assumed by a Program Board as noted above. Several
Obvious results have been reported in this paper,but no
attempt has been made to analyze in depth the attitude
changes of affected personnel, and other prOblems at the
station which resulted in a drastic curtailment of
creative local programming.

One of the major prOblems confronting KSL, as noted
in a previous chapter, has been the search for a rationale
relative to advertising tea, coffee, tobacco, beer, and
wine on a Mormon controlled radio station. On the surface,
this may seem a rather incidental problem: but it is far
from incidental for two reasons: (1) a fluctuating policy
relative to advertising these products has cost the station
millions of dollars in revenue, and (2) to the real owners
of the station (tithing—paying Mormon Church members),the
policy or lack of policy on this matter continues to cause
more concern of an ethical, religious nature than any other
single practice at the station. (The use of tobacco, beer,
etc., is considered morally offensive, as well as physically
damaging to the body, by Mormon religious standards).

In reviewing available information on this subject,

275

it becomes apparent that, while policy has changed so
often as to make it appear that there is no clear policy
at all: actually, policy has clearly changed progressively
from.being influenced primarily by religious thinking to
being influenced almost wholly by business expediency. At
one time, no tea, coffee, tobacco, beer, or wine advertis-
ing was accepted by the station. Then regulations on tea,
coffee, and tobacco were relaxed. Later, some beer ad-
vertising was accepted on network programs but not from
local or national spot beer advertisers. A.few years
later, beer advertising from any source was accepted so
long as it passed KSL's commercial standards of practice.
Early in the history of the station, no advertising of
these products was permitted on Sundays. Then the ban

on Sunday advertising was lifted.

TOday, KSL's policies concerning tea, coffee,
tobacco, beer, and wine are almost identical to the
policies of the majority of other commercial broadcasting
stations in America. From the point of view of Operating
a business for profit, this is sound policy. From the
point of view of Mormon doctrine, it is clearly an un-
satisfactory policy.

Management, over the years, has attempted many
different explanations of KSL's policy regarding the
advertising of these products (a number of these explan-

ations were noted in Chapter XI). The result has been

276

confusion in the minds of many Church members who believe
that if a product is harmful to them, it is wrong to pro-
mote that product on “their" radio station. As long as

a double standard exists in regard to the Mormon ”Word of
Wisdom”: one for the station and one for the members of the
Church which owns the station, confusion will continue, or
give way to cynicism or apathy. Only when the station
changes its business policies to conform to Church standards
will this particular problem truly be solved.

This problem suggests a research project which
would incorporate the principles found in Leon Festinger's
theory of cognitive dissonance. Such a study may be
designed to measure the attitude changes in Mormon Church
members who are confronted with the fact that their radio
station promotes products which are at dissonance with
their religious beliefs.

Another area of Operation at KSL which is worthy of
further study is the area of religious broadcasting.
Ostensibly, religious programming is one of the major
reasons why a church organization becomes involved in
broadcasting. KSL has been very conscious of its re-
Sponsibilities in this regard, and has made its facilities
available to every major religious faith found in the
Intermountain West. However, an analysis of KSL's re-
ligious programming today compared with that of thirty

years ago reveals very little change in format or content.

277
Studies need to be conducted of the religious needs and
desires of the peOple in KSL's coverage area, and of ways
to fulfill those needs and desires with the use of the
broadcast media.

Several other conclusions have been formulated as a
result of reviewing the historically significant infor-
mation relating to KSL. First, there is a distinct need
to have someone Specifically responsible for keeping a
continuous history of the station. Historical material
was found stored in the Promotion Manager's files, in a
drawer used by the General Manager's Secretary, in a room
filled primarily with current station supplies, in the
transmitter building, in a scrapbook of a former Deseret
‘Nggg employee, in the heads of present and former KSL
employees, and in dozens of other miscellaneous places.
It is the responsibility of the researcher, Of course, to
search out all these sources before he begins his work of
compilation and analyzation. But the work of the re»
searcher would not only be easier, but much more complete,
if basic records of historical importance were kept on a
regular basis and filed in an organized fashion.

It is suggested that programs of Obvious historical
significance be retained on tape so that they may become
a part of the historical record of the station.

It is further suggested that interviews with those
peOple who have made major contributions to the develOp-

ment of the station be recorded and filed as soon as

278

possible (eSpecially those who have been involved with
the station Operation subsequent to the time limits of
this present studY). In the current research, it was
found that inaccuracies in the material furnished by the
many respondents tended to increase in direct relation-
ship to the length of time between the interview and the
actual event which.was being reported.

It is suggested that the Standards of Practice
develOped by KSL in the early 1940's be reviewed, brought
up to date, and actively incorporated into the Operation
of the station. Far too many current employees are not
aware of KSL's overall policy nor its concern with the
many important, though often non-obvious; aspects of
today‘s broadcasting.

To recapitulate, KSL, during most of its history,
although not wholly owned by the Mormon Church, has been
controlled by that organization. This combination of
business Operation and church influence has involved KSL
in two distinctly different areas of broadcasting:

(l) the business of broadcasting, with its accompanying
responsibility to Operate in the “public interest, con»
venience, or necessity,“ and to conduct its Operations
in such a way as to return a profit to its stockholders:
and (2) religious broadcasting, with its accompanying
responsibility not only to make adequate time available

to all major religious faiths in the area, but to create

279
programs designed to fill well the time allocated for
religious programming to the majority stockholder, the
Mormon Church.

From the business point of view, KSL has Operated a
station which has fulfilled admirably its responsibilities
to its owners and to its audiences. It is a station which
is a genuine credit to the radio industry. From the
religious broadcasting point Of view, the station today,
to a great extent, is living on its past laurels, with
little creative effort evidenced in this phase of
Operation.

Those who believe that religion should have little
influence on the business decisions made at KSL generally
are well satisfied with the station's performance. Those
who find it difficult to separate business Operation from
religious principles in a church-controlled station are
looking forward to the time when the business of KSL and
the religion of KSL become more compatible than they are

today.

APPENDIX I
LICENSE, powsn, AND FREQUENCY ASSIGNMENT HISTORY OF KSL1

The Radio Service Corporation of Utah is the licensee
of Radio Station KSL, Salt Lake City, Utah, Operating with
a power of 50 kilowatts, unlimited time, on the clear
channel 1160 kilocycles.

This station was first licensed to Operate by auth—
ority of the Secretary of Commerce and began Operations in
May, 1922, with the call letters KZN with a power of 500
watts on 833 kilocycles.

The call letter assignment was subsequently changed
to KFPT, with a new frequency of 1149 kilocycles and power
of 500 watts on June 13, 1924.

The present call letters, KSL, were assigned June
25, 1925, and the power was increased to 1,000 watts and
the frequency changed to 1,000 kilocycles.

On June 15, 1927, the frequency was changed to 990
kilocycles, with power and call letters remaining the same.

On November 11, 1928, Station KSL began Operating
with 5,000 watts power on 1130 kilocycles.

On October 16, 1932, Station KSL began Operating
with 50,000 watts power on 1130 kilocycles. At this time,
thousands of peOple living in remote areas heard their
first daytime radio broadcast.

Later, on March 29, 1941, in accordance with the
terms of the Havanna Treaty, KSL frequency was increased
to 1160 kilocycles. With exception of the period during
the war, when power was reduced in accordance with FCC
Order #107, this assignment has since been maintained.

Because there are vast areas in the surrounding
territory and outside of the primary and secondary
service areas of KSL, where regional and local stations
cannot be economically sustained and in which the centered

 

1From Federal Communications Commission, Clear Channel
gearing, Docket No. 6741, Station K§;_Documentary Evidence,
May 7, 1946, p. 1.

280

281

pOpulation (large areas having less than one person per
square mile) receives no satisfactory daytime Signal and
who depend solely on the clear channel stations for night-
time service, KSL filed an application September 1, 1936,
for authorization to Operate with a power of 500,000 watts.
In April of 1941, its willingness and desire to proceed
with the construction was indicated by the filing of a
Petition for Review and Grant Of its pending application.
No positive action was taken by the FCC on either the
application or the petition until the application was
dismissed without prejudice on August 12, 1942, in accor-
dance with the February 23, 1942 Memorandum Opinion of

the Commission, stating in substance that no future auth-
orizations involving the use of any materials would be
issued by the FCC during the war.

The management of Station KSL has spared no effort
or expense in obtaining equipment which incorporated
engineering advances that would improve its efficiency,
fidelity of reproduction, or coverage.

In 1939, a uniform cross-section half wave vertical
radiator was installed. This followed closely upon the
installation of an improved high efficiency 50,000 watt

transmitter, both being placed in Operation early in
1940.

APPENDIX II

STATION KSL AT WORK--OPERATING PRACTICESl

SOURCE OF AUTHORITAIIXE STATEMENTS OF KSL STANDARDS AND POLICIES

The following statements of KSL standards and policies

are taken from a book of instructions entitled: “Station

KSL At Work--Operating Practices.“ These instructions

were prepared by the Manager of KSL in 1942, approved by

the Executive Committee of the Radio Service Corporation of

Utah, and issued to the members of the Operating staff of

the station. Accordingly, the policies have not been

locked in the mind of the Manager, but have been made

known to the members of the KSL staff charged with the

responsibility of station Operations. The original instruc-

tions, issued in 1942, have been revised from time to time:

and herewith are briefs of the original statements, as

amended, showing the date of issue and the effective date.

 

1The KSL Operating Practices, including the “Source
of Authoritative Statements of KSL Standards and Policies'.
noted above, are from Federal Communications Commission,
Clear Channel Hearing, Docket No. 6741, Station KSL Doc-
_pmentary Evidence, May 7, 1946, pp. 18-33.

283

GENERAL PROGRAM STANDARDS AND POLICIES

Issued: November 1, 1942 Effective: November 1, 1942
Revised: July 1, 1945 Effective: September 1,1945

I. PROGRAM POLICY - GENERAL:

Programs broadcast by Station KSL shall be of the
highest quality, consistent with the great obligations and
reaponsibilities imposed upon this station to our listen-
ers by the FCC to broadcast with high power and on a clear
channel. Every effort should be made to respect the in-
telligence of all listeners: to Observe standards of good-
taste: present information and exchange of ideas in an
Objective manner. It is further recognized that KSL's
radio audience represents a cross-section of the pOpulation
of the Intermountain Area. Members Of such an audience
vary widely in cultural education and entertainment pref-
erences. Programs should be designed to meet the varying
desires and requirements of a radio audience sometime or
other, and of as great a representative part of this audi-
ence as possible, the majority of the time. In doing
this, care must be exercised to avoid group consciousness,
and to prevent the presentation of any material in a manner
which may offend. There must be no “City“ nor “Country“
classes in KSL programming.

KSL program direction shall always be cognizant of
the need for prOper program balance. To this end constant
study and analysis of our listener interests and needs
shall be made. Information thus gained shall be carried
over into the KSL program structure. Every individual
within KSL area should daily find some of his special
interests reflected in KSL programs.

All present and future Rules and Regulations of the
Federal Communications Commission concerning the mechanics
of program release are hereby made a part of the General
Program Practices and Policies of Radio Station KSL.

11. GENERAL: pRoclng BOARD:

A station Program Board consisting of Station Man-
ager, Program Manager, Directors of Public Service and
Commercial Operations, Sales Manager, Comptroller, and an
advisor, not member of staff of KSL - has been established
to act as a “Board of Directors“ of the Program Manager in
the interpretation and application of station program
standards and policies.

It shall be the responsibility of this Board to

284

insure the maintenance of the prOper balance within KSL
program structure: to advise relative to the submission

and scheduling of Commercial and Sustaining programs as
they affect the program schedule: to accept all questionable
commercial OOpy before that copy is released over the air:
and to pass on any recommendations by the Program Manager
relative to a change in station program policies. All new
programs scheduled shall be presented to this Board for
review prior to actual presentation over the air.

III. PROGRAM POLICIE§_r SPECIFIC:

Following are specific policies which shall apply
to all programs released from the studios of KSL:

(a) This station will observe the ”Standards of
Practice of the NAB” as long as it subscribes to that
organization.

(b) Sensationalism and misleading statements, mis-
representation and Slander must be avoided and every care
must be exercised to insure that broadcast material is
factual.

(c) The use of Deity's name or reference to His
powers and attributes is permissible only when used rev-
erently. Sacrilegious, profane, obscene, or indecent
material must not be broadcast.

(d) The introduction of murder, suicide or descrip-
tions of crimes or violence into broadcast material must
be carefully prepared so as to avoid sensationalism or
morbidity.

(e) Insobriety must not be paraded or emphasized.

(f) Physical infirmities incident to old age or
misfortune must not be put to ridicule.

(g) Personalities of international, national, and
local prominence always shall be treated with fairness
and respect.

(h) When a living character is portrayed, written
authorization for the impersonation must be furnished and
such authorization clearly announced at least once during
the presentation of the program in which impersonation is
made.

(i) The station must not engage in crusading enter-
prises and station production employees must not take

285

advantage of the power which may be within their immediate
reach to undertake to correct conditions that may appear
to them to be out of order.

(J) Any group appealing for funds through the radio
must first clear with the station management.

(k) The word ”flash” should be reserved for special
news bulletins and even then should be used guardedly.

(1) Broadcasts should be friendly and cordial, but
informality should be kept at a minimum. Humorous and
novelty type programs to be acceptable must be exceedingly
well prepared and in good taste.

(m) Point to point communication is not permitted
by law and broadcasting stations depart from the terms of
their license when broadcasting a message intended pri-
marily for a specific individual. Only in cases of great
urgency or emergencies and when other means of communi-
cation are not available, the station, upon prOper clear-
ance with its manager, may provide such service. The
station will not attempt to locate missing persons except
in cases of emergencies, such as sickness, death or accidents
and then only upon a request from a duly authorized officer
of the law. Emergency communications of interest to the
public in general must be verified by a duly accredited
source of authority prior to release.

(n) When a Sponsor using another local station finds
it desirable to refer to his programs on a competing
station, such reference must be confined to the mention
of the title of his program, talent and day without the
name of the competing station or time of broadcast.

IV. PROGRAM TALENT BOARD:

It is the responsibility of the Program Manager to
maintain a prOper balance between local live and tran-
scribed program releases. Every encouragement shall be
given local personalities possessing radio talent. Oppor-
tunities to diSplay this talent shall be provided through
the scheduling of live talent broadcasts from KSL's
studios.

KSL's Program Talent Board, consisting of Station
Manager, Program Manager, Directors of Public Service
and Commercial Operations, Sales Manager, Comptroller, and
Program Finance Supervisor, shall be reaponsible for the
maintenance of prOper balance between live and transcribed
programs. It shall be the responsibility of this Board to

286

review the entire KSL program schedule periodically to make
sure that sufficient emphasis is being placed on live
talent productions: to review all new programs using live
talent, scheduled by the Program Manager: and to establish
a just scale of remuneration for those individuals, who are

not members of established unions.

287

NEWS PROGRAM STANDARDS

Issued: November 1, 1942 Effective: November 1, 1942
Revised: July 1, 1945 Effective: September 1,1945

NEWS BROADCASTS LOCALLY ORggINA-I'ED:

1. The news shall be presented in the best form
and taste known to radio news editing, in a factual manner,
and be drawn from the most reliable source available.

2. The station shall require its news editors to
limit the source of their international and national news
to that furnished by the United Press and the Associated
Press or other equally reliable news gathering sources.
Through the develOpment of local sources of news and a
consistent ”follow up” of local news stories, every effort
shall be made to provide as thorough a local and regional
news coverage as possible. Locally gathered local and
regional news may be broadcast providing the following
precautions have been Observed:

a. It has been determined that the news item
is from competent and reliable source or sources and
that it is amply verified and authenticated.

b. That the station is adequately protected
with reSpect to COpyright infringements and that the
item contains no slanderous, libelous, or defamatory
statements.

3. The station shall present without fear, and with
as complete impartiality as practicable, all authenticated
news available of a general interest.

4. The station shall avoid the broadcasting of news
items whose chief appeal is that of sensationalism and not
of a general interest, and shall likewise avoid the broad-
casting of some of the more morbid details of war, disaster,
accidents, etc. MOreover, news is not to be broadcast in
such a manner as to create undue panic or alarm.

5. The station Shall expend every effort to maintain
a rigidly neutral policy’with respect to news pertaining to
political issues or campaigns.

6. The station shall refrain from.broadcasting in-
consequential news incidents that may tend to arouse race,
group, or religious prejudice and fictional events shall
not be presented in the form.of authentic news.

288

7. News of lotteries, gambling odds or like infor-
mation that may tend to cause listeners to gamble on the
outcome of events shall not be regularly broadcast.

8. Legal and medical or like advice is not permitted
in news broadcasts, excepting where authorized by accredited
civic officials or where the same shall form a part of the
legitimate news.

9. The station shall not permit the tagging Of
advertising tie-ins to news items in such a manner that
the advertising appears to be a part or associated with the
item, and commercial announcements shall not be introduced
as a part of the news broadcasts, nor shall they be in-
serted into the text of an important story.

10. The station subscribes to the Code of the National
Association of Broadcasters as it pertains to news, and which
points out that:

”Since the number of broadcasting channels is
limited, news broadcasts shall not be selected for the
purpose of furthering or hindering either side of any
controversial public issues nor shall it be colored by
the Opinions or desires of the station or network
management, the editor or others engaged in its pre-
paration or the person actually delivering it over the
air, or, in the case of sponsored news broadcasts, the
advertiser.”

11. To assure an equal Opportunity for all accounts
interested, one sponsor is limited to seven quarter hour
or seven five-minute news periods per week.

12. Realizing that radio has become a major news
source in America, every effort Shall be made to keep KSL
news fresh and alert. To this end all vigilance should
exist to keep KSL the outstanding news station in this
region.

289

AGRICULTURAL PROGRAM POLICIES
Issued: December 1, 1944 Effective: December 1, 1944

The importance of local agricultural activities to
the economic welfare and progress of the Intermountain
Region is of primary interest to KSL.

In order to serve better the rural listeners in the
KSL primary, secondary and tertiary areas, it is necessary
to establish and maintain a strong agricultural department.
Therefore, the following program policies will be observed
in the broadcasting of agricultural activities on KSL.

.Ample time should be Spent in the field by the Farm
Supervisor, visiting with county agents, farmers and farm
bureau representatives and others so interested, to deter-
mine their needs and the needs of the peOple in their
reSpective counties. Care should be taken to point out
to these men the best manner in which KSL can serve their
needs.

Definite farm program periods will be established
at such hours of the day as are most convenient for the
farm listening audience. These programs will be protected
against pre-emption by the network or any regional or
local advertising.

.A direct line will be maintained to the Weather
Bureau at the Salt Lake Airport for the release of authen-
tic and up—to-the—minute weather reports. Frost warnings
will likewise be released in season.

A Special program producer will be assigned to handle
the farm program.

A dramatic cast will be selected and available as
needed to dramatize and thus bring to life in a more
impressive way the discussion of farm problems or such
information as is released on the program.

Stock market reports from all important markets in
the Intermountain Region as well as markets of national
interest will be daily incorporated in the program.

News--1oca1, national, and international will be a
definite part of the program, thus fulfilling the many
requests for this service from farmers, livestock raisers
and rural listeners.

Precautions will be taken to make sure that at no

290

time the sensitivities Of our farm audience will be
offended. Facetious remarks or ridicule of country life
must be carefully avoided. Characters in dialogue are not
portrayed as the ”hick” farmer but rather as the progressive
type of individual on the farm today.

All important livestock shows, agricultural dis-
plays, Special farm meetings, etc., will be given special
consideration and ”remoted” from various points of orig-
ination to KSL for release on farm programs. In this
connection the wire recorder should be used in the field
and the comments of the various county agents and agricul-
turists recorded and released on the farm programs at
regular intervals, thus avoiding any long travel or
interruption of daily routine in the activities of those
men.

Emergency broadcasts received from various county
agents pertaining to need for help for harvesting crOps,
for the outbreak of any disease in cattle in a county,
pest control and Special meetings, etc., will be given
prompt and immediate attention.

In addition to the agricultural information which
will be released regularly on KSL, it must be kept in
mind that the likes of the rural listeners are similar to
those of the urban listeners and that in all of our pro-
gramming, whether it be educational, entertaining, or
informative, we must not lose sight of the interest in
this type of service of our rural listeners.

NO information relative to answering questions or
helping with farm prOblems will be broadcast without
first checking with state and government agricultural
officials for authenticity and correctness of material to
be broadcast.

All rural listeners should be encouraged to keep in
close touch with their reSpective county agents concerning
any farm problem.

It will be our purpose to render the listeners in
the KSL primary, secondary and tertiary areas a reliable,
informative, helpful and interesting farm program service.

291

RELIGIOUS PROGRAM STANDARDS

Issued: November 1, 1942 Effective: November 1, 1942
Revised: July 1, 1945 Effective: September 1,1945

RELIGIOUS BROADCASTS LOCALLX_ORIGINATED:

Radio Station KSL, as a part of its public service,
will reserve a reasonable amount of its time for the
broadcasting ”free of charge” of programs of religious
merit. The station considers the sale of any ”Time” for
religious broadcasts to be contrary to best broadcasting
standards. In order to achieve a high standard of
religious service broadcasts, Station KSL will require
adherence to the following:

a. The broadcast should use an affirmative and
constructive approach and be calculated to encourage and
increase faith.

b. It must be free from ridicule of beliefs of
members of other faiths and free from negative attacks
on other faiths.

Note: A religious speaker will be given full Oppor-
tunity to present affirmatively any Of the beliefs or
practices peculiar to his church if the subject matter is
presented with prOpriety, reSponsibility, and in a con-
structive manner.

Co The broadcast Should not contain any appeals for
contributions, made either directly or indirectly, for the
support of the radio program itself: or for the solici-
tation of funds by charging for sermons, pamphlets or
religious objects distributed through the religious pro-
gram as a means of raising funds by the Sponsor.

Allocation of Time

Station KSL subscribes to the policy that regardless
of doctrinal differences in various religious denominations,
each of the several groups is entitled to an Opportunity of
expression by means of radio. Therefore, it shall be the
endeavor and intent of Station KSL to allocate time and
production facilities for religious broadcasts in as fair
and equitable manner as possible. While it is not pro-
posed to regulate the content of the broadcast of any
established religious group, certain prOprieties of ex~
pression must be Observed. It is likewise not the desire
to cause dissension by reason of religious broadcasts on

292

the part of any group primarily directing its attention
toward an attack of the religious faiths of others. The
extent of the broadcasting privileges accorded each church
will be determined to some extent on the size of member-
ship and responsibility of that organization within the
area served by the station.

Special Church Events:

Time for church Special events, greetings, inter-
views with, or brief radio talks by prominent Church
officials visiting Salt Lake City will be provided, in
addition to the broadcasting of regular religious Ser-
vices. The scheduling of such events will be made
according to the merit of the event and the practicability
of allocating additional free time. As a public service,
Station KSL will continue to broadcast the following
regular religious programs:

(a) The semi-annual conferences of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

(b) The annual Christmas Mass of the Catholic
Church.

(c) The Easter Services of the Masonic Lodge.

(d) Other Special church events likely to have
wide interest. The station will generally refrain from
courtesy announcements advertising religious services or
events.

In order to insure the religious organization and
also Station KSL that the highest program standards shall
be observed and that an acceptable and listenable pre-
sentation shall be had, every effort will be made by the
Sponsoring religious group to submit COpy of the prOposed
program to the Supervisor of Public Service Broadcasts in
sufficient time before release over the air for him to
carefully review and make such suggestions as he may feel
are necessary. A program producer will be assigned to
each broadcast and will assist the participants in every
way to present a program which will be pleasing and
effective. Through this COOperative effort by both the
sponsor and the station, it is hOped that the religious
programs will be comparable to other programs released
over this station from the standpoint of COpy, talent, and
production.

293

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM STANDARDS

Issued: November 1, 1942 Effective: November 1, 1942
Revised: July 1, 1945 Effective: September 1,1945

EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTS LOCALLY ORIGINATED

Station KSL, in an effort to prOperly discharge its
reSponsibilities as a broadcaster, prOposes to continue
to provide areasonable amount of its time and production
facilities, without charge, for broadcasting educational
programs. The station encourages, and is anxious to pre-
sent educational and cultural broadcasts of high standard.

fiTANDARDS AND REQUIREMENT81

1. Educational broadcasts should have general
appeal and each subject chosen for treatment should be
Of interest to a considerable group.

2. Each subject chosen for presentation by radio
should be well defined as to SCOpe in order that the dis-
cussion may constitute a reasonably comprehensive and
complete treatment of the subject during the broadcast
period allotted.

3. PrOponents of both sides of a controversial
question should be fairly presented or an Opportunity
afforded for rebuttal.

4. The same care, the same skill and the use of the
same radio techniques, wherever reasonable and possible, as
are employed by successful commercial broadcasters will be
utilized: the voices selected for educational broadcasts,
exclusive of recognized educational authorities, should be
of pleasing quality, effective in delivery. Some pro~
ductions may require amateur participation, but unless
there is some significant purpose to be served by the
presence of amateurs, the broadcast for its success Should
be as professionally produced as possible. Station KSL
is not to be used as a speech laboratory for the benefit
of teachers or students.

5. Scripts and other material for broadcasts should
be submitted well in advance of the time for presentation.

6. The station reserves the right to edit scripts.

294

PUBLIC SERVICE PROGRAMySTANDARDS
Issued: November 1, 1942 Effective: November 1, 1942
GENERAL:

In full recognition of its duties, Obligations and
reSponsibilities as a broadcaster under the American system
of broadasting, KSL desires and encourages the release of
Public Service Programs. In many instances this means that
KSL will take the initiative in encouraging and assisting
worthy groups in our communities to make best use of KSL
facilities. Station producers and writers will COOperate
to produce programs of high standard.

DEFINITION:

Public Service Programs may come under “sustaining”
or ”free” time, or they may be carried on some Sponsored
program provided the public service features are in no
way lessened by reason of the Sponsorship. Their class-
ification shall include all programs Specifically designed
to be of public service, such as:

a. Red Cross Programs

b. Public Safety Programs

c. Civic Interest Programs

d. Conservation Programs, etc.
STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS:

1. Public Service Programs of importance are to
have priority over all programs released by KSL.

2. Public Service Programs shall be given suf—
ficient production time and talent to make them air-
worthy in every respect.

3. KSL will make available, without charge, the
services of its engineers, announcers and producers on
all Public Service Programs sponsored by Station KSL.

4. Public Service Programs shall be given adequate
promotion assistance to assure that they will be as effec-
tive as possible.

295

SUSTAINING PROGRAM STANDARD§

Issued: November 1, 1942 Effective: November 1, 1942
Revised: July 1, 1945 Effective: September 1,1945

SUSTAINING TIME DEFINITION:

”Sustaining Time” is a broadcast period of any dur-
ation, but usually of not less than 15 minutes, initiated
and scheduled by the KSL Program.Department or the network,
for which no direct monetary compensation is received by
the Station. Such broadcasts will be presented only when
the program or the material is judged to have high instruc-
tion or entertainment value or otherwise to be in the
general public interest.

SUSTAINING SCHEDULE:

A portion of the KSL program schedule shall be used
for the release of sustaining programs. Certain time
periods during the more choice broadcasting hours shall be
used for outstanding sustaining features.

PRODUCTION QUALITY:

Sustaining programs Shall be given equal production
attention, and where possible, equal talent with commer-
cial programs. The use of ”run of the mill” and ”filler”
programs should be avoided.

296

POLITICAL PROGRAM STANDARDS
Issued: November 1, 1942 Effective: November 1, 1942
GENERAL:

In the interests of a true democracy, KSL realizes
its obligation to provide time during election periods for
those who desire to discuss government political matters.

DEFINITION:

Political time Shall be defined as any time period
set aside for talks, entertainment and discussions of
matters featuring the political functions of our democratic
elections. Time used for this purpose shall be classified
as political when scheduled after a National Nominating
Convention for National candidates, when scheduled 90 days
or less before the Primary elections under which state and
local candidates are chosen, and when scheduled 90 days or
less prior to any election in which candidates are not
chosen by the primary ballot or by conventions.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. An accurate COpy of all political programs must
be filed with KSL not later than 24 hours before broadcast
time.

2. KSL reserves the right to edit all political
prOgram scripts to protect itself from slanderous material.

3. Equal time will be afforded to each political
group. However, no reservation of time will be made unless
prOperly scheduled by individuals having authority to do so.

4. Payment in advance must be made on all political
programs.

297

STANDARDS FOR CHILDRENLS PROGRAMS

Issued: November 1, 1942 Effective: November 1, 1942
Revised: July 1, 1945 Effective: September 1,1945

The following additional safeguards should be ob-
served in presenting broadcasts for the peculiarly sen-
sitive audience of children:

1. The program must reflect respect for law and
order, fair play, educational authority, good morals,
and clean living.

2. The dramatic action in adventure stories should
not be over accentuated so as to create emotional upset,
morbid suSpense, or hysteria.

3. Contests should not be undertaken which might
take children into strange and questionable places in
pursuit of box tOps, wrappers, Or etc., and no premium
Should be offered which is likely to have any harmful
effect on persons or to prOperty.

298

KSL COMMERCIAL STANDARDS

Issued: November 1, 1942 Effective: November 1, 1942
Revised: July 1, 1945 Effective: September 1,1945

Station KSL has long sensed its reSponsibilities
and obligations as an advertising medium.

We are proud to be an active integral part of the
American system of free enterprise and realize the impor-
tance of advertising and particularly of radio advertising
in the creation of Sales and in the distribution of mer-
chandise and services.

TO fulfill more effectively this important respon-
sibility and to encourage an improving quality of radio
advertising service, KSL has established the following
Standards:

1. Program excellence and the integrity of the
Sponsor and product are the paramount considerations in
the acceptance of any advertising.

2. The advertising of alcoholic beverages or of
establishments Specializing in the sale of alcoholic
beverages is not accepted.

3. The advertising of medical products is limited
to standard household items, such as aspirin, vitamins,
etc., subject to strict COpy approval. Products advertised
must be on the approved list under the Pure Food and Drug
Act. The advertising of laxatives, kidney pills, etc. is
not accepted, and such products where the COpy is objec-
tionable lSiCJ.

4. No time is sold for religious programs. KSL
provides time, without charge, on an allocated basis for
representatives of religious creeds with members in the
KSL service area.

5. All commercial COpy must be kept within the
time limits established by the National Association of
Broadcasters "Standards of Practice.”

6. Political advertising time is available on an
equal basis to all qualified candidates in strict accor-
dance with the rules and regulations of the Federal Comp
munications Commission.

7. KSL makes every effort to discourage the use of
extra commercial messages known as ”cow catcher“ and

299

”hitch hiker” announcements.

8. Direct selling offers are rarely accepted, and
then only after careful investigation of the advertiser,
the COpy content, and the quality of merchandise and/Or
service offered. Lotteries are not permitted.

9. Any commercial program about which there is any
question as to acceptability must be reviewed and approved
by the KSL Program.Board before acceptance. The KSL
Program Board consists of the following: General Manager,
Program Manager, Director of Public Service Broadcasts,
Comptroller, Sales Manager, Director Commercial Operations.
The former Managing Director Of KSL, now a member of the
Board of Directors and consultant, is also a member.

10. KSL reserves the right to cancel any commercial
program in order to broadcast any other program which it
considers would be of public importance.

11. (All advertising is subject to the approval of
the station management, both as to commercial COpy and
program content.

300

APPENDIX III

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IN THE WEST IT’S KSL

The West is big. In this land of vast spaces, radio must be big too.
It must leap the mountains, span the rivers, and fly the deserts. In
the West it‘s K SL. This tradition is by no mere accident. KSL can
be heard most everywhere. This has been so for years, and people have .
come to depend on KSL. To serve such a vast area of America
from the busy industrial cities of the Intermountain country to the lone
sheep herder on the high prairie is a challenge. But Westerners know K S L

and KS L knows and interprets the spirit of this rugged, robust West.

KSL Lian-ning Aru- . CB 7 d

5 lb Arcs Slu y

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Archer, Gleason L. Big Business and Radio. New Ybrk:
The American Historical Company, 1939.

Benet, Stephen Vincent. John Brown's Body. New Ybrk:
The Heritage Press, 1948.

Berrett, William Edwin. ‘ghe Rggtored Church. Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book Company, 1961.

The Bible.

The Book of Mormon.

Burton, Alma P. (compiler). Discourses of the PrOphet
Joseph Smigh. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Com-

pany, 1956.

Codding, George A., Jr. Broadcasting Without Barriers.
The Hague: United Nations Educational, Scientific

and Cultural Organization, 1959.

The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.

Documentary Histogy of the Chggch of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Volume I.

Dunlap, Orrin E., Jr. Radio and Television Almanac. New
York: Harper and Brothers, 1951.

Emery, Walter B. Broadcasting and Government. Lansing:
Michigan State University Press, 1961.

Evans, Jacob A. Selling and Promotinngadio and Television.
New Yerk: Printers' Ink Publishing Company, 1954.

Evans, Richard L. Faith in the Future. New Yerk: Harper
and Row, 1961.

. Unto the Hills. New York: Harper and Brothers,
1940.

 

Gilby, Thomas 0. P. Between Community and Society. London:
Longmans Green, 1953.

301

302

Goldsmith, Alfred N., and Lescarboura, Austin C. This

Thing Called Broadcasting. New York: Henry Holt
and Company, 1930.

Landry, Robert J. This Fascinating Radio Business. New
Ybrk: The Hobbs-Merrill Company, 1946.

Leighton, Isabel. The Aspirin.Age. New Ybrk: Simon and
Schuster, 1949.

Littell, Franklin Hamlin. From State Church to Pluralism.
Garden City: Doubleday and Company, 1962.

MacLeish, Archibald, Paley, William S., and Murrow,
Edward R. In Heno; of a Man and an Ideal. New Yerk:
The Columbia Broadcasting System, 1941.

Mulder, William, and Mortensen, A. Russell (ed.). Among

the Mormons, Historical Accounts by Contegpgrary
Observers. New York: Alfred A. Knapf, 1958.

 

Parker, Everett C., Barry,LDavid W., and Smythe, Dallas
W. The Television-Radio Audience and Religion. New
YOrk: Harper and Brothers, 1955.

Pearl of Great Price—~Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, 1950 edition.

POpe, Alexander. The Poetical Works of Alexander Pogg..
A. L. Burt Company [no publisher's location or date
shown].

Roylance, Ward J. Utah- the Incredible Land. Salt Lake
City: Wheelwright Lithographing Company, 1965.

Seehafer, Gene F., and Laemmar,'Jack.W. Successful Tele-
vision and Radio Advertising. New York: McGraw—
Hill Book Company, 1959.

Smith, Joseph Fielding (compiler). Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company,
1935.

The Sound of Your Life. New York: The Columbia Broad-
casting System, 1950.

Stegner, Whllace. Mormon Counggy. New Yerk: Duel, Sloan
and Pearce, 1942.

Stone, Irving. Men to Maggh My Mountains. Garden City:
Doubleday and Company, 1956.

303
Sutton, Wain (ed.). Utah. a Centennial History. New York:
Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1949.
Thomas, George. Civil Government of Utgh. Boston: D. C.
Heath and Company, 1912.
ARTICLES AND PERIODICALS

Deseret News. 1922, 1923, 1962, 1964, and other years
during the time of this study, pgssim.

Editorial. Broadcasting (September 19, 1966), 122.
Editorial. Life (July 26, 1954), 20.

Eyring, Carl F. ”When Space Talks and Sings,” Improvement
Era, XXV, No. 7 (May, 1922), 628-33.

Glade, Earl J. ”Preaching the Gospel Through the Radio,”
.Improvement Era, XXVIII, No. 3 (January, 1925),
242-44.

. ”To the Ends of the Western Hemisphere,”
Improvement Era, XXXIV, No. 4 (February, 1931),

 

Hinckley, Gordon B. ”Twenty Five Years of Radio Ministry,”
Church NGHE section of the Deseret News (April 26,
1947): 4,5.

Hunter, Milton R. ”The Great Trek,” Vermont Life, II,
No. 2 (Winter 1947-48), 27.

Jacobson, Pearl F. ”Utah's First Radio Station,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, XXXII, No. 2 (Spring, 1964).

Journal of Broadcasting. II, IV, V, VII, 1957—63.

Mulder, William. ”Music and the Spoken Word from Temple
Square,” Improvement Era, XLII, No. 7 (July, 1939).
440.

Murray, John Courtney. “America's Four Conspiracies,”
Religion in America (John Cogley, ed.). New York:
World Publishing Company, 1958.

Rytting, Ralph D. ”The Tabernacle Choir Broadcast,”
.Improvement Egg, LXI, No. 5 (May, 1958), 312, 370—72.

éflflfiLlege Tribune. December, 1928.

304

SoPer, Francis A. ”The Spoken Word,” Listen, XIX, No. 4
(April, 1966), 66.

Zobell, Albert L., Jr. ”From the Crossroads of the West,
With Music and the Spoken Word,” I rovement Era,
XLIX, No. 7 (July, 1946), 438.

. ”Radio and the Gospel Message,” Improvement
Era, L, No. 4 (April, 1947), 205.

 

. ”Twenty Magnificent Years on the Air,”
Improvement Era, LII, No. 9 (September, 1949),
549, 582-83.

 

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS

U. 5. Federal Communications Commission. Clear Channel

Hearing Docket No, 6741I Documentagy Evidence
Station KSL; May 7, 1946.

 

. Order No. 107, Mimeograph 64345. Changes in
Methods of Determining Certain Opgrating Constants
of Standard Broadcast Stations. November 6, 1942.

 

. Regional Broadcasters Committee Brief. Jan-
uary 12, 1948.

 

REPORTS

Coons, John E. (ed.). Freedom and Respgnsibility in
Broadcasting. Evanston: Northwestern university

Press, 1961.

Kelly, Frank K. Who Owns the Air? Testimony before the
Federal Communications Commission. Prepared by the
Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions,
Santa Barbara, 1960.

Radio Advertising Bureau. Four Radios in Everngome. New
York: Radio Advertising Bureau, Inc., 1965.

Thomas, Arthur L. Repgrt of the Governor of Utah to the
gecretary of the Interior. Washington, D. C.,
September 9, 1890.

305

UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL

Donigan, Robert W. ”An Outline History of Broadcasting
in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
1922-1963.” Unpublished typescript, History Depart~
ment, Brigham Young University, 1964.

DuBourdieu, William James. ”Religious Broadcasting in the
United States.“ Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation,
School of Education, Northwestern University, 1933.

Evans, Richard L. ”Historical Highlights of Radio Station
KSL.” Unpublished typescript, 1934.

Felt, Hazel Lee Craig. ”The History of Radio Stations in
Utah to 1950.” Unpublished Master's Thesis,
University of Utah, 1950.

Fullmer, Nathan 0. ”Nate Fullmer Recalls.” Unpublished
typescript prepared for KSL by Nathan 0. Fullmer,
1962.

Glade, Earl J. Undated handwritten articles concerning
the early days at KSL.

KSL. Program Department log books, 1924-51, pgssim.

Minutes of the Board of Directors' meetings of the Radio
Service Corporation of Utah (KSL), 1924-51.

Minutes of the Stockholders' meetings of the Radio Service
Corporation of Utah (KSL), 1924—51.

Snow, William James. ”The Great Basin Before the Coming
of the Mormons.” Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation,
University of California, 1923.

Wolsey, Heber G. ”Religious Broadcasting by the L. D. S.
(Mormon) Church.” Unpublished Master's Thesis,
School of Speech, Northwestern University, 1949.

OTHER SOURCES
Deseret News. Personal interview with Melvin R. Ballard,

former Advertising Manager, Deseret News. June 8,
1967.

 

. Personal interview with Nathan 0. Fullmer,
former Business Manager, Deseret News. June 20,
1967.

 

306

Evans, Richard L. Letter from Richard L. Evans to Heber
G. Wolsey. May 6, 1966.

”Facts about KZN, the Deseret News Broadcasting Station.”
This is a brochure published by the Deseret News,
January 1, 1923, and reprinted in KSL's 40th
anniversary brochure, 1962.

”Facts about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.” This is a
mimeographed brochure prepared by the Information
Service of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints (undated).

Fullmer, Nathan 0. Letter from Nathan 0. Fullmer to the
Commercial Club and Chamber of Commerce of Salt
Lake City. October 18, 1922.

KSL. Letters addressed to KSL from listeners, advertisers,
networks, etc. 1922-53.

. Personal interview with Vincent Clayton, Chief
Engineer, KSL, Inc. June 8, 1967.

 

. Personal interview'with Rollow Kimball, Chief
Engineer, KSL-TV. July 14, 1967.

 

. Personal interviews with Lennox Murdoch, Vice
President, KSL, Inc. Numerous dates, 1965-67.

 

”The Salt Lake Mormon Tabernacle Choir.” This is a printed
brochure prepared by the Information Service of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (undated).

Woodruff, Elias. Letter from Elias Woodruff to Nathan 0.
Fullmer. May 3, 1922. This letter is in the personal
files of Nathan 0. Fullmer.

 

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