KSL-TV

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Coordinates: 40°39′33″N 112°12′10″W / 40.65917°N 112.20278°W / 40.65917; -112.20278
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KSL-TV
kW
HAAT1,267 m (4,157 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°39′33″N 112°12′10″W / 40.65917°N 112.20278°W / 40.65917; -112.20278
Translator(s)see § Translators
Links
Public license information
Websiteksltv.com
The Triad Center, in downtown Salt Lake City, with the KSL Broadcast House at far left.

KSL-TV (channel 5) is a

KSL radio (1160 AM and 102.7 FM). The three stations share studios at the Broadcast House building in Salt Lake City's Triad Center; KSL-TV's transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City. The station has a large network of broadcast translators that extend its over-the-air coverage throughout Utah, as well as portions of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming
.

KSL-TV is one of a few for-profit U.S. television stations owned by a religious institution (most U.S. TV stations owned by religious institutions are affiliated with

non-profit religious broadcasting
networks).

History

Primary CBS affiliate

The station first signed on the air on June 1, 1949, operating from studios in the Union Pacific Building on Main Street. It was owned by the

CBS Radio Network. In addition to its primary CBS affiliation, the station also shared ABC programming with NBC affiliate KDYL-TV (channel 4, now KTVX). The two stations continued to share ABC programming until KUTV (channel 2) signed on in September 1954 as the market's full-time ABC affiliate. The station also broadcast some programming from the DuMont Television Network, and during the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[2]

A few months after its sign-on, KSL moved its operations to studio facilities at the Broadcast House on Social Hall Avenue. In 1952, a 370-foot (110 m) transmission tower was constructed on Farnsworth Peak to improve the station's signal coverage along the

Tooele County
. It also began building a massive translator network that eventually stretched across five states.

The KSL stations operated as a division of the Deseret News until 1964, when Bonneville International was formed as the parent company for the LDS Church's broadcasting holdings. Soon afterward, channel 5 began broadcasting its programming in color. In 1984, the station moved to its current facility at Triad Center, also named Broadcast House.[3]

Switch to NBC affiliate

Further information: 1994–1996 United States broadcast television realignment

In July 1994, CBS and

WCAU-TV, as a result of a complex ownership deal between the network, Westinghouse and NBC.[5] NBC also traded their VHF channel 4 frequency and transmitter in Miami (then home to WTVJ) to CBS in exchange for the channel 6 frequency in Miami (then home to WCIX, which subsequently became WFOR-TV).[5] The deal took effect on September 10, 1995, resulting in the first network affiliation switch in Salt Lake City since KTVX swapped affiliations with KUTV and became an ABC affiliate in 1960. Initially, NBC sought to reaffiliate with KTVX; but after that station renewed its affiliation agreement with ABC, NBC then secured an affiliation deal with KSL-TV. KUTV continued to air one NBC program, Saturday Night Live, for five more months until January 1996, when it was moved to then-WB affiliate KOOG-TV (now CW owned-and-operated station KUCW
).

On January 14, 1999, a shooter entered the station's Broadcast House facility, allegedly looking for a KSL-TV reporter. Anne Sleater, an employee of another company that was housed in the building, AT&T Wireless Services, was shot during the incident and later died from her injuries. De-Kieu Duy, a 24-year-old female, was arrested in connection with the shooting.[6] Duy was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial and is currently housed in the Utah State Hospital.[7]

In 2002, Bruce Christensen was named the president of KSL-TV; Christensen was a former president of PBS, the former dean of the BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications, as well as a former KSL-TV reporter. During the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, KSL-TV was very influential in bringing coverage and technology to NBC. The station heavily lobbied to NBC that the Games be broadcast live locally.

In July 2010, KSL-TV entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with independent station KJZZ-TV (channel 14), after the LMA between that station and KUTV concluded after five years; the LMA was terminated in 2016, after KUTV's owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, purchased KJZZ.[8]

Programming

In addition to locally produced news and sports programs, and syndicated shows, KSL broadcasts most of the programs seen on NBC's schedule.

Due to its ties to the LDS Church, KSL-TV also airs programs relevant to

LDS General Conference.[9] KSL-TV is one of the few remaining television stations in the United States that still "signs off" at night (though only nominally, because programming immediately continues afterward), doing so at 3:30 a.m. on Sundays.[citation needed
]

Program preemptions and deferrals

Historically, KSL-TV has been known to occasionally preempt or assign out-of-pattern scheduling to certain network programs, either to make room for other local or syndicated programs or because of internal concerns over subject matter that station management deems objectionable, typically due to conflicts with to longstanding LDS Church beliefs. (Many of these preempted programs have aired instead on KUCW (channel 30) or KMYU (channel 12) over the years.) Preemptions based on content objections have periodically led to inquiries over the sustainability of a religious institution owning a network-affiliated station as content standards and practices in broadcast television have relaxed in recent decades in a reflection of cultural change.[10]

As a CBS affiliate, in 1977,

morning show in-pattern in September 1994 to accommodate an expanded (and relocated, as it was moved up two hours to 6 a.m.) local morning newscast.[20]

As an NBC affiliate, KSL declined to air Saturday Night Live throughout its first 18 years with the network; despite this, between 1995 and 2013, the station carried all of the long-running sketch comedy's "best-of" compilations, actor tributes, documentary specials and Saturday evening repeats that NBC aired in prime time. Unlike most of the later preemptions, while potentially objectionable content in the series were somewhat an issue for the station (NBC rebuffed KSL management inquiries about delaying SNL to midnight), the decision was largely made to retain its popular local sports discussion and highlight program SportsBeat Saturday. SNL initially remained on KUTV under arrangement with CBS until January 1996, before moving to then-WB affiliate KOOG (now KUCW).[21][22] In June 2013, KSL announced that it would start airing SNL in its regular timeslot beginning that fall, after revealing that viewership for SportsBeat had declined in recent years (and was also being beaten by the similar KUTV program Talkin' Sports in its slot); the Utah Utes playing more later evening games against West Coast opponents following its 2011 shift to the Pac-12 Conference from the Mountain West Conference (which played most of its football games in the afternoon) had also made it difficult for SportsBeat to analyze, carry, and package highlights of games that were often still in progress as it aired.[23] KSL-TV also did not air the 1997–99 NBC daytime soap opera Sunset Beach; the soap was seen locally on KOOG instead.

Content-wise, Channel 5 declined the short-lived 2003 sitcom

Live Well Network series My Family Recipe Rocks! in the sitcom's Tuesday timeslot.[29][30]
In a twist, although the show was canceled after its first season in May 2013, The New Normal was the first NBC prime time show that KSL has declined to air since it joined the network in 1995 (and the first prime time network show to have been preempted by Channel 5 since Picket Fences) that lasted at least a full season. (Other prime time series declined by the station for objectionable content have, by coincidence due to insufficient national viewership, been among the network's initial cancellation orders during their debut seasons.)

On April 29, 2013, KSL-TV pulled

Soviet Communist Party's narrative.[31] KUCW aired the program on Saturday nights (initially following Saturday Night Live, before moving to 11 p.m. for the show's second season), while Hannibal's regular timeslot was occupied on Channel 5 by the weekly newsmagazine KSL In Depth.[32][33]
Hannibal was cancelled after its last episode in August 2015, and the station cleared NBC's entire seasonal prime time schedule for the first time in the 2015–16 season.

On September 4, 2013, KSL announced it was moving Days of Our Lives out of daytime to 1:05 a.m., leading out of the network's late-night talk lineup, effective September 9; a local lifestyle program replaced Days in its former 2 p.m. slot (one of the alternate timeslots that NBC assigned for affiliates to air the soap opera). Other than the plausible outcome that locally originated programming in the daytime hour could allow KSL to attain much more ad revenue with a local program, no reason for the move was explicitly stated, with a common theory floated for the move being a storyline involving openly gay characters Will Horton and Sonny Kiriakis (who later became the first gay couple to be legally married in-canon on a network soap opera), citing historical opposition within the LDS Church to same-sex relationships. It also gave the show a steady DVR-friendly timeslot, where its preemption by breaking news in an overnight timeslot was much rarer than it would be in the afternoon, reducing overall station complaints. The latter reason is much more likely, as KSL continued to air Days in late night until the series moved exclusively to the Peacock streaming service (owned by NBC parent Comcast) in September 2022, even with the subsequent "killing off" and "resurrection" of Will in the series, and Sonny and Will's summer 2020 departure from the show.[34] The NBC News Now-produced afternoon newscast NBC News Daily—which replaced Days on NBC's schedule upon the soap's shift to Peacock—was not carried by KSL during the 2022–23 season, due to existing timeslot commitments to air Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray; it began clearing the program (airing at 1 p.m. weekdays) in September 2023, after the two syndicated talk shows ended their runs.[35] (KSL began airing the network's overnight rebroadcast of NBC News Now's Top Story with Tom Llamas the season before in the timeslot vacated by Days.)

Even with its tradition of screening possibly objectionable programs, some, such as The Book of Daniel (which was not shown by several other NBC affiliates, especially in Bible Belt states) and a paid political message criticizing the Iraq War (which featured Cindy Sheehan) have been aired by the station.[36][37]

Sports programming

Owing to

Pacific Time).[38][39]

The station also aired Utah Jazz games selected for national broadcast, first through CBS Sports from the team's move to Salt Lake City in 1979 until 1990, then NBC Sports from 1995 to 2002. The NBC years saw two Jazz appearances in the NBA Finals (1997 and 1998), both ending in losses to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

News operation

KSL ENG SUV at the Utah State Capitol.

KSL-TV presently broadcasts 30+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 5+1⁄2 hours each weekday and 1+1⁄2 hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). Despite its roots in the Deseret News and its link to KSL radio, channel 5 was initially an also-ran in news. That changed in 1965, when the station poached sportscaster

BYU football and basketball) and weatherman Bob Welti from KCPX-TV and teamed them with anchor Dick Nourse. Within a few months, channel 5 had rocketed into first place. It would be the dominant news station in Utah for most of the next 45 years, garnering some of the highest ratings in the country. Nourse, James and Welti would remain together until 1991, with Nourse staying on as top anchorman until 2007. In 2008, KSL-TV became the second television station in the Salt Lake City market (after KUTV, which converted in April of that year) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition
. For a long time, the station's newscasts were branded as Eyewitness News; the name was scrapped in 2009 in favor of KSL 5 News, and is now known simply as KSL News.

In November 2010, KUTV, long a distant runner-up, unseated KSL-TV in most timeslots, though channel 5 remained ahead at 10 p.m. However, in February 2011, KSL-TV lost the lead at 10 p.m. for the first time in recent memory. In December 2011, KSL-TV restored its lead in every time slot in the Nielsen ratings except one—the early morning news slot on weekdays (in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic), where the station finished in third place.[40] Since then, however, KSL-TV has dropped back to a distant runner-up behind KUTV in most time slots. According to media observers, channel 5's ratings slumped after Mark Willes became president of Deseret Management Corporation, the for-profit arm of the LDS Church and Bonneville's parent company, and abandoned the station's longtime focus on hard news in favor of "values-based" reporting. Willes was fired in 2012, but the station's ratings have yet to recover.[41]

It has used the slogan, "News Specialists" or "The News Specialists" in some variation or form since at least the 1980s, while still affiliated with CBS.

Notable former on-air staff

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is

multiplexed
:

Subchannels of KSL-TV[43]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
5.1 1080i
16:9
 KSL-DT NBC
5.2 480i COZI-TV Cozi TV[44]
5.3 thisTV This TV

On January 1, 2009, KSL ended its affiliation with NBC Weather Plus on its 5.3 subchannel due to the service's discontinuation by NBC, and relaunched the subchannel as a locally compiled automated weather channel, the Live 5 Weather Channel, which was one of the first local digital weather subchannels in the country to be presented in 480i widescreen. KSL-TV also carried Universal Sports on its 5.2 subchannel until it began to be exclusively distributed through cable and satellite television in January 2012; it was replaced by Live Well Network in 2013.[45] On January 1, 2014, KSL replaced Live Well Network with Cozi TV on digital subchannel 5.2.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KSL-TV shut down its analog signal, over

UHF channel 38,[47] using virtual channel
5. Effective September 17, 2018, the station moved its digital signal from channel 38 to channel 23, as part of the broadcast spectrum repacking.

Translators

KSL-TV is rebroadcast on these following translators:[43]

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KSL-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956, archived from the original on June 14, 2009
  3. ^ "Broadcast House at Triad Center-A Reflection of KSL's Commitment to the Future". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. July 12, 1984.
  4. ^ Carter, Bill (July 15, 1994). "CBS to Add Three Affiliates in Deal With Westinghouse". The New York Times. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  5. ^
    South Florida Sun-Sentinel
    , November 22, 1994.
  6. ^ Graham, Sonny (March 26, 2021), KSL Triad Center Shooting, archived from the original on December 22, 2021, retrieved May 11, 2021
  7. Deseret Morning News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media
    . Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  8. ^ Pierce, Scott (April 28, 2016). "KUTV's parent buys KJZZ from Millers". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  9. ^ Arave, Lynn (April 2, 2010). "Broadcast, transit information for Mormon general conference". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Pierce, Scott D. (January 26, 1993). "AS CBS PROGRAMS BECOME MORE RISQUE, WILL KSL-CH. 5 REMAIN A NETWORK AFFILIATE?". Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  11. ^ "Match Game CBS episode 978 (via YouTube)". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021.
  12. ^ "CBS gives in to pressure, dumps 'Garbage Pail Kids'". Spokane Chronicle. Associated Press. September 18, 1987. p. 20.
  13. ^ "Affiliated Stations Backing Out". geocities.com/adambombcartoons. Archived from the original on October 21, 2009.
  14. ^ Pierce, Scott D. (November 23, 1990). "KSL YANKS 'DOCTOR, DOCTOR'; CBS PREDICTS 4TH-QUARTER LOSS". Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  15. ^ Voland, John (November 3, 1988). "FIRST OFF..." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  16. ^ "KSL PULLS 'PICKET FENCES,' CALLS THE SHOW 'OFFENSIVE'". Deseret News. January 25, 1993. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  17. ^ Pierce, Scott D. (March 6, 1993). "NBC HAS BIG PLANS FOR THE 'CHEERS' FINALE". Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  18. ^ "NBC finalizes Salt Lake station deal." - Adweek Western Edition January 2, 1995.
  19. ^ Pierce, Scott D. (December 14, 1990). "NBC ADDS 3 NEW SHOWS AND CHANGES ITS SCHEDULE ON EVERY NIGHT BUT TUESDAY". Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  20. ^ Pierce, Scott D. (August 2, 1994). "KSL ADDS MORNING NEWS; ELLEN GIVES UP STAND-UP". Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  21. ^ Pierce, Scott D. (July 19, 1995). "MIKITA TO ANCHOR NEW KSL AFTERNOON NEWSCAST". Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  22. ^ Pierce, Scott D. (January 31, 1996). "CARROLL O'CONNOR JOINS THE 'PARTY'". Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  23. ^ "TV shocker — KSL will start airing "Saturday Night Live" in the fall". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  24. TVSpy.com
    . Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  25. ^ "KSL removes Playboy Club from fall TV schedule". ksl.com. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. June 12, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  26. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (June 13, 2011). "NBC's Playboy bunnies bounced in Salt Lake City". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  27. ^ Schneider, Michael (June 28, 2011). "Exclusive: The Playboy Club Lands New Home in Salt Lake City". TV Guide.com. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  28. Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City
    . Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  29. ^ Pierce, Scott (August 24, 2012). "KSL won't air gay-themed NBC sitcom 'New Normal'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  30. ^ "TV Tonight: My Family Recipe Rocks!". Salt Lake City Weekly. Salt Lake City. September 10, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  31. ^ Pierce, Scott D. (February 27, 2014). "Scott D. Pierce: 'Hannibal' producer likens KSL to Russia". The Salt Lake Tribune. MediaNews Group. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  32. ^ Pierce, Scott D. (April 29, 2013). "KSL yanks violent "Hannibal" off its schedule". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
  33. ^ Ivins, Jessica (April 29, 2013). "KSL no longer airing NBC's 'Hannibal'". KSL.com. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
  34. ^ "KSL won't be airing 'Days of Our Lives' during day". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  35. ^ Lafayette, Jon (November 28, 2023). "'NBC News Daily' Is 'An Example of How You Would Want a Network and Affiliate Relationship to be Working, Frankly,' Says Station Exec Tanya Vea". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  36. ^ "KSL-TV airs 'The Book of Daniel'". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. January 7, 2006. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  37. Tysons Corner, Virginia
    . August 21, 2005. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  38. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  39. ^ "TV briefs". Deseret News. April 6, 2001. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  40. ^ "KSL TV dominates 'core demos' in November". ksl.com. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. December 21, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  41. Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City
    . March 3, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  42. ^ "Jim Nantz bio". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  43. ^ a b RabbitEars TV Query for KSL
  44. ^ "KSL.com". Twitter. Salt Lake City. December 29, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  45. ^ "Live Well Adds Salt Lake City, Boston Market". Broadcasting & Cable. New York City. December 13, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  46. ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived August 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  47. ^ Horiuchi, Vince (February 9, 2009). "KUCW changes digital deadline". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. Retrieved April 5, 2013.

External links

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