KSL is not - repeat, not - for sale.
Rumors to the contrary have been circulating for years, heating up again recently following strong anti-television statements by LDS Church General Authorities in April General Conference sessions. Since the church owns Bonneville International Corp. (which, in turn, owns KSL TV and Radio along with 11 other broadcasting facilities), many have argued that the current state of the television industry - both morally and financially - make it reasonable to assume that the church's future in the business is limited."I've heard those rumors, too," said Bonneville President Rodney Brady during a telephone interview last week. "In fact, when I first took this position several years ago one of my colleagues asked me why I would come here when everyone knew that the Church was looking to get out of the broadcasting business."
But that wasn't true then, Brady insists, and it isn't true now.
"KSL is not for sale," he said emphatically. "There is more need for our leadership in the industry now than ever before. If you want to speak scripturally, it is the ill who are in need of a physician, not those who are well.
"There is no question that there are challenges facing television today," Brady continued, "and it is our objective to be an important voice in the nation's television community."
Brady referred to KSL's recent leadership among CBS affiliates to keep an "objectionable" animated series about "The Garbage Pail Kids" off of CBS and to derail a prime time series based on the hit movie "Dirty Dancing."
"We are taking a lead position in expressing our views and insisting that CBS offer ethical, values-oriented programming," Brady said. "I expect that we will continue to do so."
Which should come as good news to the folks who work at Broadcast House, who have no doubt been wondering about the rumors themselves as they prepared to celebrate KSL Television's 40th anniversary June 1. The event will be observed tonight with a one-hour special called Five Hits Forty (9 p.m., Ch. 5), and it has to be a relief to employees to know that, as KSL News Director Spence Kinard observed, "the future is bright."
Kinard, who has been around for a first-hand view of more than half of KSL's past, should know. He's seen the station's news operation grow from a handful of reporters shooting their own black-and-white film to a staff of more than 100 reporters, photographers, editors, producers and technicians, armed with a full arsenal of state-of-the-art equipment and satellite technology.
"There's always going to be change in this business," Kinard said. "But one thing that I don't see changing is the way KSL has been able to impact television, both locally and nationally. In quiet ways we've had influence - sometimes it surprises me how much - and I believe that will continue."
So does Brady.
"For the past 40 years KSL-TV has played a vital role in keeping this community informed about major events and expressing itself on a variety of issues," he said, "and I fully expect it to continue doing so for the next 40 years."
-BY THE WAY, "Five Hits Forty" should be a lot of fun, with film clips that document not only KSL's 40-year history, but four-fifths of the entire history of television as well. If the show is as entertaining as the promotional spots have been, it'll be well worth the hour - if only to see Bob Welti and Paul James bickering again.