PROVO — An apparent lack of planning on the part of organizers means the massive Fourth of July parade in Provo this year will not be broadcast on television.
Steve Poulsen, director of events for KSL-Ch. 5, which has shown the grand parade on University Avenue for the past two years, said the station wasn't approached in time by festival leaders to schedule the event.
Although KSL is a major sponsor of America's Freedom Festival at Provo, Poulsen said scheduling the parade is a year-to-year programming decision.
"I think there was an assumption on the part of some festival organizers that we would broadcast the parade," Poulsen said. "In discussions with (event organizers) other things were discussed and not the parade."
Poulsen said there was not a clear statement from the organizers that they wanted the parade to be covered by television crews until it was too late.
Part of the problem may be attributed to personnel changes within the Freedom Festival executive committee.
This is Ren Allred's first year as executive director, and Mark Stoddard was not asked to oversee the parade until February.
Allred admitted they were late in planning the parade.
"I arrived here in November, and I've been on the run since then planning," he said. "A festival of this nature usually takes about 18 months to do. You can shorten that with more experience, but about 75 percent of our administration staff was new."
Parade organizers assumed KSL would broadcast the event until May, when they realized the television station did not have a float entered in the parade.
"When I called them to ask why they didn't have a float they said it was because they weren't broadcasting the parade," Stoddard said. "They put us in a terrible situation because we couldn't go out and get someone to broadcast it in two to three weeks."
Stoddard said he contacted every station in Utah, but the answer was always the same: Not enough time.
He said KSTU-Ch. 13 expressed interest in broadcasting the parade in the future.
The parade will be broadcast on KSRR Radio AM 1400 but both Allred and Stoddard said they were disappointed it will not be shown on television.
By broadcasting the event, the parade gains statewide exposure, Stoddard said. He also said that if the parade is not on television the festival, which is the largest Independence Day celebration in Utah, loses momentum in gaining national exposure.
Losing regional exposure will also impact such sponsors as Nu Skin, Novell and Christensen Automotive. Stoddard said.
But he said the major sponsors like Nu Skin, which has contributed more than $40,000 to the parade this year, are more interested in giving to the community than in advertising.
Event organizers don't expect KSL's decision to negatively affect turnout. More than 150,000 are expected to attend.
Instead, they expect even more people will rise as early as 5:30 a.m. to line the parade route in downtown Provo.
"Only those that would be watching it on TV will miss it," Allred said. "It will still happen live and in color in Provo."
This year's parade will feature 106 entries, including "Spirit of America," a 100-member field band from New England.
Several celebrities and dignitaries are also expected to attend, including Steve Young, Larry King and U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
E-MAIL: jhyde@desnews.com