New York Times article reflects awe over Tabernacle Choir’s 5,000 weekly broadcasts since 1929

The New York Times found it remarkable that the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square — previously the Mormon Tabernacle Choir — has broadcast its weekly show of inspiration and music with the same “recipe” for 5,000 straight weeks since 1929, the paper reported Tuesday.

The show, “Music & the Spoken Word,” is the world’s longest, continuously running network broadcast. And it’s not close.

For scale, the Times noted that “Saturday Night Live,” in its 50th year, hasn’t hit 1,000 episodes, and “The Simpsons” has reached just 790.

“We view the choir as a global asset of the church,” choir president and former Utah Gov. Michael O. Leavitt told the Times, which noted that he is seeking to grow the choir’s global reach and digital audience for its sponsor, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“It’s the public jewel of the church,” said Elder Matthew S. Holland, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church Communications Department. “This is the front end of a decade where we hope the world will discover who we really are.”

Last year, Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said the church anticipates the next decade will be one “never to be forgotten” as it opens dozens of new temples, holds an open house for the iconic Salt Lake Temple, celebrates the bicentennial of the Book or Mormon and the church itself and welcomes the world to the 2034 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

The Times article shared details about the choir and its members, who can sing for 20 years or until they reach 60 and must live within 100 miles of Salt Lake City.

The choir consists of 360 singers, and the competition for the 50 or so spots that open each year is intense, with about 300 applicants, the Times reported.

The choir’s history is even longer than its broadcast record. It was launched in 1847, the year the Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah.

New show host Derrick Porter was quoted to provide the reason for the staying power of the “Music & the Spoken Word.

“Even as the world has changed, the purpose of the broadcast remains the same,” he said. “Thirty minutes of peace, broadcast freely to the world.”

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