Editor’s note: This story was originally published on June 1, 2024.
A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
KSL television began broadcasting on June 1, 1949, and the TV titan has been plugged in ever since.
The Deseret News, which owned KSL in the early days, even commemorated the event 76 years ago with an 18-page special section ahead of the event.
“On the night of June 1 KSL-TV will make its debut in Salt Lake City. Television brings with it vast possibilities and responsibilities. We at KSL are aware of this and through this realization will strive to meet your interest and your needs,” read a note from “The Management.”
The first night’s offering, after a test pattern, was a short news summary program. At 8 p.m., the “Fifty-Fourth Street Little Show” direct from Broadway was shown, followed by the “Fred Waring Show” and the weather forecast and news summary report before signing off at 10:05 p.m.
First week highlights — the station was on the air from 7:30-10 p.m. most nights — included “Ukulele Ike,” Growing Paynes,” a family situation comedy, and the “Arthur Godfrey and his Friends” variety show. Sports offerings included “Swing into Sports” with golf teacher Johnny Ferrel and boxing matches from New York.
The highlights to cap the week included an address from Latter-day Saint leader J. Reuben Clark, and a John Wayne Western.
So has anything changed on television?
Viewers still love sports shows, the news and John Wayne Westerns. KSL-TV and other stations provide public service coverage of events such as the General Conference sessions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and many of us watch the news and weather summary before heading to bed.
There are even “Growing Pains” reruns somewhere on TV, albeit a different show.
It also is worth noting that the advertisements for new TVs included price points from $150 to $1,000.
Fans of KSL appreciate the station’s public affairs coverage, focus on the Olympics and other regional events. The station has won numerous awards through the years for breaking news and in-depth coverage as well as public service programming. The station has also launched the broadcasting careers of numerous national stars.
When the station first signed on the air on June 1, 1949, it operated from studios in the Union Pacific Building on Main Street. It was owned by the Deseret News, who also owned KSL radio. It originally operated as a CBS affiliate, and at times has also affiliated with ABC, NBC and the Dumont Television Network.
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 transmission tower was constructed on Farnsworth Peak to improve the station’s signal coverage along the Wasatch Front and into 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 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.
Archived stories about KSL-TV:
“KSL-Ch. 5 celebrates half a century”
“After 50 years, perspectives on television have changed”
Archived stories about the history of KSL NewsRadio:
How the birth of KZN — now KSL — changed Utah news 100 years ago
How radio as we know it in Utah began 100 years ago with the help of a teenager