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Bonneville International Corporation
TypeSubsidiary
Industry
FoundedSeptember 4, 1964; 61 years ago (1964-09-04)
Headquarters
Salt Lake City, Utah
,
U.S.
ParentDeseret Management Corporation
Websitebonneville.com

Bonneville International Corporation is a media and broadcasting company, wholly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation. It began as a radio and TV network in the Triad Center Broadcast House in Salt Lake City, Utah. Bonneville's name alludes to Benjamin Bonneville and the prehistoric Lake Bonneville that once covered much of modern-day Utah, which was named after him.

Bonneville owns 13 radio stations in four major markets as well as one television station in its home market; it also manages eight additional radio stations in two markets under a local marketing agreement. Additionally, its Bonneville Communications division provides marketing and communications strategy and branding services. Bonneville Distribution, another division, provides broadcast syndication and distribution services to non-profit organizations.

History

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Bonneville International was formed on September 4, 1964, with the approval of the LDS Church's First Presidency. It was formed to merge its TV and radio properties, including KSL-AM-FM-TV in its hometown of Salt Lake City, as well as KIRO-AM-FM-TV in Seattle, which had previously been subsidiaries of the Deseret News.[1] The LDS Church divested itself of the Seattle stations between 1995 and 1997, but reacquired KIRO-AM 10 years later.[2] The company has also owned stations in New York City, Dallas, Kansas City, and Los Angeles at one point.

In 1980 it formed Bonneville Communications Corporation, primarily to broadcast LDS General Conference.

Bonneville prided itself on "values-oriented programming" and community involvement, in line with the company's mission as set forth by its first president and founder, Arch L. Madsen. According to Bonneville International's website, their values reflect an understanding that "families are the basic unit of society... and that strong families build strong communities."

Due to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) media cross-ownership rule, Bonneville was unable to purchase additional media outlets in Salt Lake City beyond its flagship cluster. In anticipation of a rule change, Bonneville purchased four additional Salt Lake radio stations in 2002. The FCC did not grant approval for this purchase until 2003, upon which the stations were acquired by Bonneville. The status of this deal is still uncertain—the FCC has only granted a waiver to Bonneville, and a recent[needs update] court ruling has put the FCC cross-ownership rule changes into question.

On October 4, 2004, Bonneville International announced plans to buy three stations from Emmis Communications in the Phoenix, Arizona market, in exchange for WLUP "The Loop" in Chicago and cash.

On January 4, 2006, Bonneville and The Washington Post announced that the frequencies currently used by WTOP, 1500 kHz AM and 107.7 MHz FM, would be reassigned to a new station, "Washington Post Radio." WTOP would move to 103.5 MHz, the frequencies currently used by classical music station WGMS, which in turn would move to 104.1 and 103.9 MHz, the frequencies used by WWZZ, which would be closed.

WGMS itself would fall silent a little more than a year later, on January 22, 2007. In its place is 1970s-1980s-adult-hits-station WXGG ("George 104"). Simultaneously, public radio station WETA-FM dropped its news/talk format in order to revive its previous classical format, via a partnership with Bonneville. WETA would also receive WGMS' entire music library, hired WGMS' last program director, and also retained the usage of the WGMS call sign. George 104 would last less than four months, when in April 2007, it was announced that the 104.1 frequency would be LMA'd to Radio One. On April 7, 2007, the frequency would flip to a Gospel and Inspiration format, known as Praise 104.1.

The Washington Post Radio experiment ended in September 2007, as the three stations (including the powerful AM 1500 signal) became WWWT, or "3WT". Hosts include syndicated hosts from the Right (Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz) and Left (Stephanie Miller) as well as Washington Nationals baseball. The station's morning show will continue.

Rush Limbaugh once worked for Bonneville Communications, after his stint with the Kansas City Royals.

CBS Radio has announced that it would sell 50 radio stations in 12 markets to focus on major market stations. As of September 22, 2008, Bonneville is one of the seven candidates to make first-round bids.[3]

On August 12, 2009; Citadel Broadcasting has rumored that they're planning to sell the former Disney/ABC's 23 stations to reduce its debt load, however several financial factors may put the deal at risk. While not all the stations can be sold off, Bonneville has expressed interest in 2 FM stations in Washington D.C. (WJZW and WRQX).[4]

On January 19, 2011, Bonneville announced it would sell 17 radio stations in Cincinnati, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis to Hubbard Broadcasting for $505 million.[5] The deal closed May 2, 2011.

On November 17, 2017, Bonneville began operating four San Francisco radio stations and four Sacramento radio stations under a local marketing agreement on behalf of the Entercom Divestiture Trust, following Entercom's merger with CBS Radio.[6] On August 3, 2018, Bonneville acquired the stations outright for $141 million;[7] the deal had been delayed by succession issues related to the death of LDS Church president Thomas S. Monson the preceding January.[8]

On September 30, 2021, it was announced that Bonneville International, owner of the KSL (AM) and KSL-FM, would be taking over operations of The Zone sports network. The arrangement with Bonneville will result in select Utah Jazz games being aired on KSL.[9] Founding host Gordon Monson and some producers were laid off by the new management.[10] The Zone introduced a new lineup effective October 20.[11]

In October 2025, the company sold its cluster of radio stations in San Francisco to Connoisseur Media.[12]

Bonneville-owned stations

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Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.

Note: Two boldface asterisks appearing following a station's call letters (**) indicates a station that was built and signed-on by a predecessor of Bonneville International.

Television station

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Media market State Station Purchased Affiliation
Salt Lake City Utah KSL-TV ** 1949 NBC

Radio stations

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Media market State Station Purchased Current format Notes
Phoenix Arizona KTAR 2004 Sports talk
(ESPN Radio)
KTAR-FM 2006 News/Talk
KMVP-FM 2004 Sports talk
Sacramento California KHTK 2018 Sports talk
KYMX 2018 Adult contemporary
KZZO 2018 Hot adult contemporary
KNCI 2018 Country music
Denver Colorado KEPN 2015 Sports talk
KKFN 2015 Sports talk
KOSI 2015 Adult contemporary
KYGO-FM 2015 Country music
Salt Lake City Utah KSL ** 1922 News/Talk [A]
KSL-FM 2003
KZNS 2021 Sports (The Zone)
KZNS-FM 2021 [B]
KSFI 2003 Soft adult contemporary [a]
KRSP-FM 2003 Classic rock
Seattle–Tacoma Washington KTTH 2008 Conservative talk [b]
KIRO 2008 Sports radio
(ESPN Radio)		 [c]
KIRO-FM 2008 News/Talk

On September 30, 2021, Bonneville International, owner of KSL and KSL-TV, began operating KZNS/KZNS-FM "The Zone" in Salt Lake City under a local marketing agreement with Jazz Communications LLC, through the sports division of KSL News Radio. The operating agreement will allow select Utah Jazz games to be simulcast on KSL-AM 1160 and KSL-FM 102.7. Gordon Monson and Austin Horton were among the long time employees of The Zone who were dismissed as a result of KSL Sports assuming operations of KZNS. Although KSL Sports is responsible for overseeing daily operations of KZNS, Ryan Smith dba Jazz Communications LLC retains ownership of both 1280 AM and 97.5 FM according to the FCC database. The Zone's website at 1280thezone.com is now a dead link. The stations can now be streamed at kslsports.com/thezone/. In June 2022, The Zone officially moved its operations from Vivint Arena to newly built studios and office space in the Triad Center, joining the other radio stations (KSL (radio network), KSFI, KRSP-FM) and KSL-TV, as well as Deseret News, a print newspaper owned by the parent company of Bonneville International. KSL News Radio, KSL-TV, KSL.com, and Deseret News share a consolidated newsroom.

Former Bonneville-owned stations

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Television stations

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Media market State Station Purchased Sold
Cedar City–St. George Utah KCSG 1998 2002
Seattle–Tacoma Washington KIRO-TV 1964 1995

From 2010 - 2016, Bonneville International also operated an independent TV station, KJZZ-TV (channel 14), in Salt Lake City, under a local marketing agreement with Larry H. Miller Communications Corporation. The arrangement ended when Sinclair Broadcast Group acquired KJZZ-TV.[13]

Former radio stations

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Media market State/Dist. Station Purchased Sold Notes
Phoenix Arizona KIDR 1991 1997 [i]
KMVP 2004 2017
KHTC 1991 1997 [ii]
San Francisco California KOIT-AM 1982 2008 [iii]
KBWF 1997 2008 [iv]
KDFC 1997 2008
KOIT-FM 2018 2026 [d]
KUFX 2018
KMVQ-FM 2018
KBLX-FM 2018
Los Angeles KBRT 1969 1980 [v]
KBIG 1969 1998 [vi]
KZLA 1998 2000
KSWD 2008 2015
Washington, D.C. District of Columbia WBQH 2004 2011 [vii]
WFED 1998 2011 [viii]
WWFD 1996 2011 [C][ix]
WTOP-FM 1998 2011 [x]
WTLP 1996 2011 [D][xi]
WWWT-FM 1998 2011 [D][xii]
WPRS-FM 1996 2008 [xiii]
Idaho Falls–Pocatello Idaho KSLJ 2003 2006 [xiv]
KSSL 2003 2006 [xv]
KBLI 2003 2006
KLCE 2003 2006
KCVI 2003 2006
KFTZ 2003 2006
KTHK 2003 2006 [xvi]
Chicago Illinois WDRV 2000 2011 [xvii]
WWDV 2000 2011 [E][xviii]
WLUP-FM 1997 2005
WILV 1997 2011 [xix]
WTMX 1970 2011 [xx]
Kansas City Missouri KCMO 1993 1997
KMBZ 1967 1997
KCMO-FM 1993 1997
KLTH 1967 1997 [xxi]
St. Louis WIL 2000 2008 [xxii]
WARH 2000 2011 [xxiii]
WIL-FM 2000 2011
WXOS 2000 2011 [xxiv]
New York City New York WNSR 1967 1997 [xxv]
Cincinnati Ohio WKRQ 2008 2011
WREW 2008 2011 [xxvi]
WUBE-FM 2008 2011
WYGY 2008 2011 [xxvii]
Dallas–Fort Worth Texas KAAM 1978 1994
KZPS 1978 1997 [xxviii]
KDGE 1995 1997
Houston KLDE 1997 1998
Salt Lake City Utah KUTR ** 2005 2008
St. George KDXU 2003 2006
KUNF 2003 2006
KREC 2003 2006
KSNN 2003 2006
Seattle–Tacoma Washington KNWX 1995
KIRO-FM 1964 1997 [xxix]

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ↑ Previously owned from 1947–1977.
  2. ↑ Previously owned from 1995–1997.
  3. ↑ Previously owned from 1964–1997.
  4. ↑ Previously owned from 1975–2008.
  1. ↑ Simulcasts KSL-FM.
  2. ↑ Simulcasts KZNS-AM.
  3. ↑ Simulcasts WFED.
  4. 1 2 Simulcasts WTOP-FM.
  5. ↑ Simulcasts WDRV.
  1. ↑ Known as KMEO prior to 1992.
  2. ↑ Known as KPSN prior to 1994 and KCHT prior to 1995.
  3. ↑ Known as KXLR from 1986 to 1987 and KSFB from 2007 onward.
  4. ↑ Known as KPIX-FM prior to 1997, KOYT from 1997, KZQZ from 1997 to 2002, KKDV from 2002 to 2003, KZBR 2003 to 2006, and KMAX-FM from 2006 to 2007.
  5. ↑ Known as KBIG prior to 1979.
  6. ↑ Known as KXTZ from 1971 to 1974.
  7. ↑ Known as WFED prior to 2008, WTOP from 2008 to 2009 and 2010, and WZAA from 2009 to 2010.
  8. ↑ Known as WTOP prior to 2006, WTWP from 2006 to 2007, and WWWT from 2007 to 2008.
  9. ↑ Known as WXTR prior to 2006, WTOP from 2006 to 2007, WTWT from 2007, and WWWB from 2007 to 2008.
  10. ↑ Known as WGMS-FM prior to 2006.
  11. ↑ Known as WWVZ prior to 2006 and WGYS from 2006 to 2007.
  12. ↑ Known as WTOP-FM prior to 2006 and WTWP-FM from 2006 to 2007.
  13. ↑ Known as WWZZ prior to 2006 and WGMS from 2006 to 2007, and WXGG from 2007.
  14. ↑ Known as KZNR prior to 2004.
  15. ↑ Known as KZNI prior to 2004.
  16. ↑ Known as KPLV prior to 2004.
  17. ↑ Known as WNIB prior to 2001.
  18. ↑ Known as WNIZ-FM prior to 2001.
  19. ↑ Known as WNND prior to 2004.
  20. ↑ Known as WCLR prior to 1989.
  21. ↑ Known as KMBR prior to 1991.
  22. ↑ Known as WRTH prior to 2005.
  23. ↑ Known as WSSM prior to 2005.
  24. ↑ Known as WVRV prior to 2006 and WMVN from 2006 to 2008.
  25. ↑ Known as WRFM prior to 1986, WMXV from 1992 to 1996, and WDBZ from 1996 to 1997.
  26. ↑ Known as WYGY prior to 2009, and WSWD from 2009.
  27. ↑ Known as WSWD prior to 2009.
  28. ↑ Known as KAFM prior to 1986.
  29. ↑ Known as KSEA from 1975 to 1991 and KWMX from 1991 to 1992.

References

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  1. ↑ H. Woody, Robert (September 5, 1964). "Up and Down the Street: LDS Church to 'Merge' Radio, TV Properties". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 21. Retrieved May 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Entercom trades radio stations".
  3. ↑ CBS Kicks Off Radio Station Auction - New York Post (retrieved September 22, 2008)
  4. ↑ DCRTV.net (accessed August 18, 2009)
  5. ↑ "$505M sale: Bonneville sells Chicago, D.C., St. Louis and Cincinnati to Hubbard". Radio-Info.com. January 19, 2011. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Entercom-CBS Merger: Sales, Trades and LMAs". Inside Radio. November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  7. ↑ Jacobson, Adam (August 3, 2018). "Bonneville Pays $141 Million For Entercom 8". Radio & Television Business Report. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Here's What's Holding Up Bonneville's Buy Of 8 Entercom Stations". Inside Radio. May 10, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Bonneville Assumes Control Of Utah Jazz-Owned KZNS-AM/FM". Inside Radio. October 1, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  10. ↑ Larsen, Andy (September 30, 2021). "Tribune columnist Gordon Monson out at The Zone, as KSL takes over management of sports radio station". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  11. ↑ "The Zone Sports Network Announces New Lineup With Some Familiar Faces". KSL Sports. October 19, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Connoisseur Media To Expand West Coast Footprint With Acquisition Of Bonneville San Francisco Stations". Connoisseur Media. October 8, 2025. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  13. ↑ Pierce, Scott (April 28, 2016). "KUTV's parent buys KJZZ from Millers". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 20, 2016.

Further reading

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