Bonneville International


Bonneville International Corporation is a media and broadcasting company, wholly owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 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 NBC affiliate 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

Bonneville International was formed in 1964, with approval of the LDS Church's First Presidency. It was formed to acquire KSL-AM-FM-TV, which had previously been subsidiaries of the Deseret News. Soon after its formation, Bonneville purchased KIRO-AM-FM-TV in Seattle. The LDS Church divested itself of these later stations between 1995 and 1997, but reacquired KIRO-AM 10 years later. 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, 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 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 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. 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
became WWWT, or "3WT". Hosts include
syndicated hosts from the Right and Left
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.
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..
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. 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 Entercom Divestiture Trust, following Entercom's merger with CBS Radio, and pending their divestment to a third-party. On August 3, 2018, Entercom announced that Bonneville would buy all eight stations for $141 million; the deal had been delayed by succession issues related to the death of LDS Church president Thomas S. Monson the preceding January. The deal was completed on September 21, 2018.

Bonneville-owned stations

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

Radio stations

MarketStationOwned SinceCurrent Format
PhoenixKTAR 6202004Sports talk
PhoenixKTAR-FM 92.32006News/Talk
PhoenixKMVP-FM 98.72004Sports talk
SacramentoKHTK 11402018Sports talk
SacramentoKYMX 96.12018Adult contemporary
SacramentoKZZO 100.52018Hot adult contemporary
SacramentoKNCI 105.12018Country music
San FranciscoKOIT 96.52018
Adult contemporary
San FranciscoKUFX 98.52018Classic rock
San FranciscoKMVQ-FM 99.72018Contemporary hit radio
San FranciscoKBLX-FM 102.92018Urban adult contemporary
DenverKEPN 16002015Sports talk
DenverKKFN 104.32015Sports talk
DenverKOSI 101.12015Adult contemporary
DenverKYGO-FM 98.52015Country music
Salt Lake CityKSL 1160 **1922News/Talk
Salt Lake CityKSL-FM 102.7
2003News/Talk
Salt Lake CityKSFI 100.3 **2003
Soft adult contemporary
Salt Lake CityKRSP-FM 103.52003Classic rock
Seattle - TacomaKTTH 7702008
Conservative talk
Seattle - TacomaKIRO 7102008
Sports radio
Seattle - TacomaKIRO-FM 97.32008News/Talk

Former Bonneville-owned stations

Television stations

City of license/MarketStationChannel
TV 		Years ownedCurrent ownership status
Cedar City - St. GeorgeKCSG8 1998–2002MeTV owned-and-operated, owned by Weigel Broadcasting
Seattle - TacomaKIRO-TV7 1964–1995CBS affiliate owned by Cox Media Group

From 2010 to 2016, Bonneville International also operated an independent TV station, KJZZ-TV, 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.

Former radio stations

MarketStationYears ownedCurrent ownership status
PhoenixKIDR 7401991–1997Owned by En Familia, Inc.
PhoenixKMVP 8602004–2017KNAI, owned by Farmworker Educational Radio Network
PhoenixKHTC 96.91991–1997KMXP, owned by iHeartMedia
San FranciscoKSFB 12601982–2008Owned by Relevant Radio
San FranciscoKBWF 95.71997–2008KGMZ-FM, owned by Entercom
San FranciscoKDFC-FM 102.11997–2008KRBQ, owned by Entercom
Los AngelesKBRT 7401969–1980Owned by Crawford Broadcasting
Los AngelesKBIG 104.31969–1998Owned by iHeartMedia
Los AngelesKZLA-FM 93.91998–2000KLLI, owned by Meruelo Group
Los AngelesKSWD 100.32008–2015KKLQ, owned by Educational Media Foundation
Washington, D.C.WBQH 10502004–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Washington, D.C.WFED 15001998–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Washington, D.C.WWFD 820
1996–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Washington, D.C.WTOP-FM 103.51998–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Washington, D.C.WTLP 103.9
1996–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Washington, D.C.WWWT-FM 107.7
1998–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Washington, D.C.WPRS-FM 104.11996–2008Owned by Urban One
Idaho Falls - PocatelloKSLJ 6902003–2006KEII, owned by Riverbend Communications
Idaho Falls - PocatelloKSSL 12602003–2006KNBL, owned by Riverbend Communications
Idaho Falls - PocatelloKBLI 16202003–2006defunct, went silent in 2006
Idaho Falls - PocatelloKLCE 97.32003–2006Owned by Riverbend Communications
Idaho Falls - PocatelloKCVI 101.52003–2006Owned by Riverbend Communications
Idaho Falls - PocatelloKFTZ 103.32003–2006Owned by Riverbend Communications
Idaho Falls - PocatelloKTHK 105.52003–2006Owned by Riverbend Communications
ChicagoWDRV 97.12000–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
ChicagoWWDV 96.9
2000–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
ChicagoWLUP-FM 97.91997–2005WCKL, owned by Educational Media Foundation
ChicagoWILV 100.31997–2011WSHE-FM, owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
ChicagoWTMX 101.91970–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Kansas CityKCMO 8101993–1997WHB, owned by Union Broadcasting
Kansas CityKMBZ 9801967–1997Owned by Entercom
Kansas CityKCMO-FM 94.91993–1997Owned by Cumulus Media
Kansas CityKLTH 99.71967–1997KZPT, owned by Entercom
St. LouisWIL 14302000–2008defunct, went silent in 2020
was KZQZ at time of license cancellation
St. LouisWARH 106.52000–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
St. LouisWIL-FM 92.32000–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
St. LouisWXOS 101.12000–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
New YorkWNSR 105.11967–1997WWPR-FM, owned by iHeartMedia
CincinnatiWKRQ 101.92008–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
CincinnatiWREW 94.92008–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
CincinnatiWUBE-FM 105.12008–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
CincinnatiWYGY 97.32008–2011Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Dallas–Fort WorthKAAM 13101978–1994KTCK, owned by Cumulus Media
Dallas–Fort WorthKZPS 92.51978–1997Owned by iHeartMedia
Dallas–Fort WorthKDGE 94.51995–1997KZMJ, owned by Urban One
HoustonKLDE 94.51997–1998KTBZ-FM, owned by iHeartMedia
Salt Lake CityKUTR 8202004–2008Owned by Truth Broadcasting Corporation
St. GeorgeKDXU 8902003–2006Owned by Cherry Creek Media
St. GeorgeKUNF 12102003–2006KHKR, owned by Cherry Creek Media
St. GeorgeKREC 98.12003–2006Owned by Cherry Creek Media
St. GeorgeKSNN 106.12003–2006KIYK 107.3, owned by Cherry Creek Media
Seattle - TacomaKNWX 10901995KFNQ, owned by iHeartMedia
Seattle - TacomaKIRO-FM 100.71964–1997KKWF, owned by Entercom