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by Rodney H. Brady

In 1964 KSL and other Church-owned commercial broadcasting stations and operations were consolidated into Bonneville International Corporation (BIC), headquartered in Salt Lake City. The founding president of BIC was Arch L. Madsen. He was succeeded by Rodney H. Brady in 1985. Historically, its board of directors has included a member of the First Presidency.

In addition to KSL Radio and Television, Bonneville has acquired and founded several other units: (1) a television station in Seattle, (2) radio stations in Seattle, New York City, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, and Phoenix; (3) Bonneville Media Communications, a full-service production and advertising company located in Salt Lake City; (4) Bonneville Washington News Bureau, in the nation's capital; (5) Bonneville Broadcasting System (BBS), a music programming service in Northbrook, Illinois, that provides "easy listening" and "soft adult contemporary" music programming to radio stations throughout the United States and abroad; (6) Bonneville Satellite Corporation, which was formed in Salt Lake City in 1980 and much of which was sold in 1987, with BIC retaining interest as a limited partner; and (7) Bonneville Entertainment Company, incorporated in 1981.

Bonneville programming reaches an international audience through placement of programs, public service messages, and other services on stations throughout the world, with emphasis on values-oriented programming. Bonneville stations do not proselytize for the Church, and religious programming (generally confined to Sunday morning) includes representation from all major religions. Neither BIC nor its divisions use their facilities to solicit funds for the Church. Bonneville and its divisions are taxpaying, commercial enterprises.

The philosophy of BIC is summarized in this excerpt from the company's statement of "Mission and Commitments": "We are a values-driven company composed of values-driven people. We are committed to serving and improving individuals, communities, and society through providing quality broadcast entertainment, information, news, and values-oriented programming."

(See Church Participation in Business; Daily Living home page; Attitudes Towards Business and Wealth home page)

Bibliography

"Bonneville International Corporation." Brochure, Salt Lake City, 1989.

Wolsey, Heber G. "The History of Radio Station KSL from 1922 to Television." Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, 1967.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 1, Bonneville International Corporation

Copyright © 1992 by Macmillan Publishing Company