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Outlet profile

KSL.com

U.S. center-right, church-owned local news

Owned byOwned by Bonneville International Corporation, a for-profit media company wholly owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through its holding company, Deseret Management Corporation. KSL-TV and KSL Newsradio are Bonneville properties in Salt Lake City.
FundingMainly commercial: TV, radio and digital advertising, plus retransmission fees. Bonneville is a for-profit subsidiary of the church's investment and media holding company. The church provides ownership and capital, not donations or subscriptions.
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

KSL traces its roots to Utah's first radio station, KZN, which began broadcasting in 1922 and became KSL in 1925. KSL-TV launched in 1949. Bonneville International was formed in 1964 to hold the church's broadcasting properties, which were previously subsidiaries of the Deseret News. Deseret Management Corporation, founded in 1966, now oversees Bonneville and other church-owned commercial businesses. KSL is a major source of news in Utah, with a large TV, radio and digital presence. Its reporting is generally traditional and fairly cautious, and it focuses on state and local issues. Because the church owns it and Utah's political culture leans Republican, observers often describe its tone as moderate to center-right and family-oriented. In 2026 it has covered Trump administration policies that affect Utah, such as ICE arrest increases, mining approvals, national monument reductions and education funding. It has also reported criticism from Utah Republicans, such as Sen. John Curtis and Rep. Blake Moore, of the White House ban on some outlets. This record shows a mostly neutral, news-driven approach, not strong support or opposition. I did not find a detailed independent analysis of KSL's current slant, so this characterization rests on its ownership structure and a sample of its recent headlines.

Sources

  1. Bonneville International (Wikipedia)
  2. Deseret Management Corporation (Wikipedia)
  3. KSL (AM) (Wikipedia)
  4. The Church as Broadcaster (Dialogue Journal)
  5. 2 Utah Republicans push back against Trump's media ban (KSL.com)
  6. Can Utah solve Trump's critical minerals dilemma? (KSL.com)

Profile compiled 2026-10-10; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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