On Nov 2, 2007, at 3:39 PM, Merrill Oveson wrote:
I've complained about this before including to the Church (Mormon
Church) -
even a letter of two to the first presidency. (Yes, I hold a current
temple. Yes, I'm suspicious that my name may be on some nonwhite
list.
Yes, I'm not the only one who has raised this issue. No the church
does not
have to be affiliate with NBC to broadcast conference. They could
independent like KJZZ, which airs whatever it wants - within FCC
regs of
course.) ....
KSL is owned by Bonneville Communications which is owned by the
Church.
KSL is an affiliate of NBC - which means whatever NBC wants aired
KSL must
air, with few exceptions.
So essentially, the Church is broadcasting all that "bad stuff"
everyone on
this list is complaining about.
In spite of my objections, nothing has changed.
Maybe if enough members said something, church leaders could make
KSL a
family oriented station like (Is it PAX?).
Frankly, it's an embarrassment that the church is involved in such an
obvious and blatant conflict of interest. I have to laugh every
time I sit
in church and hear how evil TV is.
I get really tired of people complaining about this. If you think
you can work things out better, then why don't you give some creative
suggestions? KSL is not a network station, meaning cable systems do
NOT pay KSL to carry their channel. Without subscriber revenue,
KSL's revenue stream comes almost exclusively from advertising.
There are already a plethora of other public-access stations like PBS
(so that is out, along with the government funding), and KSL would
not be able to accomplish all that they do by donations. TV stations
that are not affiliated with a network and that do not receive other
funding die a very painful death. Being the NBC affiliate in Utah,
KSL is able to do a number of things that no other TV/radio station
in Utah is able to do/does do:
* comprehensive BYU sports programming (radio broadcast of games, TV
broadcast of coaches shows and other BYU sports related special-
interest stories)
* Broadcast of all KSL produced shows in HD
* Broadcast of local special-interest shows (LDS church features,
Music and the Spoken Word, General Conference)
* Full slate of specialty radio shows (KSL Greenhouse, KSL Garage, etc)
KSL also does a lot of good in the community, which they are enabled
to do because they have money to spare.
In the next paragraphs, "the church" will refer to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
It is also important to note that, although the church does still own
some businesses, those businesses MUST be self-sufficient, and their
income is neither used by the church, nor is their income
supplemented in ANY way by the church. In exchange for being an NBC
affiliate, the church has a station and broadcasting arm that can be
used to take the message of the gospel to the world. KSL (and
Bonneville) do MUCH more than meets the eye, from producing
conference (and all the costs associated with it) to creating the
public service announcements and commercials that help spread the
gospel. Would you rather the church stop building temples and church
buildings and start spending tithing money on all these things?
If you can come up some viable alternatives on how the church can
accomplish their goals without being an NBC affiliate and without
using tithing money, I'm sure they would love to hear them.
Grant
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