With loads of natural beauty and a bit of available space, people have been flocking to Salt Lake City since the pandemic began. The local news outlets are expanding their offerings as the population grows. KUCW, for one, added the 7 a.m. hour of Good Morning Utah in late 2020 (Good Morning Utah airs 5-7 a.m. on sibling KTVX), and tacked on a half hour to the station’s primetime news at the same time, shifting the newscast from 9 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“We continue to upgrade the show,” said Richard Doutre Jones, KTVX-KUCW VP/general manager, of the prime news program. (Doutre Jones retired as of March 18.) “With an hour-long news, we’re able to put some longer-form content in there, including interviews with community leaders.”
Nexstar has ABC-The CW pair KTVX and KUCW. Sinclair Broadcast Group holds CBS affiliate KUTV, MyNetworkTV station KMYU and independent KJZZ. Bonneville International has NBC station KSL and local radio outlets. Scripps owns Fox affiliate KSTU and former Ion station KUPX.
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On the Spanish-language side, NBCUniversal has Telemundo station KULX and Univision Communications owns KUTH.
Just outside Salt Lake City is family entertainment network BYUtv, based in Provo and owned by Brigham Young University.
Comcast is the dominant pay TV operator in DMA No. 30.
The market picked up nearly 150,000 homes from 2020 to 2021, per Nielsen, and home prices shot up in the double digits. “There are a bunch of cranes in the sky,” said Jose Suarez, president and general manager, KULX.
KSL is the market leader in household ratings, and KSTU is strong in the demo. Neither station returned multiple calls seeking comment. KUTV did not comment either.
KTVX has expanded lifestyle show Good Things Utah an hour, going 9 to 11 a.m. weekdays. The show offers a mix of sponsored content and general stories of interest. “The clients love it and it does great,” said Doutre Jones.
KTVX has The View at 11, then news at noon and local show Daily Dish, which has added a half-hour.
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Known as ABC4, KTVX airs Inside Utah Politics on Sunday mornings. Glen Mills hosts in addition to anchoring at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. weekdays.
In 2019, NBCUniversal closed on KTMW Salt Lake City, along with Utah low-power stations KULX, K17II and KULU. The seller was Serestar Communications and the price, which included a trio of LPTVs in California, was $21 million.
Telemundo Utah airs local news at 5 and 10 p.m. and may expand its output. “We are constantly evaluating,” said Suarez, who oversees stations in Sacramento and Fresno, California, in addition to Salt Lake City.
The KULX studio is being remodeled. Suarez described the gear and technology as something that befits a larger-market station. “We’ll be able to tell better stories and be visually more impacting,” he said.
He said the 14-person KULX news team brings real hustle to the game every day. “I love their energy and how determined everyone is to get the work done, tell the best stories, and really be present,” said Suarez.
The Hispanic population is around 15% in Salt Lake, according to Suarez, and growing. More of the market speaks Spanish, he noted, due to Mormon missionary work in Spanish-speaking locales.
BYUtv’s Provo base is less than an hour’s drive from Salt Lake City. The network reaches 50 million U.S. homes and shows include sketch comedy program Studio C, drama Ruby and the Well, about a teen girl who grants wishes to the residents of a downtrodden town, and reality show The Fixers, about a team of builders fixing up decrepit spaces, such as an impoverished orphanage. Season 15 of Studio C kicked off March 14, with Will Forte the guest star. Season 14 of Heartland, about a family running a horse ranch, debuts April 1.
BYUtv aims for the whole family with its programs. “Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and a 12-year-old kid as well,” said Jeff Simpson, managing director, BYUtv. “Co-viewing is what we really talk about. We want the family to watch together and not have to lunge for the remote.”
BYU Broadcasting has three studios at its 100,000-square foot facility. BYUtv airs around 125 live sporting events a year, including basketball, softball, volleyball and soccer. “We have more live collegiate sports outside of ESPN than almost anybody,” said Simpson.
BYUtv worked with KSL to air Ballet West’s The Nutcracker in 2020.
KSL’s anchors include Nadine Wimmer and Mike Headrick, and Kevin Eubank is chief meteorologist. KSL also has KSL NewsRadio at 102.7 FM, and a couple music stations on the FM dial. The station produces the true-crime podcast Cold.
KSL owner Bonneville International is part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
KUTV’s “Beyond the Podium” franchise focuses on politics and Chris Jones covers education, including “Beyond the Books” segments.
KSTU offers “360” reports that tackle complicated issues from multiple perspectives. The station’s “Positively Utah” segments focus on the good stuff happening in the market.
The Wasatch Mountains tower over Salt Lake City. Locals describe a more progressive market than one might think — a relatively diverse city, from a political perspective, in a deeply red state.
Suarez called Salt Lake “an easy place to be and an easy place to visit.” SLC residents mention a pro-business environment and a region that is friendly to the LGBTQ community — and everyone else.
“It’s a very welcoming place,” Doutre Jones said. “It reminds me a lot of a Midwest market even though it’s the Mountain West. It’s like the Midwest on steroids in terms of its values.” ■
