MUSIC & THE SPOKEN WORD

The longest-running continuous network radio program in the world, Music & the Spoken Word began when broadcaster Earl J. Glade urged the newly formed National Broadcasting Company to offer a show spotlighting the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This “program of inspirational music and spoken word” debuted over KSL/Salt Lake City on July 15, 1929.

The show’s longest-running host was Richard L. Evans, a KSL staff announcer and member of the Mormon Church who hosted the show from June 1930 until his death in October 1971. During that time, he introduced the music, offered commentary, and eventually began to include non-denominational “sermonettes” intend to uplift the listening audience, ending each broadcast with the program’s signature message: “May peace be with you this day and always.” KSL television reporter J. Spencer Kinard served as the program’s host for 18 years, until current host Lloyd Newell took over in 1990.

Today, Music & the Spoken Word is broadcast over more than 2,000 radio and television stations worldwide, as the 360-voice Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square continue to perform a diverse selection of music, ranging from hymns to opera to showtunes.

Music & The Spoken Word was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2010.