'Music & the Spoken Word' Reaches Milestone: 5,000 Shows

 
“Music & the Spoken Word,” a show broadcast each week from Salt Lake City, not only has endured since 1929, but almost as remarkably, has barely changed. There’s the announcer’s gentle welcome, a three-minute inspirational message and a handful of hymns performed by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly and still better known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

According to The NY Times, the program’s nearly century-old, 30-minute “recipe,” as its organizers call it, seems to need no modifications to draw a crowd. On July 13, more than 11,000 people gathered in the cavernous conference center owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to record the program’s 5,000th episode.

The show “has always been a part of my life,” said Ron Christensen, 71, who sat near the front with his wife. “I used to take dates here.” His mother, Lela Christensen, 98, who sang in the choir from 1964 to 1987 (with some breaks for having children), was being honored as the choir’s oldest living alumna.

The number “5,000” alone may not capture the scale of the longevity of the show, which has aired every week since almost the beginning of commercial radio. “Saturday Night Live,” which celebrated its 50th anniversary with a lavish prime-time special this year, has not yet hit 1,000 episodes. “The Simpsons,” America’s longest-running sitcom, has produced a piddling 790.

What started as a live, local broadcast, captured by the organist’s son standing on a ladder and holding a microphone toward the choir, now airs on more than 2,000 radio and television stations around the world. Newer ventures include a Spanish-language version and a behind-the-scenes podcast.

“We view the choir as a global asset of the church,” said Michael O. Leavitt, a former governor of Utah who became the choir’s president in 2021. As the church’s membership declines in the United States but expands internationally, Mr. Leavitt has moved to grow the choir’s digital audience and global reach, in part by increasing the pace of international touring.

The show has been sponsored from the start by the church, which views it as a ministry rather than a moneymaker. Most people involved in production, including the host and the choir’s members, are volunteers.

“It’s the public jewel of the church,” said Matthew S. Holland, the ecclesiastical leader of the church’s communications department. “This is the front end of a decade where we hope the world will discover who we really are.”

Between television, radio and streaming, “Music & the Spoken Word” now claims 5 million listeners weekly.