Mormon Church-Owned NBC Affiliate to Carry SNL for First Time

Deadline reports that a Mormon Church-owned Salt Lake City NBC affiliate TV station has agreed to add NBC's long running Saturday Night Live to their line-up for the first time. New episodes will begin to air this fall.

Station KSL made The Following announcement on its Facebook page:

"Programming Note: Starting this fall, KSL is pleased to welcome Saturday Night Live to its weekly line-up, on Saturday nights at 10:30. More changes and updates to the fall line-up are coming soon - stay with us and we'll keep you posted!"

The station has previously aired a local sports program, SportsBeat Saturday, in the SNL timeslot, however that show's ratings have recently been "on the wane." The sketch comedy show will now takeover the 10:30 PM in that timezone.

The station attracted media attention last fall when it refused to air the NBC comedy 'The New Normal' which featured a gay couple having a baby via a surrogate. At the time, the station's CEO said that it felt "inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time." The station also passed on the new NBC series Hannibal, citing its "extreme violence"

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