Wanda Ellis Wright

I was born October 11, 1924 in Standardville, Carbon County, Utah, to John William Irvin Ellis and Margaret Emma Bennett, and was the youngest of five sisters, LaRue, Amy, Beth and Bonnie.  Standardville was a major coal mining town of that era.
One of the earliest things that I can remember was being in the hospital when I was four years old, with a ruptured appendix.  I had to have an operation and developed complications, but with the skilled hands of Dr. John Hubbard and the faith and prayers of my parents, I soon recovered.
While growing up, I was somewhat of a tomboy.  I loved to climb trees, ride horses, and go fishing with my father, who had nicknamed me “Billy.”  He was hoping for a boy when I was born.
My cousin, Bill Bennett, accepted a position as County Agent for Carbon County and came to live with us.  He encouraged me to join the 4-H Club, where I enjoyed many pleasant hours learning to sew.  I entered a dress I had made in the County Fair, where it won first place and then first place in the Utah State Fair in 1941.  This made me very proud and happy.
While in school, I was in many pageants and operas.  I also danced in the MIA Gold and Green Balls.  I played violin in the Carbon County High School Orchestra.  Each year the Band Contest was a big event in Price.  Bands from Utah and surrounding states would come to Price to compete for first place in marching and music.  One spring, the Carbon High Band and Orchestra went by train to Grand Junction, Colorado to compete in the contest there.
I graduated from Carbon High School in May of 1942.  World War II had started and many of my classmates had joined the armed forces.  As a result, this made the graduation exercises very solemn.
I left Price in June 1942 and moved to Salt Lake City.  I lived in the Beehive House annex with my sister Beth, until we rented our own apartment in the Belvedere Apartments on State Street.
I started to work on June 15, 1942, for KDYL Radio Station, the Intermountain Broadcasting Corporation located on the sixth floor of the Salt Lake Tribune Building in downtown Salt Lake City.  My first position was secretary to the Music Director and Chief Engineer.  Their offices were in the KDYL Playhouse, a part of the broadcast operation, located on the second floor of the old Pioneer Post Office where the ZCMI Center is now located.  The big studio where the KDYL Band broadcast from was also in the same building.
At this time, the KDYL engineers were experimenting with a new media called television.  It was very interesting to watch them receiving pictures on the TV receiver, sometime before television was on the air for public viewing.
In 1943, I was made Record Librarian and moved over to the main studio in the Tribune Building.  About this time, William E. Wright started to work at KDYL as an engineer and then as an announcer.  He developed a morning radio show called “Uncle Will’s Old Corral.” It became as top-rated show in the Intermountain area.  We began our courtship and were married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 20, 1946.  My mother made my wedding dress from white silk that my cousin Bill had brought back from the Pacific Islands when he returned from the war.
After my marriage, I continued to work at KDYL and was assigned to the Traffic Department.  This involved typing as log with all the radio commercials for a broadcast day on it.  This was also an F.C.C. requirement.  During this time, I worked with many of today’s top Radio and TV personalities.  Many of them were just starting their careers in the broadcast industry.
In August 1953, Will left KDYL to accept a position as manager and air personality for KNAK, Granite District Broadcasting Company.  It wasn’t long before I joined him at KNAK to reorganize the office work and traffic department.
About this time, a new era in music had started called “Rock and Roll.”  Being aware of the potential of this new music, and using this format, Will programmed and developed KNAK into the #1 Station in the Salt Lake Market, and we maintained this position for twelve years.
With the success of the new format, KNAK continued to grow.  I was on the front desk as receptionist, operations manager, and traffic manager.  This involved hiring and training new office personnel, also being responsible for all commercials and public service announcements that were broadcast on the station.
In 1965, as a result of our tremendous success throughout the years, Will was offered, and he accepted, the management position at KCPX (formerly KDYL), which was now owned by Columbia Pictures Inc., and was made Vice President and General Manager of the Radio Division.  As we were well established in the broadcast industry as a husband and wife management team, I also joined Will at KCPX as his Operations Manager.
Our job at KCPX was a big challenge.  With an insufficient number of listeners to qualify for a listing in the rating books, we quickly adopted the Contemporary Music and News format at KCPX, and within the period of one year, KCPX was listed in the ratings as the #1 Station in the market.  As a result of this almost unheard-of fete in the broadcast industry, I was very proud when Will was given the Utah Broadcasters Association Management Award of the Year for 1966.
Our position at KCPX not only involved KCPX-AM, but as the company was also licensed for FM, it was our responsibility to also develop KCPX-FM.  With the growing interest of FM across the nation, we tried different program formats and found the majority of the listeners wanted Contemporary music.
After using this format, the FM station received many #1 positions in several rating demographics.
Our success continued at KCPX until our retirement September 30, 1979.  After experiencing a successful career in the Broadcast Industry for almost four decades, I have met many interesting people, seen many changes, and met many challenges.  It has all been very gratifying to me.