February 1972 to October 1990

As a reporter for KSL Television in November 1971, Spence Kinard was assigned to cover the funeral of Richard L. Evans. Ironically, he was also determined to break the story of who was going to replace Evans as announcer of Music and the Spoken Word. Several months earlier Spence Kinard had returned to Salt Lake City after working with CBS in New York. Meanwhile, Alan Jensen, a man who had substituted for Evans from time to time, continued to announce the weekly broadcast from November 1971 through mid-February 1972. Beginning in January of 1972, the Church conducted tryouts for the position of announcer. Spence Kinard was invited to try out.

The following month, on February 27, 1972,  J. Spence Kinard was introduced to the Choir and began the weekly announcing assignment with the following instructions: "Spence, we don't want you to start over, we want you to pick up where Richard Evans left off." It was a frightening thought for thirty- one-year-old Spence Kinard. A few months after becoming the official announcer, Spence Kinard took on additional responsibilities in his professional life. He was promoted to news director of the ever-growing KSL television station. For the first few years he, like his predecessor, continued to write the spoken word message every week. Then the idea was born to invite other writers into a rotation and to turn production over to Bonneville Communications. This system of multiple writers submitting scripts remains in effect to this day. Five or six writers (including the announcer) submit scripts, with the announcer and staff at Bonneville Communications overseeing and editing them. During Spence Kinard's nearly nineteen years of service, Music and the Spoken Word continued to grow as a national treasure; more awards were received and, with broadcast outlets expanded across the country, more stations began to carry the program.