Bonneville Fire · Burn-Scar Flood Preparedness
As flood risk rose above campus, the U mobilized — and 7.8 million saw it.
Weeks after the Bonneville Fire burned 566 acres of foothills above the University of Utah, monsoon flash-flood watches put the burn scar back in the news. Crews filled 2,000 sandbags and installed barriers protecting University Hospital and Huntsman Cancer Institute — and every major Salt Lake City newsroom told the story: 35 pickups across 12 outlets in roughly 24 hours.
35
Total Pickups
12
Unique Outlets
7.8M
Estimated Views
31
Broadcast & Radio Airings
$71.8K
Ad Value Equivalency (AVE)*
100%
Positive
Sentiment
Positive100% · 35
Negative0% · 0
Neutral coverage counted as positive.
It’s all hands on deck at the University of Utah campus as they prep for potential flooding following last month’s Bonneville fire.
KNRS-FM, Jul 16, 2026
Wins & Takeaways
- Full Salt Lake market sweep — 31 TV and radio airings across KSL, KUTV, Fox 13, KSLAM, and KNRS in about 24 hours, plus original stories on KSL.com, Fox13now.com, and The Salt Lake Tribune.
- U of U Health led the story: drive-time segments centered on crews protecting University Hospital and Huntsman Cancer Institute, with Emergency Management’s Phillip Chafee on air.
- Coverage framed the U as proactive, not reactive — sandbags and barriers in place before a drop fell, with zero negative mentions.
- The story traveled beyond Utah — picked up by Springfield, Mo. sister stations (KSPR, KYTV) and New York–based World Today News.
Top Coverage
Click any headline to open the source ↗
02
2.1M
04
Radio: officials work to protect University Hospital from flood waters off the Bonneville burn scar
104K
05
Radio: “all hands on deck” as the U preps for post-fire flooding
58.6K
Geographic Spread
32
Utah-Based
Pickups from Salt Lake City newsrooms
3
Out-of-State
Missouri & New York pickups
1
Country
All coverage U.S.-based
A campus-safety story for a Utah audience: 32 of 35 pickups came from Salt Lake City TV, radio, and print. Out-of-state coverage came from Springfield, Mo. sister stations and New York–based World Today News.
* AVE combines Meltwater-reported values where available with estimates from reach; accuracy may vary. Reach and views are upper-bound estimates from Meltwater.
Source: Meltwater export, Jul 17, 2026