To the thousands of male members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, listening to the priesthood session of general conference may not seem a miracle of technology.

But Harold Smith remembers when things were different. He's been attending the priesthood holders-only gathering since 1935, when it was held in the Tabernacle on Temple Square.

"They didn't ever fill up the balcony in those days," he said.

Smith, 81, was also there 50 years ago today when the closed session was carried by direct telephone line beyond the boundaries of Temple Square.

The former KSL radio and TV chief engineer said the church started creating a network of closed-circuit hookups in the early 1950s.

"We had special phone lines in the P.A. system of each stakehouse," he said.

Elwood S. Johnston, 76, of Clinton, said he recalls attending general priesthood meeting on Saturday, April 5, 1952, in the Tabernacle because telephone line broadcasts had not yet reached north Davis County.

He recalls having to be at the Tabernacle 70 minutes early to get a seat, and it was a particularly warm spring day, despite the meeting's 7 p.m. start time in those days.

The LDS Church has always recognized the value of new technology to help spread its message. In fact, LDS Church President Howard W. Hunter said in 1994 that the Lord has had a guiding hand in development of new technology for that reason.

And general conferences have usually been the main beneficiary as technological advances, from telephones to satellites, are used to carrying meetings to larger audiences.

The first radio broadcast of general conference was transmitted Oct. 3, 1924, just 2 1/2 years after AM-1160 became Utah's first-ever radio station. (KSL radio will celebrate its 80th birthday this May 6th.)

KSL-TV offered its first-ever public video of general conference in October of 1949. Four years later, general conference was telecast outside Utah for the first time.

In October of 1981, a network of 500 satellite dishes at stake centers was begun and soon allowed many church members to have local, live access to all sessions of general conference.

Today, satellite broadcasts of general conference can cover 96 percent of the planet, almost anywhere satellite receivers are set up.

Priesthood session is carried on satellite TV to approximately 3,000 stake centers and other church buildings throughout the world. And the regular sessions of general conference are even available by desktop computer, which can receive an audio-only broadcast of the sessions over the Internet.

"Satellite is a relatively inexpensive way to reach a worldwide audience," Bruce Reese, president and CEO of Bonneville International Corp., said.

Bonneville International and Bonneville Communications are companies instrumental in broadcasting general conferences.

Reese said the likely next step in that advancement is broadband Internet technology, which means people could see general conference on their computer, the same as if it were a TV set.

"Broadband" is essentially a much higher-speed technology on the Internet that allows transmission of video and video conferencing.

"In five to 10 years, we'll all have broadband," he predicted.

However, he stressed that's only in the United States and that more than half the church membership is outside the country. Ultimately, broadband Internet will serve whatever role LDS Church leaders decide it should.