(8/22/08) Posted 4:45pm

It's a big week for the future of KSBI-TV.  Not only have we announced our fall lineup,  which will include "Lost" and "American Chopper". but we broke ground on our new station.  The new 13,000 square foot facility will include a state-of-the-art studio, newsroom, production suites, and workout facility.  But it's also will change the way that television is brought to Oklahoma City, and the state.

KSBI and Oklahoma News Tonight heading for a new beginning.  General Manager Brady Brus leads the way breaking ground on the newest TV station in Oklahoma City in about 2 decades.  The building is on the Kilpatrick Turnpike and Morgan Road, just south of Northwest Expressway.

Brady Brus, KSBI-TV's General Manager said, "We've been through a lot in the last 4 or 5 years, but we have a long way to go.  This is going to enable us to do more newscasts, that's launching phase one into new newscasts, more commercial production, more sports production."

It's the only station that can be seen from a major thoroughfare, and sits on the edge of Oklahoma City, and Piedmont.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said, "Two things we don't have enough of in this country are locally owned broadcasters, and family programming.  This station hits on both accounts and is especially important to the state of Oklahoma and the city of Oklahoma City, that we support KSBI."

"It's such a great benefit to our city, it's tax dollars that are going into Piedmont that are supporting the Piedmont public schools.  So we just want to thank you," Piedmont Mayor Mike Fina explained.

The project has been in the works for about a year, and is more than 40 days into construction.

"We've got all of our dirt work pretty much completed, the slab is down, all of our underground work, the frame of the building is actually standing, started the sheeting today," said B.J. Dunn, the Chief Operations Officer of the construction company.

The project was accelerated when Aubrey McClendon and Tom Ward became shareholders.

"Aubrey and Tom came on as partners about 1 1/2 years ago and we've been very happy to have them and pleased that we could have new facilities and bring on some new things to the station," Brus described.

Frank Jeldy, a Board member of Family Broadcasting Group said, "I know the people I work for are really happy there's family broadcasting in this area, it's family friendly and you're not afraid to watch it with your family and children.  They're very hopeful that Brady's successful."

Giving viewers a chance to watch the progress of a station with a coverage area unmatched in the state of Oklahoma.

"We're only growing as a matter of fact we've been added to a couple of new cable outlets outside the Oklahoma City DMA, and we're about to be added to the AT&T IPTV offering up in Wichita, Kansas," Brus concluded.

Crews should be putting more of the siding and insulation up in the next few days.  So an exciting time for the fastest growing station, moving to the fastest growing area of Oklahoma City.  The building will have a larger newsroom, studio, management offices, production suites, and even a workout area.  Viewers can watch all the progress on our newest StateCam, which is out at the site.