oklahoma city oklahoma united states branding ksbi general news 9 newscasts slogan oklahoma s own kwtv news simulcasts channels digital 23 uhf virtual 52 psip subchannels 52.1 mynetworktv translators k42ic weatherford k31jw elk city k50ke altus k15hq sayre k27jo strong city affiliations mynetworktv cbs alternate owner griffin communications griffin licensing llc first air date september 19 1988 1988 09 19 sister station s kwtv dt former channel number s analog 52 uhf 1988 2009 digital 51 2010 2014 former affiliations primary independent 1988 2012 dt2 america one 2004 2011 tuff tv 2011 2012 this tv 2012 2014 transmitter power 1 000 kw height 457.9 m facility id 38214 transmitter coordinates 35 35 52 n 97 29 22 w 35.59778 n 97.48944 w 35.59778 ; 97.48944 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.news9.com ksbi virtual channel 52 uhf digital channel 23 is a mynetworktv affiliated television station located in oklahoma city oklahoma united states . the station is owned by griffin communications as part of a duopoly with cbs affiliate kwtv dt channel 9 . the two stations share studio facilities located on kelley avenue adjacent to the studios and offices of the oklahoma educational television authority in northeast oklahoma city ; ksbi maintains transmitter facilities located near the kilpatrick turnpike i 44 on the city s northwest side . ksbi s signal is relayed on five low power translators k42ic channel 42 in weatherford k31jw channel 31 in elk city k50ke channel 50 in altus k15hq channel 15 in sayre and k27jo channel 27 in strong city . on cable ksbi is available on cox communications channel 7 and at & t u verse channel 52 in standard definition and in high definition on cox digital channel 707 and u verse channel 1052 . contents 1 history 1.1 under locke supply ownership 1.2 sale to family broadcasting group 1.3 management and programming changes 1.4 mynetworktv affiliation 1.5 cutbacks and sale to griffin 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 local programming 4.1 newscasts 4.2 sports programming 5 references 6 external links history edit under locke supply ownership edit the station first signed on the air on october 3 1988 ; it was founded by don j. locke owner of locally based regional hardware store chain locke supply company . ksbi s original studios were housed out of locke supply s corporate offices on 82nd street and pole road in southeast oklahoma city . for its first 16 years on the air channel 52 was largely run as a religious independent station ; during most of the 1990s and early 2000s it also carried a limited amount of secular sitcoms westerns and movies some of which were cherry picked from insp and familynet . beginning in the 1990s ksbi gradually signed on translators throughout the state eventually claiming the largest broadcast coverage area of any commercial television station in oklahoma ; at its peak its signal was relayed over 12 translators serving areas within the oklahoma city market and in markets adjacent to it such as tulsa elk city ponca city and ardmore . it also gained cable and eventually satellite coverage in the tulsa wichita amarillo wichita falls and ada sherman markets . citation needed sale to family broadcasting group edit following don locke s death in february 2000 locke supply s board of directors were approached by various station owners beginning in april 2001 for offers to acquire ksbi and its regional translator network . the company ultimately decided to sell off the stations to focus on operating the locke supply chain that don locke founded more than three decades earlier . in october 2001 locke sold ksbi and its translators to family broadcasting group of oklahoma inc. a newly formed locally based company that was founded by former kwtv channel 9 meteorologist brady brus ; his wife certified public accountant and treasurer angie brus ; his sister and local media personality brenda bennett and jon bowie of seekfirst media llc ; 1 2 the sale was finalized 2 years later in march 2004 . 3 former ksbi logo used from 2003 to 2009 . after family broadcasting assumed control of the station ksbi was repositioned as a family oriented general entertainment independent with syndicated secular programming that contained minimal to no sexual content overt violence or strong profanity added to the schedule programs that contained some degree of the aforementioned content were edited to fit the station s content standards . most of the initial secular programs seen on ksbi under brus management were series from the 1960s to the early 1990s . the station eventually added state high school and southeastern conference college sporting events . it also heavily invested in its newly formed weather department airing local weather updates throughout the broadcast day including five minute late afternoon and evening updates on weekdays presented by a two person on camera weather staff led by brus who also served as the station s chief meteorologist in addition to his duties as its owner and general manager incorporating interactive touch screen technology for its weather presentation and installing a network of remote cameras throughout various cities across oklahoma branded as the ksbi statecam network . while its syndicated inventory was fairly limited early on ksbi eventually expanded its programming slate ; this began in the fall of 2008 with the additions of nursetv lost and american chopper followed the next year by the acquisitions of deadliest catch cold case files the martha stewart show judge hatchett my wife and kids and then the addition of the king of queens to the schedule in the spring of 2010 . former ksbi logo used from 2009 to 2011 ; this logo was introduced during the thunder tv branding era alongside a secondary logo using that branding that accompanied the primary logo . it was also used alongside the ok52 branding until may 23 2011 . after reaching a deal with the nba s oklahoma city thunder to telecast select regular season games from oklahoma city s first long term major professional sports franchise in 2008 ksbi began branding as thunder tv with the ksbi 52 brand being used secondarily . that year the station also began construction on a new state of the art studio facility in yukon which was completed in the spring of 2009 ; ksbi relocated its local programming production and various other operations to the new facility that september . that year directv began carrying ksbi s programming in the tulsa area as an out of market station the station was removed from the satellite provider in january 2012 following a carriage dispute between family broadcasting group and directv . 4 on september 10 2009 the federal communications commission approved the transfer of a portion of family broadcasting group s stock to now former chesapeake energy chief executive officer and chairman aubrey mcclendon and chesapeake co founder and current sandridge energy chairman and ceo tom l. ward after family broadcasting restructured its equity to retire all long term debt and accelerate growth . 5 6 management and programming changes edit on november 1 2010 family broadcasting group appointed two former area newscasters as its top executives vince orza as its president and ceo and jerry hart as its vice president and operations manager 7 orza had earlier announced on october 21 that he would step down as dean of the meinders school of business at oklahoma city university 8 shortly before he accepted the position . that month orza began appearing in a promotional campaign for the station seeking opinions from viewers on programming changes that ksbi should make . the station also divested some of its translators ; six were converted into repeaters of former sister station kxoc lp channel 41 while two others based in enid and stillwater continued to rebroadcast ksbi s signal . citation needed it also began a gradual rebrand under the moniker ok52 ; the ok52 and ksbi 52 brandings were both used by the station until may 23 2011 when ksbi started using the ok52 branding full time before reverting to simply ksbi in march 2012 . a further expansion of the station s programming came in january 2011 with the additions of shows such as the daily buzz judge karen s court emergency and cash cab effectively decreasing the number of infomercials on its weekday schedule . following the management changes at family broadcasting group ksbi transitioned into a traditional general entertainment independent station with programs being aired as is content wise featuring recent off network and first run syndicated programs as well as the few classic television shows that remained on the schedule ; the station also began placing an emphasis on locally produced lifestyle and entertainment programs . mynetworktv affiliation edit alternate mynetworktv logo used in station promos from september 17 2012 to december 6 2014 . on june 14 2012 ksbi announced through a promo for its fall 2012 programming slate which was uploaded to the station s official youtube channel that it would join the mynetworktv programming service that fall bringing a primary network affiliation to the station s main channel for the first time . 9 the service s programming officially moved to ksbi on september 17 ; 10 the market s original mynetworktv affiliate kaut tv channel 43 became an independent station with an informal secondary affiliation with antenna tv which continued to be carried full time on sister station kfor tv s 4.2 subchannel . 11 differing from kaut tv which refrained from using mynetworktv branding on air throughout its six year tenure with the service ksbi branded as myksbi on air though it used the ksbi 52 brand more often beginning in 2013 before becoming its sole brand after the sale to griffin communications and used a secondary visual brand overlaying the circle logo used by the station since march 2012 on a red and white version of mynetworktv s logo to match the main station logo s color scheme . upon receiving the mynetworktv affiliation ksbi expanded its programming inventory by acquiring additional syndicated shows mainly sitcoms and drama series it also greatly reduced the amount of infomercials it aired in certain overnight timeslots eventually limiting them to weekends . ksbi also counterprogrammed shows seen on the major networks and primetime newscasts on kokh tv channel 25 and kaut in the 9 00 p.m. hour on weeknights with a nightly lineup of varying programs mainly drama series . cutbacks and sale to griffin edit in september 2014 ksbi cancelled two of its local programs the talk lifestyle show oklahoma live and game show wild card ; the station had also reportedly laid off most of its employees aside from its sales and operational staff . the move came as a result of a restructuring and a possible shift away from local programming along with the possibility that family broadcasting would place the station up for sale . 12 13 indeed a sale of ksbi was announced on september 29 2014 when family broadcasting group announced that the station would be sold to griffin communications longtime owner of cbs affiliate kwtv . 14 griffin took over the operations of ksbi on december 1 2014 with the station switching to a pre recorded feed of its regular programming schedule until the company completed the move of ksbi s master control operations to kwtv s north kelley avenue studios in oklahoma city on december 6 . additionally citing low viewership the station s this tv affiliated second digital subchannel was removed temporarily leaving that network without an affiliate in oklahoma city tribune broadcasting which owns a 50 % stake in this tv also currently owns kfor tv and kaut tv the latter of which took over the affiliation on a new 43.2 subchannel on december 24 2014 . the station s programming lineup remains similar with a few programs carried over from