The latest buzz within in the Journalism and Mass Communications Department is the new and highly anticipated television studio.

The new Yeager Hall television studio is nearly complete. It started last November and it has been

quite an undertaking. Mary Arnold, the head of the Journalism and Mass Communications Department, said the project has been in the works for almost 10 years.

“The project of the TV station has been quite the undertaking because this project has been at least five years in the making,” Matt Cecil, a professor of journalism, said. “These types of projects are rarely successful without the support of the community as well as the university.”

In the past the journalism department had its television studio in Pugsley Hall, but had to shut it down because the funds to support it were no longer available. SDSU has been very flexible in the construction of the new studio.

Cecil said the funding for the new television studio was not that big of an issue.

“The Yeager family was a major contributor to the journalism department. They donated approximately $20.2 million to the building, which lead to the naming of Yeager Hall,” Arnold said.

Arnold has many positive feelings about the studio. She said it expands the capability to give students the state-of-the-art skill sets they need that were not available without the existence of the new studio.

The studio already has several uses, and since the journalism department is no longer using Pugsley Hall the studio will broadcast three television programs including, On Call, The Jackrabbit Insider, a weekly sports show, and the extension service program: iGrow.

The studio will also be used as an education tool.

“The completion of the project will make the department more comprehensive and it will allow students to gain very valuable experience that they may not gain anywhere else,” Cecil said.

The construction of the station has been delayed several times, but this hasn’t stood in the way of progression on the project.

“The construction team has been working around the clock, and this week they are installing the carpeting. After everything is completed it will take approximately four to six weeks to get everything moved in and set up properly and then hopefully will be ready to go without any complications,” Cecil said.