Cincinnati

Mike Dardis has been hired at Cincinnati NBC-affiliate WLWT as an anchor and reporter, the station announced today.

Dardis joins WLWT from KOMO, the ABC-affiliate in Seattle. He will start at WLWT in April.

“The minute I walked into WLWT, it felt like home,” Dardis said in a statement.

Dardis will co-anchor the 5 p.m. newscast with Sheree Paolello, who has been anchoring solo since Jack Atherton stepped away from the anchor desk to focus on political reporting earlier this month. Dardis will also report for the 11 p.m. newscast.

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Cincinnatti NBC-affiliate WLWT has moved veteran anchor Jack Atherton off its 11 p.m. newscast, leaving Sheree Paolello to anchor solo.

Atherton, who has been Paolello’s co-anchor since 2009, will continue appearing alongside Paolello during the station’s 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. newscasts.

WLWT news director Stacy Owen said that the move was made so that Atherton could focus more time on reporting as the 2012 election approaches.

“It gives us the opportunity to have Jack dig into the elections during this critical political year, elevating Jack’s role in an area of passion for him,” Owen said in a statement, posted by Cincinnati.com.  “Sheree has proven with the 5 p.m. that she can deftly handle a high-paced, high content show at 11 p.m.”

A charter bus collided with a WCPO news van during a live press conference about the collapse at the Horseshoe Casino construction site in Cincinnati this afternoon (watch above).

In the above video, which is from Cincinnati Fox-affiliate WXIX, the bus can be seen driving very close to where reporters were gathered for the press conference. Although the briefing continued after the collision, it was stopped when the bus driver got off the bus and began to address the crowd.

“If this group of people would have moved out of my way, I wouldn’t have ran into this truck,” she told the reporters gathered. Read more

Sinclair announced today that Jon Lawhead, currently the general manager of WSTR, the company’s MyNetworkTV station in Cincinnati, has been tapped to oversee all of Sinclair’s MyNetworkTV and CW affiliates.

In total, Lawhead will now be in charge of eight Sinclair stations in six markets.

“Jon has done a wonderful job leading our efforts in Cincinnati, and we are pleased to promote him to group manager where he will oversee markets that consist of MYTV and CW stations,” Sinclair COO Steve Marks said, in announcing the move.  “Jon is a very qualified broadcaster who has led by example, achieving impressive results in a very competitive marketplace. We look forward to bringing his leadership and operational approach to these markets.”

Lawhead has been WSTR’s GM since 2004.

Traffic reporter Denise Johnson has been let go at Cincinnati ABC-affiliate WCPO, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Johnson is technically employed by a company called Metro Traffic Networks, but has been reporting exclusively for WCPO for six years. She told the Enquirer she was informed after this morning’s newscast it would be her last.

“They didn’t want to be say goodbye to viewers, because it would make people mad,” she said.

Johnson’s job has been posted internally for six months. WCPO reporter Adam Marshall will assume the traffic and transportation beat immediately, general manager Steve Thaxton told the Enquirer. He noted Johnson was technically part-time due to her employment at Metro Traffic Networks. Read more

Since anchor Ben Swann joined WXIX two years ago, he has played a major part in the Fox-affiliate’s “balanced” approach to news. In his regular “Reality Check” segments, Swann dissects major news stories to give viewers a fresh perspective on the headlines.

As Republican presidential hopefuls have duked it out over the past few months, Swann’s “Reality Check” videos have gained a national following, largely because of his repeated coverage (and defense) of Ron Paul.

Washington Post media blogger Erik Wemple posted an in-depth look at Swann’s ideological ties to the constitutionalist candidate this week, pointing out that, as the anchor has analyzed Paul’s candidacy, he has gained a national following, especially among Paul supporters. Read more

Cincinnati CBS-affiliate WKRC has named Katie Clavey as the station’s first reporter specializing in online and social media coverage.

“Katie will be working with all aspects of our social media platforms, as well as reporting on-air about online trends and social media topics into ‘Good Morning Cincinnati,’ as well as our other newscasts,” news director Kirk Varner wrote in a memo to staffers obtained by the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Clavey joins WKRC from the Cincinnati Enquirer, where she is the calendar editor of the entertainment guide. For the past year, she has contributed to the weekend morning newscasts on WLWT, the Fox-affiliate in Cincinnati.

When news spread on Thursday that longtime WCPO news director Bob Morford was leaving the station, it was difficult to overlook the fact that the announcement of Morford’s departure came less than a day after the station suffered a major technical meltdown during its 11 p.m. newscast.

In reality, though, there is no connection between the two events.

“My departure has absolutely nothing to do with [the technical mishap],” Morford told TVSpy this morning.  “It’s my bad fortune that that happened the day before I made the announcement.”

Morford said that he had decided to leave the station in December and had a handful of conversations with GM Steve Thaxton about it over his holiday vacation.  It just so happened that Morford’s first day back in the office came right after the newscast meltdown. Read more

Bob Morford is leaving WCPO after more than a decade as the station’s news director.

This afternoon Morford told the WCPO newsroom that he will leave the ABC-affiliate after February sweeps, according to Cincinnati.com.

The announcement comes a day after the station suffered a major technical meltdown during its 11 p.m. newscast.  On Wednesday, WCPO’s automated production system reportedly crashed just before 11 p.m. and the station didn’t start the newscast until 11:08, and was unable to air video until 11:18.

TVSpy is still awaiting comment from Morford about his planned departure.

There are some changes to the weather team at Cincinnati ABC-affiliate WCPO, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Cyndee O’Quinn (pictured), who started at WCPO in 2002, has left the station in search of a position as a communications expert, news director Bob Morford said in a note to staff obtained by the Enquirer.

“As many of you know, meteorologists are often in demand for a wide variety of businesses outside television and yes, the hours are often a whole lot better!” Morford wrote. He added that O’Quinn may still appear on WCPO as a freelancer occasionally.

She will be replaced on the weekend morning newscasts by Sarah Walters, who made her debut this weekend. She joins WCPO from KNXV in Phoenix.