John Cardenas has been named vice president of news for Dispatch Broadcast Group and president and general manager of WBNS, the company’s CBS affiliate in Columbus.

It is a return to the station for Cardenas, who was news director at WBNS from 1999-2010. For the past three years, he has been general manager of WTHR, Dispatch’s NBC affiliate in Indianapolis. In his new role, he will oversee both stations.

“We are thrilled that John will be returning to Columbus where I’m sure he will build upon the market leadership of 10TV and will take the executive lead of our broadcast news operations in Columbus and Indianapolis,” Dispatch Broadcast Group CEO Michael J. Fiorile said in a statement.

Cardenas replaces Tom Griesdorn, who will retire from WBNS in June after 14 years as president and general manager.

“It’s an honor to come back home to Columbus, yet still be involved in the award-winning journalism being done at both stations,” Cardenas said.

Tom Griesdorn will retire next month after 14 years as president and general manager of WBNS, Dispatch Broadcasting Group’s CBS affiliate in Columbus, Ohio.

“I’ve loved my time at WBNS-10TV and working with some truly outstanding broadcasters. Now my heart is telling me it’s time to settle down and enjoy life,” Griesdorn said in a statement. “But where ever I go, that heart will hold a special place for WBNS, The Dispatch Printing Company, and the amazing people I’ve been privileged to call my ‘work’ family and my friends.”

Griesdorn began his career in television as the manager of sales and financial controls at WLS in Chicago. He has also worked as general manager at WXYZ in Detroit and WOIO-WUAB in Cleveland.

“He has been a tremendous leader who returned the station to a position of market leadership and maintained that dominance for many, many years,” Dispatch Printing Company CEO Michael J. Fiorile said. “He hired a team of executives and newscasters who are among the best in our industry. He leaves a great legacy as he begins the next chapter of his life.”

Frank Willson, the longtime director of operations at WBNS, is leaving the Columbus CBS affiliate.

Willson will join AEP Energy as the vice president of marketing. His departure caps off a 16-year career at WBNS. He joined the station in 1997 as director of marketing and was promoted to director of operations in 2003.

His last day at WBNS will be April 3.

The University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism has announced the 2013 winners of the Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Television Political Journalism.

KARE, Gannett’s NBC affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul, won for local broadcast station. The judges cited its coverage of the marriage equality debate, calling KARE’s reporting “fair, balanced and deeply personal.” WBNS in Columbus received a special commendation for citizen engagement. Denver’s KUSA was the winner of the Cronkite/Jackson Prize for Fact Checking Political Messages, a category that was just introduced to the awards this year.

• Related, TVNewser: ABC News, CNN Win Cronkite Awards

Two reporters were honored for individual achievement at a local broadcast station. Marshall Zelinger, a content producer and presenter at KMGH in Denver, won for his “clarity of presentation” and “modern production techniques.” Tom McKee, a reporter at WCPO in Cincinnatti, received the special commendation for citizen engagement for his his extensive fieldwork. Read more

CBS Television Distribution‘s syndicated show, “Dr. Phil” is feeling the afterglow with local stations because of its resurgence in the ratings, according to TVNewsCheck.

“We were more than happy to renew Phil; its ratings have improved,” Randa Minkarah, senior vice president of Fisher Broadcasting, told TVNewsCheck. “The advertisers like Phil, too. It’s a known quantity to them.”

CBS Television Distribution shows “Dr. Phil” averaging a 3.2 household rating giving it a 23 percent lead over its nearest competitor. Read more

WBNS, the CBS affiliate for Columbus revealed their new set yesterday.

Designed by FX Design Group, the set shows off the use of brick and wood in various textures.  The station posted pictures of the new look to its website.  You can click here to see the slideshow.  Newscast Studio has also posted a series of photos as well as a short review.  Click here to view.

[NewscastStudio]

A retransmission feud between DISH Network and Dispatch Broadcast Group, the parent company of WTHR in Indianapolis and WBNS in Columbus, has taken a nasty turn.

The stations were pulled from DISH’s lineup on Friday at midnight after the two parties failed to agree on a carriage agreement. In a video that has been broadcast on WTHR in a loop since the blackout began, a DISH spokesperson says Dispatch “has blocked this station from the DISH lineup by not renewing its contract with us at fair and reasonable terms.”

“Dispatch has demanded a massive price increase in exchange for the rights to your local channels, a price that would translate into substantially higher costs for you,” the spokesperson says (video after the jump). “We can’t allow that to happen.”

In a statement on its Facebook page, WTHR said DISH’s claim “just isn’t true.” Read more

Eric Elwell, the chief meteorologist at Ohio News Network, is joining WBNS.

Elwell, who joined ONN in 1998, will begin at the Columbus CBS-affiliate in September after ONN shuts down at the end of August. During his time at the network, the ONN weather team won several Ohio Associated Press awards for “Best Weather Operation,” including in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Prior to joining ONN, Elwell also worked at WTVA in Tupelo and KAKE in Wichita.

WMTV, the NBC-affiliate in Madison, has hired Carlos Tucker (pictured) and Hobie Artigue.

Tucker, a meteorologist, began at the station last week. He joins WMTV from Weather Central, where he has worked for two years. Prior to that, he worked at WBNS in Columbus and KLBK in Lubbock, TX.

Artigue joins the station in mid-July as weekend sports anchor. He is currently the weekend sports anchor at KTVE, the NBC-affiliate in Monroe, LA.

“It’s the time we all knew would come but didn’t want to think about,” WBNS anchor Jerry Revish told viewers during the CBS-affiliate’s 11 p.m. newscast on Wednesday. “It’s time to say ‘thank you’ one last time to Andrea Cambern for her service to 10TV and Central Ohio.”

Last October, Cambern announced that she would be leaving WBNS after more than 20 years behind the anchor desk. With the May book coming to an end, she bid farewell to her longtime home this week. Read more