The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting Les Vann, general manager for CBS affiliate WKRC has announced his plans to leave the Newport owned station once its officially sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group.

According to the Enquirer, Van, who came to WKRC with Newport in 2008, told staffers,

“With the sale of Local 12 nearly complete I wanted to let you all know I will be leaving the station when the transaction is closed, which is scheduled to be this weekend. Working with each of you has been a pleasure and a privilege. I have learned so much from you!!!

“Your skills and passion for what you do helps set this station apart. Your accomplishments at Local 12 make this one of the best TV stations in the country. Being a small part of its rich history is something for which I will always take great pride…. Best and THANK YOU ALL for everything.”

WKRC is part of the station sell-off by Newport Television’s owner, Providence Equity Partners, which announced in March its intentions to shed all of Newport’s 56 stations.

President Barack Obama will close out his campaign with one last round of local interviews Tuesday, sitting down with 10 stations in battleground states.

The interviews will take place via satellite from Obama’s campaign headquarters in Chicago. In order of interview, he will talk with WHO in Des Moines, KWWL in Cedar Rapids, WTMJ in Milwaukee, WKYC in Cleveland, WKRC in Cincinnati, WFOR in Miami, WTVT in Tampa, WJLA in Washington, KMGH in Denver and KVVU in Las Vegas.

Governor Mitt Romney is spending the day appealing to voters in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. [h/t Politico]

Adam Clements makes the second reporter in as many days to leave Cincinnati’s NBC affiliate WLWT, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Clements is headed to Cincinnati’s, WKRC where he will replace Dan Spehler who left the CBS affiliate at the end of September to be closer to his family after the birth of his first child.

Yesterday, the Enquirer reported Anchor Jack Atherton was leaving WLWT to join WKEF-WRGT in Dayton as the main anchor.

Dan Spehler is joining WXIN, the Fox affiliate in Indianapolis, as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter.

It is a return to Indianapolis for Spehler, who worked as a reporter and anchor at ABC affiliate WRTV from 2005-10. Since 2010, he has been a reporter and fill-in anchor at WKRC, the CBS affiliate in Cincinnati.

Spehler begins Monday at WXIN. He will anchor the weekend evening newscasts.

After being off the air for two months, WKRC‘s Tim Hedrick will return to the weather desk at 5 and 6 p.m. for the Cincinnati CBS affiliate.

Kirk Varner, WKRC news director, posted a statement to the station’s website saying in part,

“Tim has been on an extended personal leave.  He will back to also doing the weather at 11 p.m. by week’s end.

I would like to take a moment to personally thank meteorologists Michelle Boutillette, John Gumm, Scott Dimmich and freelancer Erin Sebree—who each did a great job on all of our weather.”

Read more

WKRC chief meteorologist Tim Hedrick, who has been with the Cincinnati CBS-affiliate for the past 24 years, is taking a six-week leave of absence from the station.

In a statement, WKRC vice president and general manager Les Vann explained that Hedrick was taking leave “to handle some personal matters.”

Vann also assured viewers that Hedrick “is feeling fine and will return in late September to his regular schedule and duties as chief meteorologist.” Read more

In an effort to focus on larger markets, Cox Media Group has announced that it is selling four of the stations it currently owns and buying four stations from Newport Television.

The stations being sold are KFOX in El Paso, WJAC in Johnstown, PA, KRXI in Reno and WTOV in Stubenville, OH.

The stations Cox is buying from Newport Television are WAWS and WTEV in Jacksonville and KOKI and KMYT in Tulsa.

“This simplified structure will enable CMG to capitalize on continued growth and synergies, while retaining its size financially,” president Doug Franklin said in a statement.  Read more

WKRC is scaling back anchor duties for Bob Herzog, who works six days a week at the Cincinnati CBS-affiliate, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

In addition to being the morning traffic reporter for WKRC, Herzog anchors the 7 a.m. hour on WKRC’s CW-affiliated subchannel and anchors WKRC’s weekend morning newscast, meaning he works six-day weeks.

Going forward, Herzog’s weekend co-anchor Tiffany Wilson will be anchoring the Saturday morning newscast solo, news director Kirk Varner told the Enquirer.

Herzog, who joined WKRC in 2005, is famous for his “Dance Party Fridays.”

WKRC reporter Rich Jaffe has a problem: according to police documents, he’s a registered sex offender.

Jaffe opened up about his identity issues for a recent sweeps story, describing the trouble he’s run into after his social security number was entered on the arrest documents of an Arizona man who had been convicted of having sex with a child under the age of 15 (video inside). Read more

Lane Michaelsen, the recently appointed news director of WCPO, has a clear goal for the Cincinnati ABC-affiliate: first place.

“We’re going to No. 1,” Michaelsen said in a recent interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer. “That’s our goal.”

WCPO, perennially in second place behind CBS-affiliate WKRC, has overhauled its staff in recent months. In addition to a new news director, WCPO has a new general manager in Steve Thaxton, who was hired in March. Read more