Despite extending talks for more than a week past the original expiration of their retransmission consent contract, Time Warner Cable and Hearst were unable to come to an agreement by midnight yesterday, leaving 13 stations unavailable on the cable provider today.

“Time Warner Cable has reached hundreds of agreements with other broadcasters without broadcaster blackouts, but Hearst’s demand for a nearly 300% increase is way out of line,” a Time Warner statement released last night reads. “That kind of outrageous increase is unfair to our customers and unsustainable for our business.”

Hearst has statements informing viewers on each respective station’s website. Read more

Sheree Paolello is getting a new co-anchor on WLWT‘s 11 p.m. newscast. Mike Dardis will join her on the anchor desk beginning tonight.

Stacy Owen, the news director at the Cincinnati NBC-affiliate, announced the news in an email to staffers that was obtained by the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“As part of our efforts to defend and extend our multi-platform momentum, Mike Dardis will join Sheree on News 5 at 11,” Owen wrote. “In addition to adding new feel to the show, this will enable both Mike and Sheree to work on special reports. The lineup of the 5, 530 and 6 stays the same. Here’s to our own strong summer season!”

Dardis has been anchoring the 5 p.m. newscast and reporting for the 11 p.m. since he joined WLWT from KOMO in April. Paolello was previously the solo anchor of the 11 p.m. newscast.

After four years at WLWT, meteorologist Valerie Abati will sign off from the Cincinnati NBC-affiliate this summer.

Abati is moving to California for personal reasons, according to a memo sent to WLWT staffers obtained by the Cincinnatti Enquirer. News director Stacy Owen said in the memo station management is “working with Valerie to explore every opportunity to keep her within the Hearst Television family.”

“While no final departure date has been set, she plans to be with WLWT through the summer,” Owen wrote. “We will share more once her plans become more firm. Please join us in thanking Valerie for four great years as part of the News 5 team and the Cincinnati community, and in wishing her much happiness moving forward.”

Longtime WFLA anchor Bill Ratliff passed away this afternoon. The Tampa NBC-affiliate reports that he died after complications with surgery.

Ratliff worked at WFLA for nearly three decades, from 1982 to 2009, during which time he anchored the station’s morning newscast and also served as the show’s managing editor.

Before joining WFLA, Ratliff worked at WFAA in Dallas, WDIV in Detroit, and WLWT in Cincinnati, among other places.

“Our NewsChannel 8 family is deeply saddened today by the loss of our dear friend Bill Ratliff,” veteran WFLA anchor Gayle Sierens wrote on her Facebook page.  “We will all miss him so.” Read more

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.

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.”

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.

Kyla Woods started this week as a traffic reporter and general assignment reporter for Cincinnati NBC-affiliate WLWT.

Woods was most recently a freelance traffic reporter at WRTV, the ABC-affiliate in Indianapolis. She has previously worked as a traffic and features reporter for WXIN, the Indianapolis Fox-affiliate.

WLWT creative services director Pete Salkowski told the Cincinnati Enquirer that Woods will also be a station ambassador for local events in addition to her duties as a reporter.

“I feel right at home in my new role at WLWT and I couldn’t have asked for a better station or community to join,” Woods said in a statement. “I look forward to preparing our viewers for their daily commute, and I’m grateful to be part of a team that’s leading the way – every day.”

Brandon Hamilton, a traffic reporter at Cincinnati NBC-affiliate WLWT, is moving to Phoenix. He has been hired as a special assignment reporter for ABC-affiliate KNXV.

“I just needed more opportunity overall,” Hamilton told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “General assignment reporting and hard news isn’t what I want to do. In the long run I want to get into hosting, but Phoenix is giving me the opportunity to be a special assignment reporter and let my creativity shine, therefore I will get some more hosting-like experience.”

Hamilton has been at WLWT since 2008. His last day at the station will be November 23.

NBC-affiliates across Ohio are partnering to present a statewide debate centered on Issue 2, a controversial state referendum up for repeal. The debate will be moderated by NBC News political director Chuck Todd and broadcast from Columbus on Tuesday, October 25th.

The debate will be carried by WLWT Cincinnati, WKYC Cleveland, WCMH Columbus, WDTN Dayton, WLIO Lima, WNWO Toledo, WTOV Wheeling-Steubenville, WFMJ Youngstown, and WHIZ Zanesville. It will also be streamed live on each of the stations’ websites. Read more