WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Time Warner Cable and the parent company of the NBC affiliate in Winston-Salem have failed to resolve a contract dispute, taking the station off the air and leaving local viewers with a Pennsylvania station to watch instead.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports ( http://bit.ly/NeEwKk) the squabble between the cable company and the owners of WXII involves the fees for retransmission consent, which allows a cable company to carry a broadcast channel.

Time Warner Cable issued a statement Tuesday saying Hearst Television chose to black out WXII's signal rather than continue negotiating. The television station said that unless there's a change in Time Warner's position, WXII will no longer be available to Time Warner systems.

Winston-Salem-area subscribers are currently getting NBC programming, but not local news and information, from WBRE in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

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Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, http://www.journalnow.com