Time Warner Cable released the following statement this evening, signaling the end of their contentious negotiations with Sinclair Broadcasting. The agreement between the two companies will be finalized soon, but the bottom line for viewers of The CW and MyRDC is no disruption of service.

NEW YORK, NY, January 15, 2011 -- Time Warner Cable has reached an agreement in principle with Sinclair Broadcasting for continued carriage of its 28 local stations in TWC markets, and expects to work toward a final agreement in the next seven days.

“We’re pleased to reach an agreement with Sinclair Broadcasting without any interruption in service for our customers,” said Rob Marcus, President and Chief Operating Officer of Time Warner Cable. “We appreciate our customers’ patience and support throughout this negotiation, and thank them for their patronage.”

Time Warner Cable and Sinclair Broadcasting Group are still negotiating. They agreed to a two week extension to their December 31, 2010 deadline, and that extension expires tonight. Now there's another extension, but this one is only 24 hours, so maybe that means an agreement is close. 

There's no new programming on the CW schedule until Tuesday, January 18 (two hours of "Life Unexpected" -- the only non-repeat on CW's schedule all week, in fact), so hopefully things will be straightened out by then. 

Here's the official statement from TWC: 

Here's an update from the N&O's .biz blog on the latest in the Time Warner Cable vs. Sinclair Broadcasting dispute.

Time Warner Cable this morning characterized its business partner, Sinclair Broadcasting, as a liar and scoundrel in an escalating public brawl over programming fees.

The show-stopper behind the nasty rhetoric is a contract dispute over how much Time Warner should pay to carry Sinclair's CW22 and MyRDC signals in 2011. Popular shows include "Gossip Girl," "Nikita" and "Vampire Diaries."

Sinclair has threatened to pull its programs at midnight tonight if it can't renew its contract with Time Warner. For its part, Time Warner says that it would be forced to raise its customers' rates to cover Sinclair's proposed price hikes.

"Sinclair is threatening to take its stations off the air if Time Warner Cable does not agree to its demands for larger fees," the cable company said in a press release.

Time Warner Cable rejected the latest offer from Sinclair Broadcasting, and is refusing further negotiations, Sinclair officials said today.

The escalating feud over programming fees will mean that Time Warner Cable customers could lose the CW22 and MyRDC signals as of midnight Friday. Popular CW shows include "Gossip Girl," "Nikita" and "Vampire Diaries."

Sinclair proposed a fee increase that averaged about 10 cents per subscriber, but officials said today that Time Warner "refused to provide a financial counter-proposal, effectively ending negotiations."

Time Warner responded that Sinclair's statement is false.

"Time Warner Cable has at no time told Sinclair that we were terminating negotiations," Time Warner wrote in its own statement today. "We remain open and willing to negotiate a reasonable agreement for our customers and have no intention of declaring negotiations to be at an end, even in the event that Sinclair decides to pull their signals from Time Warner Cable on December 31st."

Among the signs of a new year: a ball (or acorn) dropping, champagne popping and TV titans fighting.

Television broadcasters and pay-TV providers are increasingly at odds over programming fees. With many contracts tied to the calendar year, those disputes tend to flare up as Jan. 1 approaches.

This year's edition pits Time Warner Cable, the Triangle's dominant pay-TV provider, against Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns WLFL, or CW22, and WRDC, or MyRDC. Both sides are warning customers of blackouts when their contract expires at midnight on Dec. 31.

An extended blackout could disrupt fans of popular CW shows such as the Vampire Diaries, Nikita, 90210 and Gossip Girl, left.