I think the simple answer is: give it time.
Adelphia was obviously more concerned with their Empire Sports Network cable channel and radio -- and no surprise, with John Rigas owning, and son Tim presiding over the Buffalo Sabres.
Now that Time Warner has officially taken over, I would assume plans for a local cable news operation could be in the works, but it could be awhile before that happens. I'm guessing TW has plenty of other priorities to take care of first. Even though the Adelphia logos are all gone and TW is running the show, I suspect they're still doing lots of behind-the-scenes work to convert from the "Adelphia way" of doing things to the "TW way" of doing things. For example, the Utica system is probably due for a channel lineup rearrangement -- as of yet, News 10 Now from Syracuse is still on a triple-digit slot on the digital tier, when it should be on channel 10. Not only would that make sense, but it would also make the channel accessible to more viewers, and thus allow TW to make more earnest efforts in approaching Utica-area sponsors.
If I am correct in that general assumption, plans for a local cable news channel could get underway once all this behind-the-scenes stuff is completed. Considering there's a lot of on-paper planning to do before any actual work can begin, I suppose they could already be talking about it, but nothing more.
The first big question would likely be, does TW give Buffalo its own dedicated channel, or do they expand Rochester's "R-News" operation (likely with a new name) to cover both markets? If anything, I'd expect a combined channel to have its HQ in Buffalo, and R-News would become the Rochester bureau. But, if budgets allow, TW would be much, much better off giving Buffalo its own channel for a number of reasons that I won't get into here because you can probably imagine them on your own.
