Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review.

Q: Why do local TV news affiliates make it seem as though when they are running news feeds from their respective networks they are live and in some cases talking directly to the network person?

Two examples:

• When KDKA-TV has a preview segment for “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell will turn it back over to Ken Rice at KDKA. I’m guessing that this feed goes out to the hundreds of local affiliates across the country and I’m sure she doesn’t do a separate one for each and address the anchor when concluding. I guess she recorded tons of affiliates anchors names previously or somehow that part is computer-generated.

• When WPXI-TV has a big story from Washington, D.C., they go to their D.C. correspondent (giving the impression the correspondent is working for WPXI. I’m sure the correspondent isn’t working directly with them.) Again, I’m sure this segment is probably prerecorded going out to affiliates all across the country.

A person almost feels the affiliates and networks take viewers for lack of a better description, for idiots.

— Dave, Clarion

Rob: These assumptions are incorrect.

KDKA is a CBS-owned station. O’Donnell does news teases daily for CBS-owned stations only (there are 15, including KDKA) and confirms which local news anchor to toss back to on a daily basis.

WPXI is part of Cox Media Group. The reporters in Washington, D.C., work in the CMG bureau there and work with the eight local CMG stations nationwide, including Channel 11, on what angles the local stations are interested in, sometimes even trying to get Pittsburgh- or Pennsylvania-specific interviews. They are indeed live when Channel 11 tosses to them and they are not on any other CMG stations when they are on WPXI.

Q: Read your article about Verizon FiOS TV dropping the Pens/Pirates via SportsNet Pittsburgh from their lower tiers. Comcast/Xfinity (which I call XRIPOFFS) did the same thing a few months ago. I received a letter from Comcast and they stated it was because the new owners of SportsNet (Pittsburgh Penguins) raised their prices on them. If I want the Pens/Pirates games I had to pay for the next tier, which I will not. Just wanted to let you know it was the owners of the Penguins raising the price, thus the companies raise our rates/drop them from the lower tiers.

— Dave, via email

Rob: I covered the Comcast tier change back in January when it happened.

Undoubtedly the ownership change (from Warner Bros. Discovery when it was AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh to Fenway Sports Group, now with SportsNet Pittsburgh) played a role in the tier changes. I do find it interesting that Comcast was more transparent about the reason for the tier change than Verizon has been.

Of course, now that SportsNet Pittsburgh is available as a $18 monthly stand-alone streaming app that doesn’t require a cable/satellite subscription, viewers have an additional option for how they can access Pirates/Penguins games.

Q: This one hits home for me here in Arlington, Va. I’m a FiOS TV subscriber and was unpleasantly surprised to find out they removed the MLB Network from our cable package level a couple weeks ago.

For comparison, neither Monumental Sports Network nor MASN — the Pittsburgh SportsNet equivalent here — were taken off our package’s channel lineup. This could reinforce what you wrote about with the change in ownership with Fenway Sports. But like so many things cable-related … who really knows.

I also called FiOS to try to get to the bottom of the MLB channel removal, and the rep, who was in Albany, N.Y., (I always ask where they are located) had no real definitive answer for me. Of course, the rep was quick to tell me the channel could be restored if I was willing to upgrade our package level.

My point is, FiOS and Comcast et. al. thrive on customer confusion, vagary and overall exasperation. By keeping things murky (e.g. burying info on their websites), they bank on customers staying with them out of need and futility in getting answers to questions. It’s the easier path, even if it costs customers money.

Food labels are now more transparent after federal laws. Why can’t the FCC demand the same from cable companies?

— Chris, via email

Rob: Chris makes a good point. Concerned viewers should write to their elected representatives – at local municipalities that have agreements with cable companies and in the U.S. Congress – to request changes to regulations for how multichannel video programming distributors like Comcast and Verizon can move channels from less expensive to more expensive programming tiers.

Q: Recently, I saw that “Law & Order: Organized Crime” might be going to Peacock streaming. Can you confirm this? Why do you think they would take this show to a streaming platform? My family and I really enjoy watching three hours of “Law Order” on NBC during the season.

— Donna, via email

Rob: I also read the Deadline.com article that suggested “Organized Crime” could move to Peacock. And it is happening with “L&O: OC” going to Peacock for a 10-episode fifth season.

Why would they do that? It’s the most serialized of the “L&O” shows (and the lowest-rated “Law & Order” show on NBC). Serialized shows tend to perform better on streaming. And, of course, NBCUniversal is running a business and wants more people to subscribe to Peacock.

Q: Is the girl who plays the B&B owner on “Ghosts” pregnant?

— Donna, via Facebook

Rob: Yes, Rose McIver, who plays Sam, is indeed pregnant in real life.

Actress Sheila Carrasco, who plays Flower, was pregnant last year, which is why her character disappeared down a well for a long stretch of season three.

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