TV Q&A: Why do many TV news personalities return from vacation on a Thursday?
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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: I have always wondered why so many folks who work for broadcast media return from their vacations on a Thursday or Friday. I’ve seen this on all local networks. WPXI-TV’s Trisha Pittman is one who does this all the time, along with Scott Harbaugh. In the past, I have also noticed WTAE-TV’s Ashley Dougherty, and earlier this month, Ryan Recker.
— Scott, Verona
Rob: My guess is it’s merely coincidence or personal preference and not anything related to scheduling.
Harbaugh was surprised by the question and says he usually takes time off in weekly blocks (Monday-Friday) but looking at his 2023 calendar, he found he did return from vacation on a Thursday three times.
“I can assure Scott it was completely random and coincidental,” Harbaugh said.
Pittman said she and her husband like to take short trips because she doesn’t like to miss too much work.
“It’s extremely rare for me to take an entire week off,” she said. “Sometimes I take the first part of the week off; sometimes it’s the second half of the week. Everyone defines their work/life balance differently, and that’s mine!”
Recker also chalked it up to coincidence/personal preference.
“Well, who wants to work on a Monday?!? I’d rather work on a Friday than Monday lol,” Dougherty responded to Scott’s question via email. “But in all seriousness, as much as I would rather work Fridays than Mondays, it just depends on my vacation request with what I’ve got going on and the days that I need. No real thought on it or planned Mondays … just how the cookie crumbles.”
Q: I usually wake up around 4 a.m. (I know …I need help) and will turn on WTAE/ABC and the ABC news program is on until about 4:27, when WTAE comes on to prep for their 4:30 a.m. newscast. However, this morning of Jan. 19, I noticed they were full live and running at 4 a.m. — along with WPXI and KDKA. Are they all moving to a 4 a.m. start or was this just something they did because of the snow concerns on Friday?
— Chris, via email
Rob: Listings show all three stations continue to have a regular 4:30 a.m. start time for early morning weekday newscasts. But for years, on snow days, one or all of them have routinely started at 4 a.m. instead.
Q: Why and how do these networks that produce “Dateline,” “20/20” and “48 Hours” produce shows on exactly the same stories on the same weekends?
For example, I watched “Dateline” Jan. 12 and the “48 Hours” episode on Jan. 13 had exactly the same storyline.
This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this. Surely there are enough murder mysteries to cover … is this purely a coincidence?
Wouldn’t the producers seek exclusive rights? Seems inappropriate to subject the victims’ families and the authorities to dual investigations.
— Beth, McCandless and Walter, Cabot
Rob: First to the last two questions by Walter: Generally these news outlets are not buying victims’ rights just as the 10 p.m. news does not buy the rights to tell a news story. News is news and these newsmagazine usually cover them just as a newscast would without payment. (There can be some exceptions, but week in and week out they are not buying anyone’s story rights when news is in the public domain).
I once had a family member whose case was covered by multiple news magazines and I can assure you producers did not seek permission to cover the story. That said, victims’ families often want the story of their loved one told so I’m not sure how often they would object. Regardless, a free press means the press can cover what it wants to cover when it wants to cover it.
Regarding Beth’s question about timing: Despite what some pundits would have viewers believe, the number of murders in U.S. cities fell by more than 12 percent in 2023. These news magazines don’t tend to cover run-of-the-mill crimes. The crimes they cover have to have enough of a story – twists and turns – or national media prominence to merit coverage, which shrinks the pool of potential murders to cover even further. All three newsmagazines are fishing from the same relatively small pond, so it’s unsurprising that on occasion they cover the same crime in the same weekend.