TV Talk: WPXI-TV back on DirecTV; Jon Burnett and CTE

A little more than a week after Cox Media Group stations, including Pittsburgh’s WPXI-TV, went dark on DirecTV, the two companies reached a deal. Channel 11 is now back on DirecTV.

The retransmission dispute began on Feb. 3 and was resolved just in time for Cox-owned CBS stations in other cities to televise the Super Bowl.

WPXI-TV has been off DISH Network since November 2022 with no sign of a resolution in sight.

Jon Burnett report

This morning KDKA-TV’s Kristine Sorensen posted to social media that she’ll have reports Monday during the station’s 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts on retired weathercaster Jon Burnett about his health struggles following a recent diagnosis of suspected CTE from playing football. The reports will also include information on research on CTE being conducted in Pittsburgh.

‘Handyman’ promoted

Filmed-in-Pittsburgh low-budget cable movie “Handyman from Hell,” which premiered last year on Lifetime Movie Network, has now been purchased by Lifetime, which will debut the show on its channel at 8 p.m. March 10, according to a social media post by producer/star Steve Hofstetter.

“We just got called up to the big leagues,” Hofstetter wrote.

Some of the film’s cast and creators will host another watch party during the March 10 Lifetime premiere. Tickets ($10-$40) are available online here.

Disney synergies

With the success of “A Real Bug’s Life,” a title inspired by the animated Disney film “A Bug’s Life” (Nat Geo just renewed “A Real Bug’s Life” for a second season), Nat Geo Global Television Networks president Courtney Monroe said other synergistic programs are under consideration for National Geographic Channel and Disney+.

“There is such rich IP to mine and there’s so much shared DNA between the Nat Geo and Disney brands that we are exploring lots of opportunities,” she said during the Nat Geo portion of the Television Critics Association winter 2024 press tour. “We are thinking about ‘A Real Finding Nemo’ and other franchises. There are so many families with young children on the Disney+ platform that would gravitate to the real-world storytelling around those franchises.”