TV Talk: WTAE’s new news director looks ahead; Very Local’s Pittsburgh ‘Sports Town Stories’

It’s still late April, but the May sweeps ratings period began this week for local TV stations. While sweeps is not as significant as it once was, stations still aim to air some special reports during sweeps periods.

May sweeps, which this year runs through May 22, marks the first sweeps for new WTAE-TV news director Baylor Long. But he’s certainly familiar with sweeps in Pittsburgh from his previous 2017-21 stint as WTAE’s assistant news director.

“There’s still emphasis on different times, but, from our standpoint, when we run the morning meeting and decide what stories we’re doing, we aren’t ever referencing what month it is or should we wait to do that until this month,” Long said.

He’s not worried about how Channel 4 performs in any particular time period, as long as “we’re putting a consistent product forward.”

Long said his goal as news director is to support Channel 4’s journalists, those on-air and the ones who work behind the scenes.

“What viewers don’t get to see is all the incredible people who put it all together,” Long said. “We make it look easy – or we try to – but it’s not.”

Long acknowledged the competitive landscape in Pittsburgh is unique with KDKA-TV, WPXI-TV and WTAE all jockeying for viewers and often splitting the local viewership pie into nearly identical slices.

“We know we’re in a competitive landscape, we welcome the competition and we don’t take our viewers’ time for granted,” Long said. “We want to value our viewers’ time, and we know it’s not just the three TV stations. Viewers have a lot going on, and there are lots of mediums – phones, tablets, TV – and there’s lots to do and there’s a lot going on in Pittsburgh.

“Viewers in Pittsburgh are more in tune with what’s going on in TV newsrooms than many other places I’ve been,” he said. “It’s the viewers that keep us in check, and we welcome that.”

Long said WTAE’s occasional prime-time program, “Chronicle,” will continue, but there might be a gap of a few months before the next one airs as he and others settle into their new roles.

‘Sports Town Stories’

On April 30, Hearst’s Very Local free streaming channel debuts a Pittsburgh-set episode of “Sports Town Stories,” profiling four local athletes: New Kensington High School swimmer Sidnie Shirey, who was born with a rare genetic disorder that results in missing bones in both arms; University of Pittsburgh basketball players nicknamed “the triplets” even though only two of them are twins; open water swimmer Darren Miller and Penn-Trafford High School field hockey player Ava Hershberger. WTAE-TV’s Ryan Recker narrates the episode.

Independent producer Corey Moss was commissioned to create the series for Very Local and found the Pittsburgh stories, filmed last fall, by researching local athletes.

“We really wanted to tell stories at all levels,” he said. “We reached out to teams in each market – pro teams, big colleges, smaller colleges, high schools – and told them what we were looking for. We try to tell a range of stories, some that are emotional and some that are a little more quirky.”

Moss said HBO’s recently concluded “Real Sports with Bryan Gumbel” was an inspiration for “Sports Town Stories.”

“A lot of what’s happening in unscripted are formats like true crime,” Moss said. “Positive, inspirational stories are not the trend right now, so it’s been amazing that Very Local gave us a chance to tell those stories.”

CMU grads on ‘Shark Tank’

Carnegie Mellon University grads Dan Braido and Audley Wilson will pitch their New Jersey-based company, RoboBurger, to the Sharks this week (8 p.m. Friday, WTAE-TV).

RoboBurger is a burger vending machine that cooks and prepares a burger in four minutes.

Braido and Wilson were Kappa Delta Rho fraternity brothers at CMU. CEO Wilson, who opened and operated Hkan Hookah Bar and Lounge on the South Side from 2004-15, is a 2005 graduate of CMU’s Tepper School of Business; chief tastiness officer Braido graduated from CMU in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

‘Dead Boy Detectives’

With British accents and supernatural themes, Netflix’s latest comic book adaptation, “Dead Boy Detectives,” brings to mind a BBC America show from the late 2000s, something like the original “Being Human” (2008-13).

“Dead Boy Detectives,” now streaming, is based on the Neil Gaiman comic book, but it’s more accessible than Gaiman’s other Netflix adaptation, “The Sandman.” “Dead Boy Detectives” was developed for streaming by Steve Yockey, the writer behind Max’s “The Flight Attendant.” “Dead Boy” has a similar lighthearted tone despite all the supernatural derring-do of falling through mirrors and fighting demons.

Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Reyri) are teenagers born decades apart who are now ghosts and best friends who solve mysteries. Charles is more easy-going; Edwin is uptight and unimpressed when psychic Crystal (Kassius Nelson) joins their efforts.

“Dead Boy Detectives,” which seems ready-made for fans of Netflix’s “Wednesday,” is fine but unexceptional, like a lot of Netflix fare these days.

Channel surfing

Given the timing (almost two years from when she arrived) and based on the tone of her “I no longer have a job” Tik Tok dance (and a “freedom looks good on me” Instagram post), it seems likely that Emily Giangreco left WTAE-TV after her contract was not renewed.

@emily.giangreco

Life update!!

♬ original sound - Emily Giangreco

The Federal Trade Commission wants to ban non-compete clauses, a move that, if upheld, would allow on-air talent to move from one TV station to another without having to sit out a non-compete period. Business groups have already threatened legal challenges over the rulemaking. … True crime app Sword & Scale debuts a new episode May 1 covering the role of “the Greensburg 6” in the murder of Jennifer Daugherty, previously covered last year in Very Local’s “Hometown Tragedy.” … Netflix’s “Roast of Tom Brady” (8 p.m. May 5) will stream live. … Amazon’s Prime Video announced For Your Consideration panels for Emmy consideration for 13 programs, including “Expats” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” but not for filmed-in-Pittsburgh “American Rust: Broken Justice.” … Filmed-in-Pittsburgh ASL game show “SignTasTic!” will put on a live, on-the-road game show, 12-1 p.m. April 25-27 as part of Yinzerfest at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.