Rob Owen stories, Page 19
TV Talk: WTAE hires meteorologist and Butler native Jill Szwed
A couple of months after the departure of weekend morning meteorologist Kasey Reigner, WTAE-TV hired Butler native Jill Szwed to join its weather team, which will again be back up to five forecasters. Szwed is currently at the Albany, N.Y., ABC-Fox duopoly affiliates WTEN-TV/WXXA-TV, as a weekday morning meteorologist until...
TV Talk: WQED-TV GM looks ahead, plans station move from Oakland
It’s been six months since Jason Jedlinski took over as president of WQED Multimedia, so I wanted to check in on what he’s learned so far, where things stand regarding the station’s spate of technical hiccups and what’s on the horizon regarding local linear TV programming. But first, some news:...
TV Talk: Pittsburgher returns to ‘Jeopardy!’
Daniel Moore of Brighton Heights returns to “Jeopardy!” next week for the “Season 39 Champions Wildcard” tournament, just six months after his first appearance on the show that lasted three episodes and netted him $41,800. Moore will compete on the episode that airs Monday, Jan. 22. Moore, who works as...
TV Q&A: With SportsNet Pittsburgh changing tiers on Comcast, what does that mean for regional sports network fees?
Q: I’m one of the subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity Popular TV package that will apparently be losing access to SportsNet Pittsburgh on Jan. 16 to watch Penguins and Pirates games. I have been paying $13.30 as a regional sports fee. I wonder if that fee will be removed since I...
TV Talk: Excellent Emmys telecast leans into viewers’ love of TV
There were not a wealth of Emmy winners with Western Pennsylvania ties but host Anthony Anderson managed to kick off the “75th Emmy Awards” Monday night on Fox with images and music ready-made for Pittsburghers. Anderson came on stage to the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” theme with the title changed to...
TV Talk: KDKA-TV, WPXI ground shared chopper; Mister Rogers moment ranks Top 10
After decades of competition, the Pittsburgh TV station chopper wars are over with just one helicopter left flying. The beginning of the end started two years ago when KDKA-TV and WPXI-TV decided to share one helicopter. Prior to that, each station contracted for its own chopper. Now, KDKA and WPXI...
TV Talk: ‘Children in Crisis,’ 8 p.m. news, ‘Ted,’ ‘Death’ premiereVideo
Filmmaker Scott Galloway looked back on his coming of age in Pittsburgh for his latest project, “Children in Crisis: The Story of CHIP,” premiering at 9 tonight on WQED’s WORLD Channel (Channel 13.3 over the air, Channel 1013 on Comcast Xfinity and Channel 473 on Verizon’s FiOS TV) and already...
TV Talk: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Comcast agree on new deal with a tier change
The new year began without a new retransmission dispute – those often happen as one year slips into the next — and now there’s a deal that will keep SportsNet Pittsburgh, home to Penguins and Pirates games, on Comcast’s Xfinity cable systems. But there will be one change. Beginning Tuesday,...
TV Talk: Jodie Foster’s ‘Night Country’ delivers best ‘True Detective’ yetVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Your next crime fiction obsession arrives with the fourth season of HBO’s True Detective,” this time subtitled “Night Country,” which debuted Sunday night (9 p.m. Jan. 14). It’s far superior to the show’s disappointing second...
TV Q&A: Why no noon newscast on weekends?
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: Your recent column about KDKA+ starting an 8 p.m. newscast reminded me of something that’s puzzled me for some time. Local news coverage has expanded...
TV Talk: What you need to know with the Chiefs-Dolphins game only available via Peacock
Saturday’s 8 p.m. AFC Wild Card game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs will only be available via streaming on Peacock in Western Pennsylvania. Here’s what viewers need to know about how to watch that game: What is Peacock? Peacock is NBCUniversal’s attempt to create a Netflix streaming...
‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Succession,’ ‘The Bear,’ ‘Beef’ win big at Golden Globes
Although the popularity of nominees “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” might have drawn more curious onlookers, “81st Annual Golden Globe Awards” host Jo Koy appeared to dare viewers to stay tuned. It was clear early in his 12-minute monologue that the crowd was not with him as evidenced by myriad reaction shots...
TV Talk: WQED-produced PBS documentary explores ‘The Cost of Inheritance’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Former WQED-TV vice president of content Darryl Ford Williams executive produced the revealing new one-hour PBS documentary, “The Cost of Inheritance: An America ReFramed Special” (10 p.m. Jan. 8, WQED), which explores the complex issue...
TV Talk: KDKA+ launches 8 p.m. news; Very Local debuts Pittsburgh dating showVideo
On Monday, Pittsburgh’s first 8 p.m. newscast launches on WPKD-TV, Channel 19, also known as KDKA+. KDKA news director Shawn Hoder has a ready response to anyone wondering why they’d put on another newscast when there’s already local news that airs on KDKA from 4-7 p.m. and again at 7:30...
TV Talk: WTAE news director Jim Parsons to retire
Channel 4 news director Jim Parsons will retire from WTAE at the end of February, a few weeks after he turns 65. “I first went to my bosses a year ago and told them I was thinking about this, probably around March of 2023, so it’s been a 10-month secret...
TV Q&A: Why does KDKA-TV air 3 hours of local news on weeknights?
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: Can you explain why KDKA insists on running three hours of local news between 4 and 7 p.m.? There is never that much actual news...
TV Talk: ChaiFlicks’ ‘Schmoozing’ visits Squirrel Hill’s Milky WayVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. For its first original series, Jewish streaming service ChaiFlicks (pronounced “high-flicks”) opted to go “Schmoozing and Cruising,” a half-hour unscripted series about kosher restaurants and food establishments across the United States. In the episode that...
TV Talk: Morning local newscast launches on WPGH-TV next week; Fox readies ‘Grimsburg’Video
WPGH-TV, Channel 53, will launch a 7 to 8 a.m. weekday newscast on Jan. 8, per promos that are airing and TV listings. As reported last month, this 7 a.m. newscast, like the 10 p.m. news on WPGH, will be produced and staffed by personnel from WPXI-TV. Channel 11’s morning...
TV Talk: Western Pa. native Ed Lammi retires from Sony
Bloomfield native Ed Lammi, a 1966 Peabody High Scholl grad who studied English at Penn State, retires this month after 23 years as Sony Pictures Television’s head of production. During his tenure there, he managed to get several productions to film in his hometown, including the pilot for FX’s “Justified”...
TV Q&A: Should local TV stations avoid ‘Hey, Martha’ stories?
Q:Can you explain why our local news stations cover frivolous topics that deliver no value to a Pittsburgh viewer? Below is just a sample of topics that have been covered specifically by WTAE, although the other local news stations do this as well. These topics are either non-local events, not...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast finale: Myron Cope sings; ‘American Rust’ switches platforms, David ‘Mr. McFeely’ Newell honored
In this final episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast (alas, we’ve been canceled), host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment including WTAE-TV’s new local special, “Holiday Flashback” (7 p.m. Dec. 30, repeating at 5 p.m. Dec. 31), which will include...
TV Talk: Streaming/cable platforms deploy 2024 scripted shows
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers viewing tips for the coming quarter. Broadcast network scripted shows will start to return in earnest next month, and the hangover from the writers’ and actors’ strikes will grow more pronounced later in 2024 for cable and streaming series. Broadcast shows are...
TV Talk: Broadcast networks roll out new, returning seriesVideo
Anthony Anderson hosts the Emmy Awards next month (8 p.m. Jan. 15, Fox) and broadcast networks start to premiere new and returning scripted series, so just imagine January is the new September. This weekend, NBC gets into the holiday spirit, gifting viewers a new holiday-themed episode of “Night Court” (8:30...
TV Q&A: Is Katelyn Sykes back on the news?
Q: Is Katelyn Sykes back reporting the news? I thought I just saw her reporting for WPXI, Channel 11. — PSU, via email Rob: Sykes, who left WTAE-TV in November 2021 and took a job working in communications for the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Nursing, began working as a...
TV Talk: Disney+ successfully adapts Rick Riordan’s ‘Percy Jackson’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. After the success of the Harry Potter movie franchise, there were high hopes for the 2010 film “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” adapted from author Rick Riordan’s 2006 novel that paired Greek...
