TV Q&A: Will SportsNet Pittsburgh televise Pirates spring training games?

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 isn’t SportsNet Pittsburgh televising the Pirates spring training games? I was looking forward to watching the game on Feb. 24 and it wasn’t on. I was very disappointed. Baseball is my favorite sport.

— Karen, via email

Rob: SportsNet Pittsburgh will televise 17 Pirates spring training games this year (last year 18 games were available on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh).

This year’s spring training games on SNP include 12 home games, a game at Fort Myers against the Red Sox at 1 p.m. March 11 (from sister cable network NESN’s feed) and four games simulcast from other networks with their announcers, including 1 p.m. Feb. 26 at Toronto Blue Jays, 1 p.m. March 13 at Blue Jays, 6:30 p.m. March 15 and March 20 at New York Yankees.

Remaining home games on SNP include 1 p.m. March 1 against Tampa Bay Rays, 1 p.m. March 3 against Baltimore Orioles, 1 p.m. March 8 against Minnesota Twins, 1 p.m. March 10 against Philadelphia Phillies, 7 p.m. March 14 against Baltimore Orioles, 4 p.m. March 16 against Detroit Tigers, 1 p.m. March 17 against Tampa Bay Rays, 6 p.m. March 21 against the Blue Jays, 1 p.m. March 23 against Boston Red Sox, 1 p.m. March 24 against New York Yankees and 1 p.m. March 25 against the Blue Jays.

In addition, SNP will televise the first Spring Breakout game of Pirates prospects versus Orioles prospects (7 p.m. March 14).

Q: Why did KDKA-TV air UEFA Champion League Soccer on Feb. 14 and 21, which interrupted local shows like “Talk Pittsburgh” and the 4 p.m. news? It doesn’t add up.

— Lynn, Brentwood

Rob: It’s CBS’s network/station and they can air what they like.

Soccer coverage may not be of interest to Lynn but it is of interest to enough people that CBS paid $1.5 billion for a six-year TV rights deal with UEFA. No media entity spends that kind of money unless they think it will ultimately help their bottom line.

Q: Why does “Talk Pittsburgh” start before the 3 p.m. hour? When recording the show, it misses the first two minutes. It doesn’t seem to be viewer-friendly to do that.

— Susan, via email

Why do networks air programs starting and ending at odd times? Example: “Jeopardy!” runs 7:29 to 8:01 p.m. and the DVR stops recording at 8.

— Fred, via email

Rob: This is called “off-the-clock programming” and it’s been going on for at least a decade. It’s an effort to keep viewers from changing the channel between shows.

There’s an easy solution for it: DVRs allow you to set programs to record starting several minutes early or to record several minutes after the show’s stated end time.

Q: What happened to Joel Osteen’s show on KDKA-TV that used to air at 8 a.m. Sunday? It’s not on anymore.

— Santa, via email

Rob: Osteen’s program appears to now air on KDKA at 6 a.m.

Q: I noticed that over-the-air digital subchannel 12.12 disappeared. When I press the channel button on my remote to scan to that channel, it jumps from channel 12.11 to 13.1. When I enter the channel using the number buttons, my TV won’t accept it. I am wondering what happened to it. I was watching it about two days ago.

— Jon, via email

Rob: Per Ron Bruno who manages low-power station Channel 12, WBPA-TV, and its digital subchannels, “Bridge News purchased WBYD-CD Channel 39. They own NewsNet and that is where they moved it to. NewsNet can also be seen on WPTG-CD Channel 69.8, for now.”

Q: With the new season of filmed-in-Pittsburgh “American Rust” starting soon on Prime, I have been trying to re-watch season one but cannot find it anywhere. I have searched Showtime and Amazon Prime with no luck. Would you know where I can find it?

— Bill, via email

Rob: Season one is expected to stream on Amazon’s Prime Video at some point before season two, but a Prime publicist would not tell me when that will happen, saying only, “We will have an update soon.”

Q: Do you know if MGM+ is back to filming the second half of season two of “Billy the Kid?” There were four episodes available when the strikes hit.

— Bill, via email

Rob: Per an MGM+ spokeswoman, “Yes, MGM+ is back to filming ‘Billy the Kid Season Two: Part Two.’ It will return to MGM+ this summer!”