TV Q&A: Could a TV news dream team happen?

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 updates on Erica Mokay and Jim Lokay make me wish KDKA would lure Lokay back to Pittsburgh. Then the two could be teamed for “The Lokay-Mokay Report.”

— Joe, Greensburg

Rob: Do not underestimate how much I love this idea.

However, given Lokay’s description of the variety of work he gets to do at WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C., including a light-hearted panel show and a nightly political show where he gets to deliver a closing commentary, it’s difficult to imagine him trading that in for the monotony of Pittsburgh’s same-same newscasts that repeat reports ad nauseum with little distinction from one hour to the next.

But there is precedent for the pair sharing a TV screen: Lokay once interviewed Mokay for a KDKA story when she was in college. And a few years after that, Mokay shadowed Lokay when she was a KDKA-TV intern.

Q: When is Alby Oxenreiter due back at the sports desk for WPXI? Also, if he is going to be out long-term after surgery, will the station hire a temporary replacement rather than just having news anchors substitute in his place?

— Ryan, Latrobe

Rob: My understanding from folks who have been in touch with Oxenreiter is that he continues to heal from open heart surgery this summer. But for now, he’s out indefinitely.

That Channel 11 opts not to hire a temporary fill-in sports anchor is unsurprising given that a couple of years before Oxenreiter’s medical challenges, the station de-emphasized sports in its 6 p.m. newscast during some parts of the year. Clearly, they don’t see sports as something that brings in viewers, unlike, say, weather.

Q: Why isn’t a repeat of the 10 p.m. news playing at midnight anymore on Channel 22? It’s been other shows instead. I like to watch it after work since it’s a full hour of news.

— Lori, Cecil

Rob: I reported earlier this month that My Network TV, which used to air in prime time on WPNT-TV Channel 22, moved to the 12-2 a.m. time slot after The CW relocated to prime time on Channel 22. MNT will eventually move back to prime time on Channel 22.2, sharing Channel 22.2 with Stadium Channel, which will continue to air on the channel outside of prime time. When that happens, the 10 p.m. news rerun will go back into the 12 a.m. time slot on Channel 22. But there’s no ETA for when that will happen.

Q: I tried to DVR The CW’s Australian import “Bump” on Sept. 4 on their new channel, WPNT-TV, Channel 22. It would have been episode six of season two. When I went to watch it, “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” was DVRd in its place. What happened?

— Candace, Wexford

Rob: Evidently “Bump” got bumped from The CW linear lineup, presumably due to low ratings. The remaining episodes are being burned off online at cwtv.com and on The CW app.