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: What is the story with Peggy Finnegan? I thought that she had recently retired yet I see her back as an “Olympics commentator.” Was this part of her retirement deal?

— Diane, Pittsburgh

Rob: When the station announced her retirement last December, WPXI said she might return for special coverage. That was even stated on her final broadcast.

As Finnegan noted a few weeks ago, that could have been just lip service but her return for the Olympics proves otherwise.

Finnegan remains among the most popular figures in Pittsburgh TV news, so it’s a win-win for her and the station. She gets an occasional paycheck but otherwise has more freedom than when she worked full time; the station can dangle her occasional presence in front of viewers who love Finnegan which might discourage them from forming new viewing habits with a rival channel.

Q: Why is it that whenever Michelle Wright is on vacation or assignment that nobody sits at the news desk with Kelly Frey? Elena LaQuatra stands in for Michelle but does not sit at the desk with Kelly Frey. However, when Kelly Frey is out, Kelly Sasso sits at her spot on the news desk. Why?

— Rob, Greensburg

Rob: I am sure this is covid-related. Since the pandemic began in March 2020 viewers have seen an ongoing raft of changes and an assortment of positioning in local station studios in an effort to avoid any spread inside local newsrooms, from only one person in the weather center rules to the need to quarantine after traveling out of state.

The rise of the delta variant is sure to result in more changes like what Rob notes. When I watched Channel 4’s morning news recently, Frey was standing at the video wall and was never seated next to Wright at the anchor desk.

Frey politely directed inquiries about “decision-making about where we stand or sit because of covid” to news director Jim Parsons, who did not reply when I asked for a response to Rob’s question.

Q: I have had first-run DVR alerts set for “America’s Test Kitchen,” “Cook’s Country” and “Milk Street Television” for more than a year now yet no programs have ever recorded. From what I can see, all three shows have had new episodes aired since the pandemic but WQED does not seem to pick them up.

I know these episodes will eventually show up on Create but I’m disappointed I can’t watch them sooner. What is WQED’s rationale for that and is there any chance they will start airing them as released?

— Ken, Monroeville

Rob: You can’t always trust cable listings to accurately label a program as “new” even when WQED sent its listings to listings services with new programs marked as such.

The “America’s Test Kitchen” episodes currently airing on WQED-TV at 10:30 a.m. Saturday are new episodes from the show’s 26th season. Somewhere downstream the “new” tag fell off which is why Ken’s DVR is not recording the episodes.

“Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street” airs Saturdays at 11 a.m. on the main WQED channel and will begin a new season on Sept. 11. “Cook’s Country” airs Saturday at 1 p.m. on the main channel and begins a new 13-episode season on Sept. 18.

Q: Will the Hallmark Channel’s “Chesapeake Shores” be returning to the air?

— Elaine via email

Rob: Yes, “Chesapeake Shores” returns at 8 p.m. Aug. 15. Star Jesse Metcalfe is leaving the series with actor Robert Buckley being introduced as a new lead character.

Q: Do you know when “Billions” will air new episodes?

— Robert via Facebook

Rob: “Billions” returns with the first of five new episodes at 9 p.m. Sept. 5 on Showtime.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)