TV Q&A: Do longer-tenured TV anchors get more vacation time?

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: Do KDKA-TV on-air talent who have been with the station for a while get a ton of vacation time? I’ve noticed sports anchor Bob Pompeani has been off for almost entire summers for as long as I’ve been watching.

— Lucas via email

Rob: As with most workplaces, the longer you are on the job, the more vacation time you get. TV stations are no different.

In addition, two of the three major professional Pittsburgh sports teams play fall through spring, which means a lot of vacation time for a sportscaster will have to be used in the summer.

Pompeani has been at KDKA for 39 years as of July 2.

“I don’t get any more or less (vacation time) than anyone else with my tenure,” Pompeani said. “Most of the time we take has to be in summer as our time is limited once football season and the rest of fall and winter sports crank up.”

Q: When is KDKA going to have morning traffic reports back? Did Celina Pompani quit traffic for KDKA? Are they looking for a new traffic reporter?

— Nick via Twitter

Rob: I reported in February that Celina Pompeani, a freelancer at KDKA, was no longer working the morning traffic shift and was focusing instead on “Pittsburgh Today Live.”

News director Kathy Hostetter said traffic is part of the station’s daily morning news coverage as incidents happen but it doesn’t sound like there are plans to replace Pompani in the morning newscasts.

“Traffic volume has increased, but still not to the levels we had pre-pandemic,” Hostetter said, “so there are no plans for Celina to return to morning newscasts or do traffic exclusively.”

Q: This past month I watched as two rather lead characters left their popular shows: Emily Wickersham is leaving “NCIS” and Antonia Thomas is leaving “The Good Doctor.” Both play important roles in their respective shows, but Antonia’s character, Claire, is really equally as important as Shawn. She might be the heart of the show! Did the actors want out of their roles, or did the producers feel a need to make some cast changes?

— Tom, Murrysville

Rob: Thomas wanted off “The Good Doctor” but is amenable to making return guest appearances.

It sounds like Wickersham also left by choice.

Actors get bored, particularly on procedural dramas, and sometimes thirst for new challenges. With so much content being produced they also have more options. For the sake of those making the show, it’s usually better to let actors go, even if they are under contract, than forcing them to stay and be unhappy.

Q: I am enjoying “Us” on PBS on Sundays at 9 p.m. Could you please tell me if it was filmed on locations in Paris, Amsterdam and Venice and when?

— Elaine via email

Rob: “Us” filmed between July and October 2019 in England, France, Spain, Holland and Italy.

Q: What do you know about “Yellowstone”? I thought it was scheduled to come back June 20 but it didn’t and I’m dying to know what happened after last season’s cliffhanger!

— Lindsay via email

Rob: I’ve heard from a number of “Yellowstone” fans asking where the show is. Paramount Network never announced a season premiere date and representatives won’t even give a nebulous time frame for when it will return (“later this year?” “early next year?”). At this point, I suspect “Yellowstone” will return in the fall at the earliest.