TV Q&A: Why are there so many hours of local evening news?

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: Once again news channels in Pittsburgh are expanding their coverage and starting earlier at 4 p.m. or adding a later edition at 7:30 p.m. Do we really need six-plus hours of local news per day? While expanding coverage they all give less local news and more U.S. and worldwide stories to fill time! As I recall, local news used to be one hour in the morning, half hours at 12, 6 and 11 p.m. Do we really need weather and traffic reports every 10 minutes and news reports from across the U.S. which is the job of the national news?

— Bob, Greensburg

Rob: Of course there’s no need for viewers to get that much local news since so much of it is just repeated or padded with national filler from the feed, as Bob suggests. But that assumes viewers are a TV stations’ primary customers. They are not. Advertisers are TV stations’ primary customer and TV stations get paid for delivering viewers’ eyeballs to advertisers.

If a station is already producing an hour of news, adding another hour is an incremental increase in cost that’s more than covered by revenue from the new advertising inventory that becomes available. TV stations get to keep all the ad money they sell in local news; that’s not generally the case with syndicated shows like “Ellen” or “Judge Judy.”

And while two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half hours may seem like more than enough local news coverage in an evening, who says stations will stop there? What happens when KDKA’s contract with “Dr. Phil” is up — will KDKA expand local news again to 3 p.m.? Will WTAE move into the 3 p.m. slot with another local newscast after “Ellen” ends in May 2022? Might WPXI move “Days of Our Lives” to 2 p.m., dump its current 2 p.m. show (“Rachael Ray”) and add news at 3 p.m. at some point?

Just remember, viewers are under no obligation to watch every newscast. Watch what you need, then turn off the TV.

Q: Why did Dabl! remove “Rich Bride, Poor Bride” from channel 2.3? It was on weeknights from 9-10 p.m. This program wasnt on that long. I really enjoyed it and hope it comes back soon!

— Kay via email

Rob: My understanding is digital subchannel Dabl! aired seasons one through four in their entirety. Dabl! is now resting the show. It will be back on the schedule at some point but no return date has been locked.

Q: Is Carrie Ann Inaba coming back to “The Talk”?

— Judy via email

Rob: Nothing was said about her when Jerry O’Connell was announced as the first male co-host of “The Talk” in early July. Inaba has been on a leave of absence since April and that continues with no date for her return scheduled.

Q: I have noticed that Savannah Guthrie has been anchoring from home quite often on NBC’s “Today.” Do you know why or is it a personal thing? All the anchors have been vaccinated.

— Sheila, New Castle

Rob: Sounds like a personal choice. On July 14 during the broadcast Guthrie said, “I’m from home, spending a few more precious moments with my family before I head to Tokyo.”

Q: Will the show “Pitbulls & Parolees” be back with new episodes?

— Bobby, Latrobe

Rob: The most recent season, which started on Discovery Channel in April and then returned to Animal Planet, only finished airing new episodes recently. It’s too soon to say if the show will get another season.