TV Q&A: Why no sports report on WPXI’s 6 p.m. newscast anymore?

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: Has Channel 11 officially dropped its sportscast from the 6 p.m. newscast? It’s been absent post-Olympics. Previously, there were times when their sports anchor had a little over a minute for the sportscast at 6, and there have even been times when the news anchor did the sports. Not much of a commitment to sports, apparently.

– Bruce, Indiana, Pa.

Rob: I’ve received a half-dozen versions of this question over the past week.

“First and foremost, sports is, and will continue to be, a huge part of the WPXI team and brand,” said news director Scott Trabandt in response to Bruce’s question. “This week, we are relaunching ‘11 on the Ice’ and ‘The Final Word.’ We are debriefing on our weeklong trip to the Super Bowl, which few local stations still get the opportunity to do, and we are sitting down with Art Rooney to discuss all the news around the Steelers off-season so far.

“We are constantly evaluating our product and soliciting feedback from viewers. During this period – when two of the three major teams in town are between seasons – is no different.”

I always appreciate when local station executives respond to their viewers’ questions, but from Trabandt’s response, it’s still unclear if the sports portion of the 6 p.m. newscast is gone for good (it did not air in the usual 6:25 p.m. slot on Monday), though he seems to hint maybe it’s on break because not enough local, professional teams are in-season. Or perhaps it has something to do with February sweeps, which end March 3? I did what Trabandt would expect his reporters to do: I followed up and asked again, is the sportscast permanently dropped from the 6 p.m. newscast? I have not received a response.

Q: What is this KDKA-TV’s trend of full-body camera shots with the talent wearing sneakers? It’s so unprofessional and embarrassing!

– Benji, via Twitter

Rob: Benji sent me a photo of his TV with KDKA’s John Shumway in front of a large video wall wearing what appear to be sneakers.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, I’d guess that maybe when Shumway started the day he didn’t know his shoes would be on camera. Neither Shumway nor KDKA news director Kathy Hostetter responded when I asked them Benji’s question.

Q: What happened to the A&E show “Adults Adopting Adults”? There were three episodes, and it disappeared.

– Teddy, Scott Township

Rob: A&E said it pulled the series due to low ratings, according to The Wrap, but it also might be because one of the show’s stars made a now-deleted, racist Tik-Tok video in February 2021.

Q: When will “Expedition Bigfoot” return?

– Carol, via voicemail

Rob: “Expedition Bigfoot” is back March 20 with a pre-show at 9 p.m. on Travel Channel followed by the season premiere at 10 p.m. Episodes also will release on discovery+.

Q: Regarding the new online word game Wordle: Isn’t that the same thing as “Lingo” with Chuck Woolery? How did they get away with that?

– Beverly, Irwin

Rob: I’m not an expert in gaming copyright law, but evidently “Lingo” was similar to Jotto, which preceded “Lingo.”

Regardless, Hollywood noticed the same similarity Beverly did between Wordle and “Lingo.” In February, CBS announced a revived version of “Lingo” will air later this year with RuPaul Charles (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) as the host as two-person teams try to guess words on a grid after receiving the word’s first letter.