TV Q&A: Why so many weather teases on local newscasts?

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: With the weather being a top headline lately, why do the local broadcasts tease us with “forecast and snow accumulations coming up”? Weather is available with the press of a button, why not just give us the forecast instead of these archaic news teases?

— Tom, Moon

Rob: I recall my mother calling a phone number to get a weather report when I was a child so non-TV options for weather forecasts existed long before the internet.

The reality is weather is a large reason why viewers tune into local TV news. Stations do teases for weather segments because the teases work and keep viewers tuned in longer. Maybe the teases don’t keep Tom tuned in but ratings evidence demonstrates to local station executives that teases do work.

There are a lot of reasons why viewers turn to TV for weather forecasts. One is some viewers like to get that weather forecast from a familiar source, someone they trust after years of listening to that meteorologist deliver weather reports. People are probably unlikely to form similar attachments to weather.com.

In addition, local TV provides a perspective on weather over the whole region, showing bands of predicted snowfall accumulations in different parts of the viewing area. That delivers a fuller picture than an app on a phone is likely to offer.

Q: When will Ashley Dougherty be back on the air at WTAE-TV and what’s her background?

— Phil, Brackenridge

Rob: Her maternity leave should be about up so I expect she’ll be back on Channel 4 in early March. She did not respond to queries sent to her Facebook page.

Dougherty, a Lawrence County native, arrived at WTAE in 2012 after a stint at WTRF-TV in Wheeling, W. Va. She studied communications at Bethany College and meteorology through a program run by Mississippi State University.

Q: What happened to Shelby Cassesse on KDKA-TV? I swear she used to have reports on every night.

— Tom, Moon

Rob: Cassesse was a freelancer for KDKA-TV. Her last day on the air there was Feb. 5. She started a full-time job as a radio reporter on staff with KDKA-AM on Feb. 8.

Q: We are wondering why the “Sunday Night Sports Showdown” hasn’t been on KDKA-TV? We really enjoyed watching it!

— Billie, Greensburg

Rob: I know there were technical glitches one week. KDKA-TV general manager Chris Cotugno explained what’s been going on.

The show was pre-empted due to the NFL Championship games on Jan. 24 and for “Super Bowl LV” on Feb. 7. On Jan. 31 the technical glitch delayed the show from 11:30 p.m. to 12 a.m.

The night of the Grammys, March 14, “Sunday Night Sports Showdown” will be pre-empted again.

Q: I’m watching “Home Again with the Fords” and they are redoing the Carnegie house. I am in love with Vicki’s artwork and was hoping you could give me more information on where I can find her art.

— Cheryl via email

Rob: I’ve heard from at least a half-dozen viewers asking the same question.

According to her daughter Kristi Spitzer, Vicki Sawyer sells her work at a few galleries around the country but primarily through her website, vickisawyer.com.