TV Q&A: Will AT&T SportsNet ever return to DISH Network?

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: AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh is no longer available on DISH Network. Is this a temporary situation or permanent? I rely on this channel to watch local sports teams such as the Pens.

— Terrence via email

Rob: Never say never, but it seems unlikely that AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh will ever return to DISH Network.

As I noted in last week’s story on DISH dropping the regional sports network, DISH executives have been dropping RSNs all over the country, never to return. It’s unlikely AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh will be treated any differently.

DISH is gambling that competing on price — by cutting out sports channels that are more expensive due to the cost of rights to air professional sporting events — will ultimately be more appealing to customers than an expansive, sports-inclusive lineup of channels.

Disgruntled DISH customers can switch to another cable provider (Comcast, Verizon, Armstrong, DirecTV) or to a streaming service (fuboTV or DirecTV Stream). You can see which serves your zip code at https://pittsburgh-attsn.att.com/dish_removes_attsn/ (though if you are under contract with DISH it might cost you an early termination fee).

Q: Do the two streaming providers that carry AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh base your ability to get that channel on the location you subscribed to them in?

— Ed via email

Rob: Yes. Streaming customers only receive the RSNs available in their local markets.

fuboTV customers receive their local channels per the zip codes associated with their accounts. Per a fuboTV representative, these local channels will follow the customer even if they travel outside their local area, although that’s typically for a limited time.

Q: Has Mark Madden been removed permanently from WPXI’s “The Final Word” sports show?

— Al via email

Rob: Yes, apparently he has. Madden posted to Facebook that he was informed Channel 11 will no longer use him as a panelist on “The Final Word.”

Q: I’m noticing more and more typos and spelling errors on the news scrolls at the bottom of screens for the local stations.

I saw Highmark spelled “HGIHMARK” on WTAE and more recently in a story about unemployment in the scroll the text read “compensaion.”

Who is responsible for writing these and more importantly — proofing them before they air?

Makes the station look so unintelligent and sloppy.

— Beth, McCandless Twp.

Rob: On the one hand, people are human and make mistakes. On the other, that’s why there are editors/producers.

Beth’s question arrived less than 12 hours after a WTAE typo had a grocery store chain “firing” instead of the accurate “hiring” 20,000 workers.

So who gets the credit when on-air graphics are correct and the blame when they are incorrect? It’s a little complicated.

A friend who worked in TV news said ultimately the newscast producer is responsible for the broadcast as a whole, but spelling mistakes are human errors entered by a graphic artist who produces the over-the-shoulder graphics. Or if the error is in the “lower-thirds” – graphics across the bottom of the screen that usually contain the name and identity of the person speaking – that is the error of whoever typed in the chyron, usually the story’s reporter or a producer.

WTAE news director Jim Parsons and general manager Charles Wolfertz did not respond to a request for a response to Beth’s question.

Q: I see “NCIS” moved to Mondays and it’s now opposite “The Voice” and “Dancing with the Stars,” two popular shows. The “NCIS” lead-ins of “The Neighborhood” and “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” arent really heavy hitters.

Why do you think they moved time slots after all these years? Is the network setting the show up for lower ratings and eventual cancellation?

— Beth, McCandless

Rob: “NCIS” overnight ratings are already half of what they were a decade ago. This move was less about “NCIS” and more about finding a three-hour block for the “FBI” shows and Tuesday was really the only place they could do that without disrupting the Monday or Thursday comedy blocks or upsetting “FBI” executive producer Dick Wolf who would not want “FBI” going against his “Chicago” shows on NBC on Wednesday. (The “FBI” shows are too popular with younger-skewing viewers for older-skewing Friday to be an option and CBS wouldn’t want to interrupt the success of “The Equalizer” on Sunday and Saturday is only used for reruns and/or newsmagazines).

In its first Monday broadcast on Sept. 20, “NCIS” acquitted itself well, drawing 8.5 million viewers, the largest total audience for any broadcast network series that night and perhaps most importantly,“NCIS” helped propel spin-off “NCIS: Hawaii” to the top-rated new series spot for that night.

NBC’s “The Voice” came in first and Fox’s “9-1-1” was second in the key demo of viewers 18-49, but that was likely baked-in to CBS executives’ plans when they moved “NCIS.”