TV Talk: More change at KDKA-TV: news director exits with promotion

After last week’s layoffs of KDKA-TV anchors Kym Gable and Lindsay Ward and recent corporate buyouts of several videographers who will leave Channel 2 this month, the station’s news director, Shawn Hoder, will depart for a larger market. He’ll become vice president and news director of CBS-owned WUPA in Atlanta effective Aug. 18. Pittsburgh is the 27th largest TV market nationally; Atlanta is No. 7.

Hoder joined KDKA in mid-2022 and previously spent seven years in Atlanta working at rival station WXIA. Hoder joins WUPA the same month CBS moves its affiliation in the Atlanta market from a Gray-owned station to a CBS-owned outlet.

During Hoder’s tenure at KDKA, Channel 2 launched the afternoon chat show “Talk Pittsburgh” in March 2023 and debuted an 8 p.m. newscast on sister station WPKD (aka KDKA+) in January 2024.

But just as Hoder is leaving, that 8 p.m. newscast appears to be no more.

The last time an original broadcast of KDKA’s 8 p.m. news aired on KDKA+ was July 25. Since then, reruns of KDKA’s 6 p.m. news have aired in the 8 p.m. time period on KDKA+. It’s unclear how the 8 p.m. newscast’s anchor, Jessica Guay, will be reassigned. Hoder did not respond to an email seeking confirmation the 8 p.m. newscast is no more.

Hoder’s last day at KDKA will be Aug. 15; his first day at the Atlanta station will be Aug. 18.

Following Hoder’s departure, it appears the news department will be run by those who remain. CBS has declined to make new KDKA general manager Julie Eisenman available for comment, but, in a statement, she said, “We’re fortunate to have a seasoned news management team, including our assistant news director Cathy Noschese and our experienced executive producers, who continue to lead with excellence and stability.”

Regional Emmy noms

Nominations for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmys for news coverage were announced Tuesday with Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV scoring 25 nominations. WPXI and SportsNet Pittsburgh had seven nominations each; WQED-TV got six nominations and WTAE received four nominations. The 43rd annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmy Awards winners will be announced in Philadelphia on Sept. 20.

A complete list of nominations can be found at facebook.com/share/p/1DgALvbLah/.

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‘Watson’ returns to film

CBS’s Pittsburgh-set doc-tective drama “Watson,” created by Pittsburgh native Craig Sweeny, will return to Pittsburgh to film scenes with some cast members for a few days in September and December.

Sweeny said one story in season two focuses on the Rachel Carson Bridge, so part of one visit will involve filming material to accommodate that story.

‘Wednesday’

There’s more Addams family in the new season of Netflix’s “Wednesday,” now streaming its first four episodes. (The last four debut Sept. 3.)

In addition to Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) joining Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) as a student at Nevermore Academy, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzman) find reasons to stick around, too, unlike in season one, where they only appeared in two episodes. Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) returns, we meet Morticia’s mother, Grandmama (Joanna Lumley, “Absolutely Fabulous”), and given all the foreshadowing, it seems likely we’ll meet Morticia’s sister, Ophelia, before the season ends.

Showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (“Smallville”) continue to imbue the show with a wicked sense of humor — especially Wednesday’s dialogue — and the plot is less predictable than in season one.

Wednesday returns to Nevermore after a summer stalking a serial killer but finds her psychic powers sapped. Then she has a premonition that one of her friends might be in danger, which sets Wednesday in action trying to solve a new mystery when she’s not tangling with the school’s slimy new leader, Principal Dort (Steve Buscemi).

More season one characters return than one might expect, given how their first-season stories seemed to resolve, but that does help with world-building.

It’s just too bad the season feels so short, especially when Netflix releases the show in two, four-episode drops.

Kept/canceled

NBC renewed “American Ninja Warrior” for an 18th season to film this fall and is expected to air next summer.

HBO Max’s “Sex and the City” sequel series, “And Just Like That …” will end with its current third season, with the season finale set for Aug. 14.

Netflix canceled Arnold Schwarzenegger’s comedy “FUBAR” after two seasons.

Channel surfing

This past weekend, KDKA-TV anchor Meghan Schiller posted to Facebook about the birth of her daughter, Maeve Joyce, after “some very scary complications but thank goodness for the wonderful team at AHN’s West Penn Hospital for taking such good care of me.”

… ESPN acquired NFL Network and, in exchange, the NFL will take a 10% ownership stake in Disney’s ESPN. … ESPN’s standalone streaming service, called ESPN, launches Aug. 21 for $30 per month, giving subscribers access to all of ESPN’s linear networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+ and ACCNX. In addition, in 2026, streaming ESPN will become the home of all WWE’s top live events, including “WrestleMania,” “SummerSlam,” “Royal Rumble” and “Survivor Series.” … Fox will launch a streaming service, Fox One, on Aug. 21 featuring access to Fox, Fox News Channel and Fox Sports, with a $20 per month subscription fee.