TV Talk: WQED debuts ‘Conversations with Coach Cowher’ celeb interview showVideo
Following last year’s “Steel Links” program, produced by Connecticut’s Shore Road Productions, WQED engaged with the same company for the new seven-episode series “Conversations with Coach Cowher” (8 p.m. April 30, WQED-TV). Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher sits on a sofa in a comfy Connecticut home (not his) and conducts...
TV Talk: WTAE’s Sheldon Ingram exits TV news to pursue acting
Back in 2022 when Channel 4 reporter Sheldon Ingram guest starred as the deputy mayor of New York on NBC’s “Law Order: SVU,” we should have guessed this day would come. Ingram will put down his microphone and reporter’s notebook and retire from WTAE after his May 29 broadcast to...
TV Q&A: When will KDKA-TV’s Jessica Guay return?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Saturday Tribune-Review. Q: Whatever happened to Jessica Guay? She went out on maternity leave some time ago and has not returned. Any news? — Dominic, via email Rob:...
TV Talk: FCC targets ABC after another Kimmel joke
Here we go again. Seven months after Disney-owned ABC pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air because of a joke about right-wing reactions to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Federal Communications Commission is now targeting ABC on the heels of another Kimmel joke. The FCC directed Disney...
TV Talk: Summer streaming/cable TV options aboundVideo
It’s not officially summer in TV land until the end of the 2025-26 TV season arrives later this month, but that won’t stop streaming services and cable outlets from beginning their rollout of new scripted shows for the warmest months of the year, including: “Lord of the Flies” (May 4,...
TV Talk: NFL Draft TV coverage focuses on players over host city
While Pittsburgh may have gotten itself wound up in knots about reddin’ up for the NFL Draft, TV coverage was less about Pittsburgh and more about the players vying to land their initial NFL gigs. That’s to be expected. To the NFL and most of the NFL Draft audience, the...
TV Talk: Locations trail debuts, locally filmed thriller streams; ‘The Pitt’ ratesVideo
Just in time for all the visitors coming to town for this week’s NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Film Office launched a film locations way finder on an app and a Pittsburgh filmmaking timeline display in Downtown Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Film Trails App offers a digital guide to where various movies...
TV Q&A: What’s the deal with the vSeeBox?Video
Q: Several people I know have purchased a vSeeBox. While the box seems to be a good purchase, I am curious to learn how the box can air programs that are from pay channels without paying or stations outside of the Pittsburgh viewing market. The people made a one-time payment...
TV Talk: Duchovny revisits government secrets – real ones, this time – in ‘Secrets Declassified’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Now airing its second season on the History Channel, “Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny” (10 p.m. Tuesdays through May 12; then 9 p.m. Thursdays starting June 11) almost wasn’t a show Duchovny wanted to be...
TV Talk: Where and how to watch Draft coverage this week
The long-awaited NFL Draft arrives in Pittsburgh this week with ESPN, ABC and NFL Network planning robust coverage from Wednesday through Saturday. In addition, Disney+ and Hulu will stream coverage from the linear networks. With 14 hours of coverage dedicated to all 257 picks, established series covering the draft include...
TV Talk: ‘The Pitt’ to film in Pittsburgh again in November
After Thursday’s season finale, fans of “The Pitt” aren’t wrong to wonder: Did Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) make any emotional progress in Season 2? “The Pitt” showrunner R. Scott Gemmill doesn’t think he did. “That’s part of his problem: He’s very good at giving advice, not very good at taking...
TV Talk: Netflix’s ‘Beef’ back with more intimate conflict
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. In its first season, Netflix’s “Beef” dealt with the everyday conflict of one driver who cuts off another, although in the series, the antagonism that follows escalates precipitously. Season two, now streaming on Netflix, explores...
TV Q&A: Why are weather readings for Pittsburgh taken at the airport?
Q:Why are all weather measurements reported as the official Pittsburgh temperature on local newscasts taken at Pittsburgh International Airport rather than at the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers? — Joseph, via email Rob: Just about anywhere you go in the United States, you’ll find the city’s official temperature highs and...
TV Talk: Stations WPGH/WPNT get new GMVideo
Pittsburgh’s Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned duopoly, WPGH and WPNT, has a new general manager, Tim McCoy, currently GM at Sinclair’s WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio. He’ll now oversee both Pittsburgh stations and Sinclair’s Steubenville outlet. Longtime WPGH/WPNT general manager Rich Cook is out, as his position was eliminated in favor of the...
TV Talk: CMU grad stars in ‘The Boys;’ audacious ‘Audacity’ debutsVideo
Steel yourselves, TV fans: The flood of shows striving for last-minute Emmy nomination consideration premiere this week to get the bulk of their episodes released before the Emmy eligibility period closes at the end of May. ‘The Boys’ In its bleak-but-funny final season, now streaming its first two episodes, Amazon’s...
TV Q&A: Where has KDKA-TV’s Barry Pintar been?
Q: Barry Pintar at KDKA has not been on the air for at least a month or more. Any news as to where he has been? — Linda, via email Rob: I heard from several viewers who had this question and at first I thought maybe some viewers didn’t realize...
TV Talk: ‘Hacks’ considers legacy in final season
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. One of TV’s best comedies of recent years begins its final season this week as comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) seemingly rises from the dead – but she doesn’t like what she sees. At the...
TV Talk: WTAE names morning traffic reporter
Just as they did when Channel 4 executives named Elena LaQuatra to succeed Michelle Wright as a morning news anchor, WTAE will again promote from within to fill LaQuatra’s traffic reporter role, naming Lily Coleman to the position. Coleman has been filling in for several weeks, but this morning was...
TV Talk: Cast members staying on, leaving ‘The Pitt’
It was bound to happen that some of the series regulars on “The Pitt” would not stay with the show for the entirety of its run. After all, the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center is a teaching hospital, a career steppingstone for most, not a destination. Variety reports Supriya Ganesh,...
TV Talk: ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ sequel ‘Testaments’ goes younger, lighterVideo
Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” debuted in 2017 during the first Trump administration. Current events inspired author Margaret Atwood to pen the 2019 sequel novel, “The Testaments,” and now the Hulu adaptation of that continuation of the “Handmaid’s” story debuts during the second Trump administration. “I don’t try to time things,”...
TV Q&A: How do TV ratings get measured?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Saturday Tribune-Review. Q: In regards to TV ratings, how are they compiled electronically? Is a “watching viewer” counted automatically as the program begins or further into the broadcast?...
TV Talk: CMU grad Corey Cott learns from ‘SVU’ star Mariska Hargitay
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Corey Cott, a 2012 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s acting program, joined NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” (9 p.m. Thursday, WPXI) at the start of the 2025-26 TV season in a recurring role and got...
TV Talk: CBS cancels Pittsburgh-set ‘Watson’Video
In an unsurprising late Friday news dump, CBS confirmed it has canceled sophomore drama “Watson” and freshman comedy series “DMV.” “Watson,” created by Pittsburgh native Craig Sweeny and set at a fictional Oakland hospital, got off to a strong ratings start in January 2025 but lost steam with a time...
TV Talk: How the TV sausage gets made; ‘Bait’ is British ‘Comeback’Video
This past weekend, the final three episodes of Paramount+’s “The Madison” premiered. A second season already got filmed, according to director Christina Alexandra Voros, who also pulled back the curtain on the show’s production process. Set in Montana and Manhattan, Voros said “The Madison” filmed in Montana and at series...
TV Q&A: Has WTAE picked a new traffic reporter?
Q: I see WTAE weekend anchor Lily Coleman has been filling in as weekday morning traffic reporter. Has she been promoted to the role Elena LaQuatra previously occupied before her promotion to morning news anchor? — Kevin, Cranberry Rob: My understanding is Coleman — as well as Sam Hall —...
