Rob Owen stories, Page 23
TV Talk: Celina Pompeani Mathison gives birth; KDKA-TV hires reporter Alexandra Todd
Alexandra Todd, a 2009 graduate of Seneca Valley High School in Harmony who most recently worked for two years as a morning anchor in Sioux Falls, S.D., will join KDKA-TV next week as a reporter. Technically she’ll be a MMJ (multimedia journalist), meaning she’ll be a one-woman band who reports...
TV Talk: Julie Grant anchors new Court TV show; ‘The Gold’ takes silverVideo
Former KDKA-TV legal reporter Julie Grant, who joined Court TV as an anchor in 2018, has a new show on the network. “Opening Statements with Julie Grant” (8-9 a.m. weekdays) debuted Monday. Grant previously anchored “Court TV Live” noon-3 p.m. weekdays. Now she’s on the air 8-11 a.m. with the...
TV Q&A: Could a TV news dream team happen?
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: Your recent updates on Erica Mokay and Jim Lokay make me wish KDKA would lure Lokay back to Pittsburgh. Then the two could be teamed...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Chiller Theater,’ daytime TV changes, sports on Max
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including the revival of WPXI-TV’s “Chiller Theater”, WTAE-TV going off DISH Network, the possibility of the Pirates ending up on SportsNet Pittsburgh after all and...
TV Talk: WTAE joins WPXI in losing carriage on DISH Network
For perhaps the first time ever, two of the legacy Big Three broadcast affiliates in Pittsburgh are no longer available to DISH Network subscribers in Western Pennsylvania. WPXI-TV has been off DISH since November 2022 in a retransmission dispute between WPXI parent Cox Media Group and DISH. Now, WTAE-TV is...
TV Talk: ‘Drew Barrymore Show’ relocates; new game show debuts on WPGH-TV
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Daytime programming, largely made up of nationally syndicated shows, won’t feature many significant changes this fall with no big-name talk show debuts. And unlike in prime time, where the concurrent writers’ and actors’ strikes will...
TV Talk: McCandless native takes ‘Walking Dead’ to France; Greensburg murder case on Very LocalVideo
No, the zombies in the first European-set spin-off of “The Walking Dead” do not gurgle and moan with a French accent. But “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” (9 p.m. Sunday on AMC, already streaming on AMC+), named after the show’s lead character played again by Norman Reedus, does feature nuns...
TV Talk: Paramount+ renews filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘Mayor of Kingstown’
Unsurprisingly, given that the show’s writers visited Pittsburgh in April, Paramount+ finally confirmed the renewal of “Mayor of Kingstown” for a third season. The show was expected to return to Pittsburgh to film its third season in August but the writers’ and actors’ strikes precluded that from happening. Once the...
TV Q&A: Will DISH Network carry Penguins games this winter?
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: Will DISH Network carry the Penguins games this winter? — David, via email Rob: DISH dropped AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh two years ago with DISH executives...
TV Talk: WPXI-TV revives ‘Chiller Theater’
WPXI-TV will bring back its classic sci-fi/horror movie show “Chiller Theater” for eight weeks this fall beginning this coming weekend, airing episodes at 11:30 p.m. Saturday on PCNC and the WPXI Now app. These aren’t reruns of the original series hosted by Bill “Chilly Billy” Cardille from 1963-84, but a...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Sale of AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh fallout, more Mokay mornings on KDKA+
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including the sale of AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, what it might mean for the Pirates on TV, the channel rebranding and the broadcast booth makeover. Benz...
Penguins announce new name for AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
When news broke this week that Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group would buy AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh from Warner Bros. Discovery, a name change seemed like a given. On Friday, the Penguins formally announced the deal and the new name of the channel: SportsNet Pittsburgh. The Penguins will remain on the...
TV Talk: Uniontown High grad born to play Dyan Cannon on HBO’s ‘Winning Time’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” (9 p.m. Sunday) is all about the rise of sports as entertainment, which the 1980s Lakers took to a new level when they established a courtside...
TV Talk: Former Steeler Ryan Clark hosts CW’s ‘Inside the NFL;’ Channel 19 adds 8 p.m. local newscast
Former Steelers safety Ryan Clark will host The CW’s “Inside the NFL,” debuting at 8 p.m. Sept. 5 on Pittsburgh’s WPNT-TV, Channel 22, which will become a CW affiliate Friday. Clark will be joined by Channing Crowder, Jay Cutler, Chad Johnson and Chris Long as they “break down previously unseen...
TV Q&A: Why do so many meteorologists rotate through WPXI’s morning 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: Why does WPXI constantly rotate their morning weather people? They have three to four different weather people on the morning news each week. — Rob,...
TV Talk: Adult animated comedy ‘Archer’ begins final seasonVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. In the streaming era where almost every conceivable genre, including adult animation, is in abundance, it’s easy to forget how much rarer adult-targeted animated comedies were before Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman” (2014-20) and “Big Mouth” (2017-present)...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: ‘Rustin’ trailer reveal, Damar Hamlin on ‘Secret Celebrity Renovation’
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including the sale of AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh to the owner of the Penguins. Benz and Owen discuss this week’s feel-good episode of CBS’s “Secret Celebrity...
Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group to buy AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
The fate of AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh appears to have been resolved: Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Pittsburgh Penguins, will buy the cable channel from Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal that’s expected to close in October, according to a report from Sports Business Journal. Terms of the deal were...
TV Talk: Damar Hamlin gifts grandmother with ‘Secret Celebrity Renovation;’ WTAE hires reporter
Damar Hamlin soaked in his return to Pittsburgh last month but the former Central Catholic High School student, 2020 University of Pittsburgh grad and current Buffalo Bills safety made a quieter return in May to film an episode of CBS’s “Secret Celebrity Renovation” (8 p.m. Sept. 1, KDKA-TV) where he...
TV Talk: Channel 19 to rebrand as KDKA+, change call letters
Pittsburgh’s CBS-owned WPCW-TV, Channel 19, will become a fully independent station when it disaffiliates from The CW at the end of the day on Aug. 31. Channel 19 will also get new call letters and branding. As expected, WPCW will become WPKD-TV with KDKA+ as the channel’s colloquial name in...
TV Talk: Where are these former Pittsburgh TV news personalities now?
Every now and then I like to check in with TV news folks who were once mainstays on local newscasts. This time I caught up with Jim Lokay, Sheila Hyland and Ellen Gamble. Jim Lokay A 1998 East Allegheny High School grad, Jim Lokay worked at KDKA-TV from 2005-11 as...
TV Talk: The CW programming moves to WPNT-TV
Although it’s yet to be officially announced, as expected, WPNT-TV Channel 22.1 is poised to become Pittsburgh’s new CW affiliate. The station’s own online listings confirm the change in affiliation from My Network TV, a channel that airs reruns of broadcast network series (“Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.,” “Law Order: SVU,”...
TV Q&A: Will KDKA-TV’s Erica Mokay be back at the anchor desk?
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: I would like to know what will happen to Erica Mokay since Lindsay Ward is back from maternity leave on KDKA-TV’s morning newscasts. Erica Mokay...
TV Talk: Mt. Lebanon native’s ‘Star Wars’ series ‘Ahsoka’ premieresVideo
Created by Mt. Lebanon native Dave Filoni and essentially a live-action sequel to Filoni’s animated “Star Wars” series “Rebels,” the two-episode premiere of “Ahsoka,” streaming tonight at 9 p.m. on Disney+, gets off to a slow start. Set in the post-“Return of the Jedi” part of the “Star Wars” timeline,...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking Guns N’ Roses concert, ‘League of Their Own’ cancellation, ‘Winning Time’
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including Friday night’s Guns N’ Roses concert at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. Benz offers his reaction to season two of HBO’s “Winning Time,” which Owen warns...
