TV Talk: Paramount job cuts impact roles at KDKA-TV, WPKD
With the new ownership of Paramount by Skydance comes another round of job cuts, including a dozen positions cut at Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV and WPKD. Most of the roles eliminated were behind the scenes, but the cuts also claimed the jobs of three members of the on-air talent team, including “Pittsburgh...
TV Q&A: Why is the background music so loud on TV?
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 love “Chicago Med,” but the background music is so loud it drowns out the conversations. Why is this and is this really necessary? —...
TV Talk: ‘It’ returns, ‘Talamasca’ debutsVideo
If a Western Pa. “Scariest House” wasn’t enough Halloween-spirited TV for local viewers, on Sunday two supernatural-themed shows debut, both spinoffs, though one is significantly better than the other. ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ A prequel to director Andy Muschietti’s 2017 “It” and 2019 “It: Chapter Two,” HBO’s eight-episode “It: Welcome...
TV Q&A: Will Brit actor use American accent on ‘CIA’ show?
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: Do you know if Tom Ellis will be using his natural British accent in the new CIA series on CBS? The British accent is preferable...
TV Talk: ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ introduces new characters for 4th seasonVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. A few months ago, “Mayor of Kingstown” star Jeremy Renner suggested the show’s fifth season will be its last. But during a conversation to preview season four, streaming its premiere episode Oct. 26 on Paramount+,...
2-tank trip takes Western Pennsylvanians to hobbit resort built by Penn State gradVideo
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — It’s an eight-hour, 500-mile drive from Pittsburgh, but for fans of “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter,” a visit to a Middle Earth-inspired mini-resort might fit the bill, especially as leaves burst with fall color. Mountain Shire offers travelers perhaps the best approximation of J.R.R....
TV Talk: ‘Blue Bloods’ spinoff debuts; ‘Diplomat’ returnsVideo
Plenty of viewers were miffed at CBS for canceling “Blue Bloods,” but the network’s new spinoff series, “Boston Blue” (10 p.m. Oct. 17, KDKA-TV) offers some solace. “Boston Blue” essentially replicates the “Blue Bloods” formula, applying it to a Boston family led by Baptist pastor Rev. Edwin Peters (Ernie Hudson),...
TV Q&A: Did a local broadcaster borrow a catchphrase?
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: Since Megan Shinn started at KDKA as the morning weekend anchor, she signs off with recently retired Lester Holt’s longtime closing remark on “NBC Nightly...
TV Talk: McCandless native Greg Nicotero creates horror competition series ‘Guts & Glory’Video
McCandless native Greg Nicotero (“The Walking Dead”) hosts “Guts & Glory,” a six-episode horror-themed competition series now streaming its first two episodes on Shudder and AMC+ (new episodes debut weekly Tuesday through the two-episode finale Nov. 4). Players are put into “an immersive horror experience full of unexpected challenges,” per...
TV Talk: Sherlock Holmes lives in season 2 of ‘Watson’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. For its 20-episode second season, CBS’s “Watson” (10 p.m. Oct. 13, KDKA-TV) won’t bring the cast to Pittsburgh, where the show is set, to film new scenes, as the series did in June 2024 for...
TV Talk: KDKA-TV hires meteorologist; ‘Kingstown’ trailer debutsVideo
Following the August retirement of forecaster Kristin Emery, KDKA-TV this week announced a new weekend morning meteorologist hire, Rob Wilson. The Fox Chapel resident most recently worked as a financial adviser, but he had a long stint as a meteorologist in Erie at WICU, where he worked from 2000 to...
TV Talk: Upper St. Clair grad’s restaurants profiled on PBS; ‘Matlock’ returnsVideo
Upper St. Clair native Jamie Brown gained notoriety in her hometown as a standout basketball player alongside her identical twin sister, Kerry, who both went on to play for Davidson College. Since settling in Charlotte, N.C., Brown and her husband, Jeff Tonidandel, are better known as local restaurateurs. Their endeavors...
TV Q&A: Is there a clear TV season anymore?
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: It seems that there is no actual TV season anymore, even by network. I wouldn’t take up your time with this, but I was recently...
TV Talk: KDKA-TV names station veteran as news director
Almost two months after the departure of news director Shawn Hoder for the top news department job at CBS’s Atlanta affiliate, KDKA-TV named Cathy Noschese its news director. Noschese has worked at KDKA for three decades, rising from production assistant to writer, producer, executive producer, managing editor and most recently...
TV Talk: Western Pa. mansion profiled on HGTV’s ‘Scariest House;’ WPXI reporter exitsVideo
Former Pittsburghers Thom Hutter and Edward Handley weren’t looking to buy a haunted house. Initially, they just wanted to remodel the kitchen of their Observatory Hill home. But when the Greenville Manor, a former funeral home in Greenville, Mercer County, popped up on a Facebook feed for sale two years...
TV Q&A: Why are meteorologists on the move?Video
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 have heard several announcements from KDKA-TV and WTAE that the weather forecasters’ schedules are changing. Jeff Verszyla on WTAE is now on weekends, and...
TV Talk: Green Tree native Zachary Quinto is back in season 2 of ‘Brilliant Minds’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. This fall’s 10 p.m. Monday night broadcast schedule pits a Western Pa. native, Zachary Quinto, starring in NBC’s “Brilliant Minds,” against a Pittsburgh-set series, CBS’s “Watson” (debuting Oct. 13). Both shows are medical dramas. Both...
TV Talk: Pitt grad powers Glen Powell football comedy ‘Chad Powers’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Given his recent run on the big screen starring in commercial hits (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Twisters,” “Anyone But You”) and critical darlings (“Hit Man”), it’s impressive that streamer Hulu got Glen Powell to lead the...
TV Talk: Stacy Smith, Patrice King Brown reunite for UPMC video podcastVideo
It’s been 14 years since they anchored a KDKA-TV newscast together, but Patrice King Brown, who retired in 2011, and Stacy Smith, who hung up his mic in 2021, reunited this summer to record a UPMC Health Plan video podcast, “Medicare for the Record.” Although the job was different, Brown...
TV Q&A: Where has KDKA-TV anchor Meghan Schiller been?
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: Is Meghan Schiller among those let go from KDKA? — Jean, via email Rob: Nope, she’s just out on maternity leave and is expected to...
TV Talk: Ford exits WPXI; regional Emmy winners
Late last week, WPXI reporter Nicole Ford posted to Facebook that she’s leaving Channel 11 and broadcast news after her last report on Sept. 26. “Journalism was always the dream — helping people and sharing their stories through both the darkest and brightest moments of their lives,” Ford wrote. “This...
Some Western Pa. stations will block Jimmy Kimmel’s return — here’s where to watch
ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is about to have its highest-rated episode in years. Pittsburghers can see his return to the airwaves following a four-day suspension Tuesday at 11:35 p.m. on WTAE, which is owned by Hearst Broadcasting. However, some viewers won’t be able to watch on ABC affiliates owned by...
TV Talk: Scuzzy ‘Lowdown’ surprises with plot twists, kooky charactersVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. A grungy comedic drama, FX’s “The Lowdown” (9 p.m. Tuesday, FX; next day on Hulu) introduces a passel of original characters, even if you can almost smell the stink wafting off many of them. A...
Filming of ‘The Pitt’ continues at Allegheny General Hospital
Noah Wyle wrapped filming in Pittsburgh after Wednesday’s first day of local production and was en route back to Los Angeles on Thursday. But filming continued around the exterior of Allegheny General Hospital for scenes in the upcoming second season of HBO Max’s “The Pitt,” which will stream in January....
TV Talk: BroadwayHD debuts ‘Jaws’ play; Daniel Tiger visits Etna
Pittsburghers who flocked to Barebones Productions’ “The Shark Is Broken,” take note: The original British production, written by playwrights Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon, was filmed during a tour of the United Kingdom earlier this year and will stream on BroadwayHD beginning Oct. 16. This comedic stage play is set...
