TV Q&A: How are ratings for ‘Nightly Sports Call?'

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’m back to see if the now-accurately named “Nightly Sports Call” — because most nights they only take one call — has increased ratings by having two jabbering hosts instead of one host taking a lot of calls?

– Rob, via email

Rob: Looks like ratings for WPCW-TV’s “Nightly Sports Call” did increase year-to-year.

In November 2020, the show had a 1.1 rating/2 share in households. In November 2021, it increased to 1.5/3.

In the adults 25-54 demo, the show went from 0.5/1 in 2020 to 0.6/2 in 2021.

Q: Why does ESPN rarely broadcast NHL games since they acquired the rights to televise them?

– Chad, via email

Rob: At the time the Walt Disney Company acquired rights to NHL games, it was clear they intended to put the majority of them on streaming service ESPN+ and Hulu.

Per USA Today, “Twenty-five regular-season games will air on either ESPN or ABC, while an additional 75 games will stream on ESPN+ and Hulu. Every out-of-market game previously available through NHL.TV will be on ESPN+, which will replace NHL.TV. Turner has rights to 72 regular-season games.”

Q: I thought that Stacy Smith retired. However, his “Around the Table” is airing on CBSN. Perhaps you will be able to clarify his status. At least, he is photographed on his porch, and not in the attic. All of the participants are at home.

– Roberta, via email

Rob: Per KDKA-TV news director Kathy Hostetter, “Stacy Smith’s ‘Around the Table’ segments are content pieces he’s producing syndicating as a streaming offering. Since we offer a lot of original streaming content with CBSN Pittsburgh, it made sense to pick up his material on political analysis and the economy. Stacy is fully retired, and he’s not freelancing for us.”

Q: Why does Channel 61 keep going off the air? It was off over the weekend and returned this afternoon, but seems to be up and down a lot. I like that it carries Decades. They have some good shows.

– Tom, North Huntingdon

Rob: Channel 61 is a low-power over-the-air channel and my understanding is there’s a faulty piece of equipment that’s causing the problem that apparently takes the signal down for a few minutes at a time. A new piece of equipment is supposed to arrive the first week of January to resolve the problem.

Q: What happened to Devin Goda, the male model from “The Price is Right”? His family is from Pittsburgh and his father used to work at Macy’s.

– Dean, via email

Rob: Goda posted on his Facebook page Nov. 15 that he was back taping “The Price is Right” and a publicist for the show confirmed he’ll be seen again in episodes airing in January. My understanding is his absence was likely a scheduling issue perhaps related to other modeling gigs.

Q: Do you have any information about when Tariq Trotter of The Roots will return to “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”?

– Ann, via Facebook

Rob: He’s expected to return to “The Tonight Show” in mid-March once his Broadway show, “Black No More,” closes.

Q: What happened to “Mayor of Kingstown” on Paramount Network? It was on two weeks and then disappeared.

– Anthony, via voicemail

Rob: As noted when it premiered, “Mayor of Kingstown” is a show on the Paramount+ streaming service. Two episodes aired on Paramount Network in an effort to get more viewers to subscribe to Paramount+.