TV Q&A: Which Pittsburgh TV newscasters have worked for 3 stations?
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Q: Now that Susan Koeppen anchors WPXI-TV’s 4 p.m. broadcast, it completes her local news station hat trick (working for all three local news broadcasts.)
Wondering if there are others, but the only other person I came up with is Alby Oxenreiter, who did stints on WTAE-TV and WPGH-TV before WPXI.
— Jim via email
Rob: Oxenreiter is the only current Pittsburgh broadcaster I can think of, too. Joe Negri worked mostly for KDKA, WTAE and WQED (and did a little bit of work at WPXI), although he didn’t do news. The late Adam Lynch was an anchor/reporter for KDKA, WPXI and WTAE.
The late Eleanor Schano has them all beat, not only working at the Big Three but also hosting programs on WPGH-TV and WQED-TV for good measure.
Q: I miss Anthony Mason on “CBS Mornings.” I thought he was going to do specials on music but I have not seen any.
— Millie via email
Rob: Maybe Millie is not watching often enough or long enough (features often show up in the second hour of a morning show).
Per CBS, “Senior culture correspondent Anthony Mason’s signature music and culture pieces have been featured many times in the past month since the relaunch of ‘CBS Mornings.’ He’s done extended interviews with Brandi Carlile, Stevie Van Zandt and Colson Whitehead and reported on the return to Broadway of ‘Hadestown’ and a new biography on Anthony Bourdain. Indeed, there have been weeks where he’s had multiple reports. He also has plenty of pieces lined up in the future across CBS News properties, so viewers will continue to see Anthony’s feature pieces on a regular basis.”
Q: Will the cable systems replace NBC Sports Net with another sports-oriented channel or simply drop it and continue to charge us the same rate as the present?
— Tom, Mt. Lebanon
Rob: That will probably vary by cable system. While NBCUniversal has announced NBCSN will shutter by the end of the year, it hasn’t disappeared yet. While the channel is shutting down, much of the programming has migrated to USA and Peacock. Comcast’s Xfinity carries USA and customers get Peacock Premium for no added cost.
Ultimately, cable/satellite companies can do whatever they want. In the fine print of the contract each customer signs, there is a clause that says cable companies can change programming offerings (e.g. drop channels) at any time without providing compensation. While much of the world has gone to a I-want-what-I-want-and-only-what-I-want-when-I-want-it model in the streaming age, cable TV is steadfastly not a la carte.
Q: Why does KDKA always start their newscasts with breaking news and all it turns out to be is either a car drove off the road or perhaps a bee stung someone. I always thought “breaking news” was for a big national story or something locally that could affect many.
— Sheila, New Castle
Rob: Once upon a time, Sheila’s supposition was true, but after 9/11, TV stations broke “breaking news” by applying the label to seemingly every news story in hopes of triggering a Pavlovian response in viewers (my all-time favorite: KDKA using its helicopter to cover “breaking news” of cows that escaped a pasture somewhere south of Pittsburgh).
Q: What is the status/future for “Clarice” and “The Blacklist.” Returning??
— Al via email
Rob: “Clarice” was almost saved by Paramount+ but they never came to terms on a deal, so that one is dead.
“The Blacklist” returns in the 8 p.m. Thursday time period on NBC beginning Oct. 21.