Submit your question to Rob Owen

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "It's Alive," "Ghost Whisperer" and Jennifer Antkowiak.

As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

---

Q: How is "Ghost Whisperer" doing on CBS? Will it be renewed or will it end when the season ends? I do enjoy the show, but there are times I think there is no way they can keep this going. It's basically the same type of story weekly, just different people. See a ghost, direct them towards the light. How many times can they keep doing that?

-- James, Penn Hills

I agree with you, James, but CBS is confident the series can go on. This week they announced it will be back in the fall.

---

Q: What happened to the locally produced "Chiller Theater"-like show "It's Alive?" Also, what can you tell me about its creators?

-- Brad, Coraopolis

"It's Alive" begins a second 26-week run on WBGN tomorrow at 10 p.m. Producers say the new season will include new characters: A pair of very old clowns who will occasionally show cartoons and the new "house band," DEATHMOBILE. They also plan to book the show in local theaters and drive-ins to tape it in front of a live audience.

The Post-Gazette's John Hayes wrote about "It's Alive" when it premiered last summer (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05209/544716.stm).

---

Q: What is your take on Jennifer Antkowiak leaving KDKA and who do you think would take her spot? I also heard that Sonni Abatta might be leaving because she has moved up the ranks so quickly.

-- Chris, South Hills

I expect Abatta will be able to write her own ticket out of Pittsburgh within a couple of years, jumping to a larger market. For that reason, among others, I don't think they'll put her in the Antkowiak position.

Perhaps KDKA will consider some of the now unemployed WPGHers for the job, like Katie Sesny or Kym Gable, though only if they think they might stick here. Much as it would be nice to see Sheila Hyland working again, I don't see that happening for demographic (re: age) reasons.

Whoever KDKA management picks, they're going to want it to be someone who can take over when Patrice King Brown retires. Not that I expect that to happen anytime soon, but after I used the R-word in last week's article on Antkowiak, Brown was evidently besieged by calls from viewers thinking she is about to retire. People: Get a grip, everyone retires eventually and a station has to plan for that, whether it happens in four years or 15. Using that word does not mean it's imminent.

As for Antkowiak's decision to leave KDKA, it could turn out to be a great gig. It's hard to predict, although I'm not sure how she can work fewer hours in the new job (allowing her to spend more time with family) than she currently does at KDKA.

---

Q: I noticed a new channel listing on the Comcast guide (via the remote control) of "ALN." What station is this?

-- Lin, Pittsburgh

It's AmericanLife TV Network (http://www.americanlifetvnetwork.com/about.php), Channel 124. It used to be called Good Life TV.

---

Q: What is the official word on "The Nightstalker" series? If I am correct, the series stopped airing at the end of Part 1 of a two-part episode.

-- Arthur, Pittsburgh

ABC canceled it, but Sci Fi Channel will air all the produced episodes, including that Part 2, later this year. In the meantime, you can download it from iTunes.

---

Q: On the subject of shows going on hiatus or being pre-empted, for whatever reason, I think that those of a serial, rather than episodic nature, (e.g."Lost," "Alias," "Everwood," "SG-1," etc.) would benefit from rerunning from the season beginning during that time. With high ratings or critical praise, those shows, with network promos, could gain viewers who watched other shows in those time slots.

What have the networks got to lose? The production costs, etc. are already spent and how could the sponsors object to trying to lure more audience.

I also wish that a way could be found to repeat each weekly episode of all programs. They could utilize their cable outlets, if nowhere else.

-- Steven, McMurray

Networks try what you suggest, and it doesn't work. Ratings for serialized shows always go into the toilet on reruns, which is why you don't see them re-run too often.

---

Q: I remember when newscasts changed forever in Pittsburgh: It was when the Pittsburgh Press went on strike. When that occurred, the news stations began showing four-hourlong newscasts on Saturday mornings instead of showing cartoons. I remember this because I was at the age of watching Saturday morning cartoons when ... I tuned in to find newscasts instead of "Scooby-Doo." To this day I do not understand why the TV stations insist on showing so much news. Basically, they just repeat the same news over and over again. KDKA now airs weeknights at 4-6 p.m. We have the 10 o'clock news, 11 o'clock news, PCNC, Headline news, CNN, etc.

My question: Is there really a need and are there really that many people that watch this much news?

-- Doug, Castle Shannon

There is absolutely no such need for that much news in this market. But TV stations don't expect anyone to sit and watch all of the news -- and if you're doing that, please stop now -- they expect viewers to tune in on their schedule, catch 15 minutes and go away. The more time they make it available, the greater likelihood someone will tune in to the news at some point. And, don't forget, news is relatively cheap to produce and makes more money in local ad sales than syndicated programming does.

---

Q: What is with Comcast not adding new HDTV channels?

They tell me that it is a bandwidth issue.

How come for the Olympics they added Universal HD with no problem. Then took it away when the Olympics were over? To me it's not a bandwidth problem.

-- Ron, North Hills

Why did Comcast offer Universal HD during the Olympics and pull it right after? I've been calling and requesting more HD channels (along with NHL Center Ice) for years now, only to be told that the cable system in my area needed to be upgraded to handle more channels. It was real nice to offer the channel and pull it two weeks later.Comcast who told me that Universal HD was never offered in my area. You can imagine my surprise, considering I spent the past two weeks watching the Olympics and other shows on it. I can't wait until DirectTv gets all the HD stuff up and running so I can dump Comcast.

-- Jeff, South Park

A Comcast spokeswoman said Universal HD was launched as an enhancement for the Olympics and was a free preview. She also said some areas are still receiving Universal.

"Comcast launched high def late in 2003. There are currently 16 channels. We want more high def. ... Comcast will launch more high def channels in the future, but there has to be content," Comcast spokeswoman Jody Doherty wrote in an e-mail. "There are channels that claim they are high def, but a small [amount of] overall content is actually in high def."

---

Q: What's with "The Insider" and "Entertainment Tonight"? They seem like the same exact show. They have to be produced by the same company, because recently both episodes aired a promo for their Oscar coverage featuring all the reporters in glamorous get-ups, and the promo was EXACTLY the same (same song playing, same copy being read, etc.). Only difference was that Pat O'Brien and Lara Spencer were interchanged for Mary Hart and Mark Steines. Also, each show airs the same basic stories/topics at the same time. At 7:35 on "ET," they're talking about Brangelina, while on "The Insider" at 7:35, they're talking about ... Brangelina!

-- Jen, South Hills

They are both produced by Paramount. "The Insider" was a segment on "ET" and then was spun off to be its own series. In markets where one station has the rights to both shows, they often air back-to-back.

What has happened to "The E-Ring?" I know it was preempted by the Olympic Games however the last episode was on Feb. 1.

Now that the Games have concluded, I thought this series would return on March 1, but, alas, NBC aired a special. -- Paul, West Mifflin

An NBC spokeswoman said "E-Ring" will return later this month.

COMMENTS

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I'm wondering if it is possible that the February drop-off in news viewers was partly BECAUSE of the saturation of Steelers coverage. I was extraordinarily excited about the Super Bowl game and initially enjoyed the various features. But it all became old after awhile, and I stopped watching the news. Further, since I learned during that time that the quality of my life would not suffer if I didn't watch daily TV news, I continue to leave the television off during most of the local news.
-- Ann, Oakland

Regarding a question last week about "Meet The Press" being cut by Channel 11, "Meet The Press" is always repeated on Sunday night on MSNBC at 10 p.m. I usually watch it at that time because I also like to watch "This Week" on WTAE at 10 a.m., the same time "Meet The Press" is on WPXI.
-- William, Pittsburgh

Thanks for the kind mention in your recent column. It's nice to be remembered, especially in the community that provided the foundation for so much of my life. My son, who served in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne, was born in Pittsburgh. My wife, a pediatrician, was educated at Pitt Med School. And the skills that got me to the major networks were acquired working under the tutelage (and patience) of WTAE executives like John Conomikes, Joe Rovitto and Fred Young. I was barely 24 when they hired me. Now, as lead anchor for Bloomberg TV's expanding operation, it's my turn to play "elder statesman," relying heavily on the lessons I learned from them.
-- Mike Schneider, Bloomberg News, New York