Submit your question to Rob Owen

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Medium," DVRs and FiOS TV. As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

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Q: Has "Medium" been canceled? I have seen no advertisements touting its return.

-- Robin, Pittsburgh

Rob: "Medium" is scheduled to return at mid-season, which most likely means January but could be as late as March.

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Q: Do you know when they will be releasing season three of "Battlestar Galactica" on DVD? They already have a release date for a made-for-TV movie not shown yet and they are showing season four soon.

-- Mike, Bridgeville

Rob: The TV movie, "Razor," airs Nov. 24 on Sci Fi Channel and is out on DVD on Dec. 4. Season four's premiere has yet to be scheduled (early 2008 is all Sci Fi Channel will say).

Previous seasons of TV shows on DVD are usually released a week or two before a new season premieres. Once Sci Fi sets a date for season four's start, I imagine Universal Home Video will announce a release date for season three. Your best source for all things TV on DVD is here .

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Q: Is WPXI going to rerun any of the 50th Anniversary specials? I caught part of one and it was pretty entertaining.

-- Bill, Springdale

Rob: Only one has aired so far and it aired multiple times on WPXI and PCNC. At the moment, there are no plans to re-air "Celebrate! 50 Years of Channel 11!" but it's possible it will be replayed before the end of the year on RTN, WPXI's new digital channel. The program will be for sale at WPXI.com (good luck finding it; that Web site is tough to navigate).

A second special on 50 years of news coverage is also being prepared but no premiere date has been set.

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Q: I was reading that 20 percent of homes in the U.S. have a DVR that is supplied by a cable company. When you use the DVR to record programs, is that included in the ratings measurements for TV shows?

-- Earl, Butler

Rob: While 20 percent of the nation's homes now have DVRs, I don't know what percentage of those are rented by cable customers or belong to TiVo owners.

Locally, Comcast says Nielsen is not currently measuring Comcast DVR viewership, which is too bad. I imagine that will change in time.

Nielsen does measure DVR viewing on a national basis in its new "live plus seven" ratings, which takes live viewership and adds DVR viewing seven days after the premiere to arrive at a total.

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Q: I'm a long-time fan of the Travel Channel's show "Most Haunted." I was highly anticipating this year's "Most Haunted Live" show from the Winchester Mystery House in California, that was supposed to be broadcast for seven hours beginning at 9 p.m. on Oct. 19.

During the show, they kept promoting a seance that was to take place in the Winchester House's seance room to begin at 3 a.m. Come 3 a.m. we were treated to the hawking of overpriced jewelry instead of the final hour of the live broadcast. From what I could see on the show's message boards, it seems like Comcast customers all across the country lost the show for various infomercials or shopping networks.

So my question is, was this Comcast's doing or was it a screw up by the Travel Channel? I know Comcast usually switches to shopping networks at 3 a.m. But to cut the final hour of an advertised seven-hour live program is inexcusable.

-- John, Green Tree

Rob: We've encountered this before. Comcast evidently has the contractual right to run over some cable network programming with infomericals in the wee hours of the morning.

"Comcast is following our contractual obligation ?? and at no time did the Travel Channel reach out to us to make any amendments to any programming schedule including a live show," said Comcast spokeswoman Jody Doherty.

In this case, I think blame has to go to Travel Channel. If they're going to sign contracts that allow their programming to be pre-empted, then they have an obligation to their viewers to alert cable companies in the rare event that a special program will air at that hour.

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Q: Do you know why Comcast does not create a dedicated channel for FSN-P HD? I realize there is not a lot of HD content on FSN, however by pre-empting MOJO for these games, it becomes difficult to set a DVR to record these events, especially since the on-screen guide never reflects when a game is on. If bandwidth is an issue, perhaps they could only turn on the FSN channel during the games and turn off MOJO?

-- Anthony, Brookline

Rob: I think you answered your own question: There's not enough HD content to justify a dedicated HD channel for FSN-P. We can't always get what we want, and you'll have to watch the games live if you want to see them in HD, which is what the majority of viewers do anyway.

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Q: You stated in your piece last week that a new NHL network was scheduled to be out Oct. 16th. It is isn't available in my area but Comcast said it should already be there. Has it launched in other areas and do you know when all of Pittsburgh will have it?

-- Bill, Moon Township

Rob: Sometimes dates can be in flux. Check again. It should be there by today.

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Q: I am really looking forward to FiOS TV rollout in my hometown (Coraopolis), but cannot find any info about when it will actually be.

Do you have any info on when it will be available?

-- Luke, Coraopolis

Rob: To avoid getting these questions about every community, let's all agree that when FiOS TV is available, the Post-Gazette will report it. Southern and Northern suburbs will likely get first crack at it. City folks will be waiting a while.

As to your specific question, Verizon spokesman Lee Gierczynski said Coraopolis is a member of the Char-West Council of Governments (COG), which includes 12 western Allegheny County communities, such as Findlay, Oakdale, Robinson, Rosslyn Farms, etc.

"Verizon has been negotiating with the COG since early this year and hopes to have an agreement finalized with the COG within the next month," Gierczynski explained. "After that, each of the municipalities in the COG will schedule votes to approve the agreement, a process that itself can take a couple of months. If the process continues to move along smoothly, we hope to start offering the service in a number of Char-West COG municipalities by the end of this year."

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Feedback

Last week I wrote about an e-mail from a self-identified ABC publicist that suggested the network would offer the newspaper tickets to the Country Music Awards to give away to readers as long as the newspaper reciprocated with a "required" story on the telecast.

Turns out the e-mail was sent by a freelancer, not an ABC employee. The folks at ABC were embarrassed about the gaffe and assured me it will not happen again.

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Im-possible fan campaign of the week

Q: Postcard front: Happy Halloween! We came to eat the brains of those who canceled "Kim Possible."

Postcard back: Trick or Treat, Kim Possible's sweet. We the members of the "Fight for Five" ask that you help us in saving Disney animation and the "Kim Possible" series. Our group is asking that Disney renew the series for a season five. Visit our Web site for more information: www.fightforkp.com.

-- Anthony, Holmdel, N.J.

Rob: Disney Channel generally makes a set number of episodes for its series -- about 65 -- enough episodes to air the program daily. Once the shows reach that magic number, they cease production. As it is, 87 episodes of "Kim Possible" were produced. It seems unlikely that they'll make an exception for "Kim Possible."

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Comic strip of the week

Q: Does this remind you of Channel 11's first days in its new home?

-- Alan, Pittsburgh

Rob: It sort of does! Thanks for sharing, Alan.

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Phone call of the decade

Q: "They've got this show on CBS Monday night, "CSI: Miami." Why would it be in Spanish?"

-- Male caller

Rob: You would not believe how much time I spend on the phone trying to talk down viewers who call the Post-Gazette about CBS airing TV shows in Spanish. Of course, CBS isn't airing the shows only in Spanish; these viewers have accidentally activated a Second Audio Program on their TV that offers the show in Spanish. The primary feed is still in English.

Many viewers, particularly of afternoon CBS soaps, don't seem to be aware of SAP, and I field calls quite frequently from viewers who are often incensed and/or confused.