Last month I wrote about some amusing anchor chatter on WTAE, labeling it "best/worst banter." Why the contradictory description?

It was "worst" in the sense of expecting local TV news to be, you know, serious news, but "best" because it was entertaining.

In a conversation with someone who works in local TV after the column ran, I offered that same explanation. The response? "It's local TV news!" as if holding broadcasters to a higher (perhaps, any) standard made me a crazy person.

While I do see the distinction between print journalism and broadcast journalism and have an understanding that broadcast journalism is designed, by its very nature, to be in some senses entertainment, it did get me to thinking: What do viewers expect of local TV news?

Should it be just the facts, ma'am? Should it be a mix of news and fluff? Should it be a goof-fest like a morning drive radio show?

What should local TV news be?

This is where you come in. I'm interested to know your thoughts. E-mail me at rowen@post-gazette.com or send letters to 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15222. Include your full name, age and neighborhood. Please respond before noon March 12. I'll use your comments in a future column. No phone calls, please.

WBGN, which was dropped from former Adelphia cable systems after Comcast took over those systems in late 2006, has returned to those lineups. Owner Ron Bruno said he struck a deal with Comcast to return WBGN to the systems the station had been dropped from on leased access channels with the understanding that they could be pre-empted for leased access programming. That hasn't happened since WBGN began reappearing in recent weeks.

WBGN, a low-power independent station, airs new episodes of Martha Stewart's talk show at 11 a.m. weekdays, reruns of "The Nanny," "Mad About You" and "Reno 911!" along with movies and a local production, "The It's Alive Show" (10 p.m. Saturday).

Bruno would not say if the deal with Comcast involved buying his way back onto the systems, but he spoke highly of the company's senior vice president of the Three Rivers Region, Linda Hossinger. She replaced a previous executive who took WBGN off some Comcast systems.

"They're a whole new group of very good people," Bruno said. "They're understanding of our situation and they're trying to help us."

Comcast executives were not available to discuss details of the deal.

WBGN can again be found in Penn Hills and Baldwin, now on Channel 14; in New Castle on Channel 16; in Portage, Kittanning/Latrobe/Blairsville and Indiana on Channel 18; in Coraopolis, McKeesport, Tarentum, Glassport, Bethel Park/Mt. Lebanon/Upper St. Clair/Peters, Allison Park and Greensburg on Channel 21; in Rochester on Channel 23; and in Morgantown on Channel 47. The cable conversion chart in the Post-Gazette's TV Week will reflect these channel positions in a few weeks.

Bruno said that, at least initially, "leased access" and not WBGN will continue to be shown in the digital cable on-screen programming guide. A small WBGN logo, identifying the station, will be in the top right corner of the screen on WBGN's channel.

WBGN has not been picked up by Verizon's FiOS TV.

The 10 p.m. news on Pittsburgh's Fox affiliate will be broadcast in high definition beginning next week, most likely beginning Tuesday.

Although WPXI, which already has HD newscasts, produces and staffs WPGH's 10 p.m. news, WPGH had internal technical upgrades to make before the news could be broadcast in HD.

To the anonymous grumpy old man who calls himself "wireless caller" and keeps leaving haranguing messages on my voice mail, the listings in TV Week and any printed TV listings guide are sometimes inaccurate because networks make last-minute schedule changes after the listings have been printed.

There's not a lot any print publication can do about that other than suggest, as we do on Page 2 of TV Week, that viewers consult the daily paper and online listings at post-gazette.com/tv for the most up-to-date and accurate listings.

ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will premiere an episode featuring the makeover of a home belonging to the Turner family of Fairmont, W.Va., at 8 p.m. Sunday on WTAE.

A "24" TV movie for fall? It could happen. Hollywood Reporter says a prequel to the seventh season, set for January 2009, is in development. ... Reruns of The CW's "Everybody Hates Chris" will turn up on Nick at Nite in 2009. ... Reruns of the Taye Diggs series "Day Break" will air on TV One at 10 p.m. Sunday beginning March 16. ... Lisa Ling, a former co-host on "The View," will return to the program as a guest on March 27. ... National Geographic Channel's "Who Knew? With Marshall Brain" will feature Zambelli Fireworks of New Castle in a segment that explains how fireworks explode in an array of colors in the show's premiere episode, 9 p.m. Thursday.

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "American Chopper" and "Just for Laughs." Read it online at post-gazette.com/tv.