Let the rest of America continue to obsess over Fox's "American Idol," Pittsburghers prefer CBS's "The Mentalist."

That's what we find in a side-by-side comparison of national viewing habits vs. Pittsburgh's most-watched prime-time series during the 2008-09 TV season. After "Mentalist" star Simon Baker's stint on Pittsburgh-set "The Guardian," we shouldn't be surprised.

Pittsburghers watch TV in greater numbers than the national average, with the top-rated show in Pittsburgh garnering a 17.8 rating and 24 share compared to a 14.4/22 nationally.

But by and large, Pittsburghers watch the same shows as viewers across the country. The differences are in a matter of degrees. Only two shows on the Pittsburgh Top 20 fail to show up in the Top 20 nationally: CBS's "Survivor: Tocantins" (No. 22 nationally) and NBC's "ER" (No. 37).

CBS has one more show in the Top 20 in Pittsburgh than it does nationally while Fox has one less ("House," which ranks No. 28 among Pittsburghers). This isn't surprising either: CBS traditionally over-performs in Pittsburgh compared with national averages while Fox under-performs.

How come? Demographics. Pittsburgh has more older viewers and fewer younger viewers. We can see it in ratings for the youth-skewing CW, too.

Nationally, The CW's top-rated prime-time show is "America's Next Top Model" (No. 125). Locally, the top-rated program on CW affiliate WPCW is Monday's "10 O'Clock News" (No. 135).

Actually three 10 p.m. newscasts on WPCW out-rank CW shows. The first CW program to show up on the local list is "Top Model" (No. 149), which gets eclipsed by My Network TV's "Friday Night Smackdown" (No. 143 locally, No. 161 nationally).

One interesting finding in this comparison is that series with a lot of media buzz -- but not always the ratings to match -- tend to fare better in Pittsburgh than they do nationally. For instance:

• "Lost" (No. 32 locally, No. 43 nationally).

• "Ugly Betty" (No. 45 locally, No. 54 nationally).

• "The Office" (No. 50 locally, No. 59 nationally).

• "Dollhouse" (No. 143 locally, No. 151 nationally).

But there were a few surprises in the other direction as well:

• "24" (No. 27 nationally, No. 70 locally).

• "Fringe" (No. 50 nationally, No. 76 locally).

But, in a testament to how much Pittsburghers love TV, even when shows rank lower in local popularity, those programs sometimes deliver higher ratings than the national average. "Fringe" had a 5.4/8 nationally and a 6.0/8 locally.

Congratulations, Pittsburgh (TV market No. 23), you weathered the conversion to DTV better than many cities.

The Federal Communications Commission reports calls to its help-line from Southwestern Pennsylvania rank Pittsburgh No. 26 nationally with 1,660 calls through Tuesday. (Cleveland viewers placed 4,216 calls to rank No. 11.)

A National Association of Broadcasters list of market response, determined through self-reporting by TV stations, ranked Pittsburgh No. 45 nationally with 320 calls to local stations. (Cleveland stations reported 482 calls for No. 34.)

None of this should be a surprise since such a small percentage of local homes get their TV only over the air (less than 8 percent). And clearly not all local viewers are satisfied with their digital reception, judging by a handful of calls to the Post-Gazette this week.

Viewers who are still having trouble with individual stations are advised to call the FCC help line (1-888-CALL-FCC) or to contact local stations directly. Phone numbers for TV stations are listed at post-gazette.com/tv and on Page 31 of TV Week.

(One strange aside: Pittsburgh has gone from .87 percent unprepared for digital transition last week to .98 percent unprepared this week, according to Nielsen. A spokeswoman attributed the discrepancy to week-to-week changes in homes sampled to compile estimates.)

Channel 2 general manager Chris Pike announced the hiring of a news director yesterday: Coleen Marren, who spent more than eight years as news director at Boston's Hearst-owned WCVB until she departed in December.

Marren replaces John Verrilli, who left KDKA earlier this year to take a job as news director at WBZ and WSBK, the CBS-owned stations in Boston, making this a complete Burgh-Beantown trade.

Prior to WCVB, Marren was news director at WISN in Milwaukee, and before that she held the same position at WFXT in Boston and WTIC in Hartford.

She'll begin work at KDKA on July 15.

Channel 11 will air "The Great Pittsburgh Jobs Summit" (7 p.m. Wednesday), an hour-long program about the challenges and opportunities for finding work locally, including advice from economic experts and insight from hiring managers.

As part of the program, job experts will staff a phone bank to answer viewer questions by phone and online at WPXI.com. News anchors David Johnson and Darieth Chisolm will host the broadcast. Pre-empted episodes of "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" will air at 7 p.m. June 27.

A&E's "The Cleaner" returns for its second season Tuesday at 10 p.m with Mt. Lebanon native David Hollander ("The Guardian") as a new executive producer on the show. ... Showtime premieres the seventh season of "Penn & Teller: Bull%$#@" Thursday at 10 p.m. ... Showtime has renewed "Tracey Ullman's State of the Union" for a third season. ... Comcast has posted Monday's Penguins victory parade to the KDKA folder under "Your Town" in the On Demand menu. ... PCN will profile Pennsylvania state parks every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. beginning June 28 with Cowans Gap State Park in Fulton County.

Today's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Gilmore Girls," "Mad Men" and "The New Yankee Workshop." Tuned In Journal includes posts on KDKA's new set and TV coverage of Wednesday's storms. Read online TV content at post-gazette.com/tv.

A&E Web editor Sharon Eberson and I discuss the Edie Falco series "Nurse Jackie," plus "Chess in Concert" and the series finale of "Pushing Daisies" in Tuned In Podcast. Listen or subscribe at post-gazette.com/podcast.

1. "The Mentalist" KDKA

2. "Criminal Minds" KDKA

3. "CSI" KDKA

4. "NCIS" KDKA

4. "Dancing With the Stars"

WTAE (tie)

6. "60 Minutes" KDKA

7. "Two and a Half Men" KDKA

7. "Without a Trace" KDKA (tie)

9. "American Idol" Wed. WPGH

9. "Dancing With the Stars

Results" WTAE (tie)

11. "American Idol" Tues. WPGH

12. "CSI: Miami" KDKA

12. "Grey's Anatomy" WTAE (tie)

12. "CSI: NY" KDKA (tie)

15. "Survivor: Gabon" KDKA

16. "Cold Case" KDKA

17. "ER" WPXI

18. "Desperate Housewives" WTAE

19. "Survivor: Tocantins" KDKA

20. "Eleventh Hour" KDKA

1. "American Idol" Wed. FOX

2. "American Idol" Tues. FOX

3. "Dancing With the Stars" ABC

4. "CSI" CBS

5. "Dancing With the Stars

Results" ABC

6. "NCIS" CBS

7. "Sunday Night Football" NBC

8. "The Mentalist" CBS

9. "Desperate Housewives"

ABC

10. "60 Minutes" CBS

11. "Criminal Minds" CBS

12. "Two and a Half Men" CBS

13. "CSI: Miami" CBS

14. "Grey's Anatomy" ABC

15. "CSI: NY" CBS

16. "Without a Trace" CBS

17. "Survivor: Gabon" CBS

18. "Cold Case" CBS

19. "Eleventh Hour" CBS

20. "House" FOX

--The Nielsen Co.