This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about Steelers players on KDKA newscasts, the status of "Threshold" and soap opera ratings.
As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.
Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor
Q: Do the Steelers who appear on KDKA during the newscasts get paid for being on the news? I am referring to the daily appearances of Bettis, Faneca etc.
-- Gary, Export
Interesting question, and one I hadn't considered because paying for interviews is a practice that's generally frowned upon in journalism. But when you start to think about it, there's really no incentive for Steelers players to show up once a week at 5:45 p.m. to appear on KDKA-TV, especially when they must know the station only wants to use their appearance to help boost ratings.
KDKA news director John Verrilli dodged the question: "I would like to thank Gary for his interest, but the contractual relationship between the Steelers, the Steelers players and KDKA-TV is confidential."
I can only surmise that if there's a contract, there's probably money involved. And if there's money involved, then KDKA may be paying for interviews.
In a follow-up conversation, Verrilli said the contract is also tied to KDKA carrying Steelers preseason games. He would not say if the contract entails paying Steelers players to appear on KDKA's newscasts.
"Most professional [sports] franchises have a relationship with local TV stations," Verrilli said. "I'm not saying it has anything to do with the newscast. I'm saying we have an agreement with them and a lot of things are covered under the agreement. ... I can't discuss the terms of the contract in any way. I'm completely comfortable with the agreement. I don't think our journalistic integrity is compromised in any way."
In fairness, it was KDKA's John Shumway this week who was on the receiving end of a verbal smackdown from Steelers coach Bill Cowher (https://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05348/621940.stm).
Verrilli's boss, KDKA general manager Chris Pike, also would not divulge terms of the KDKA-Steelers deal.
"It's something I'm confident everyone else in the market would like to have," Pike said. "Nothing in our Steelers agreement makes me at all uncomfortable."
A competitor suggested such agreements can include a station paying more than $100,000 to secure weekly interviews with star football players. The competitor also characterized it as "common practice" and expressed no disdain for the idea of paying for player interviews. But I'm happy to express disdain for it: Journalists don't pay for interviews in news content. Period. If you want to pay players to appear in some other format, fine, but not in news.
Steelers communications coordinator Dave Lockett did not return a call seeking comment.
Q:What is the deal with Channel 2 sending John Shumway to cover the Steelers? Are they saying sports reporters John Steigerwald and/or Bob Pompeani are not competent enough to cover stories like Roethlisberger's thumb injury? Do they need to send a news reporter to make it seem like these sports stories are real news? Give me a break.
-- John, Pittsburgh
Maybe it's to combat the possible perception that they're in bed with the Steelers? Who knows? News director John Verrilli did not respond to a request for comment.
What I do know is that every station in town has been covering the Steelers ad nauseum in the news portion of newscasts, not just in sports, so I'm not sure it really matters whether it's a sports reporter or general assignment reporter who is fronting these stories that are more an attempt at grabbing ratings than to provide real news.
Q:WTAE has one of the strongest weather teams in the area, with 5 meteorologists. Now I think they are down to 4 for the time being but all of mets (as far as I know) have been all males. Have they ever had a woman Meteorologist?
-- Alicia, Kittanning
Susan Davies worked at WTAE as a weekend meteorologist for a few years before leaving for a job at a station in Cleveland in 1995. She's now at KOAA in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Q:At the beginning of the new "Cold Case" season, a new female detective was added to the series, however, I have not seen that detective on the series that last few episodes. Has she been written out, replaced?? I wish I could remember her name on the show.
Also, I like the show "Wild Card" on Lifetime, has it been taken off the air now that Joely Fisher is on "Desperate Housewives"? Or will there be new episodes of "Wild Card" in the spring?
-- Linda, Cecil
"Wild Card" was canceled a while ago. No new episodes will be forthcoming.
As for "Cold Case," actress Sarah Joy Brown ("General Hospital") was only cast as a recurring character for four episodes. She appeared in five episodes and may or may not return. More recently, actress Tracie Thoms ("Rent") has been added as a series regular.
Q:My wife and I are fans of "The O.C." I was wondering if you think "The O.C." will be back for another season. This past Thursday showed them picking colleges to go to when they graduate from high school. If the four of them do this, there would be no more "O.C." which would be sad because I think it is one of the best shows in a long time.
-- Bob, Avalon
It's a little early to speculate on fall 2006 series pick-ups, but if I had to guess, I'd imagine the show will return. Whether the characters all end up at the same college remains to be seen.
Q:I've been listening to WLTJ's Christmas music for a couple weeks now, and I noticed just a few days ago that their call letters have changed to WBZB. Have you heard anything through the grape vine? Could it be a station like the old B-94? But named B-93? Would they play the same music after the holidays and also bring back some of the old B jocks?
-- Ryan, Kennedy Township
Post-Gazette radio writer Adrian McCoy tells me there was no call letter change at WLTJ.
"It was a clerical error -- those are the tentative call letters for sister station WRRK, but even that hasn't been finalized yet," she said.
Q:Another "That '70s Show" question: Didn't Donna have a younger sister, and if she did what happened to her?
-- Colleen, Whitehall
The younger sister went away to boarding school, according to a Fox publicist.
Q:A few weeks ago, "confirmed rumors" began spreading around the Internet that CBS's "Threshold" was canceled. Some sources simply claim that the show is simply "shelved, for the time being" or pulled from the lineup for a few weeks. I've searched the PG-TV archives, but can't find any news. ... Sorry if you've already answered.
Is the show indeed canceled? I understand that it was doing well following "Ghost Whisperer," until CBS moved "Close To Home" in order to give it a chance. The decision to pull "Threshold" after one week in a new time slot just doesn't make sense.
Can you shed some light on the real details? I'm pretty upset that CBS didn't give the show a better chance.
-- Dylan, Washington
We did report on CBS pulling the show from the schedule (https://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05333/613866.stm) and labeled it a "precursor to cancellation," but if you need to hear it confirmed: Yes, the show is dead. Canceled. Kaput. Finito.
As for the reason, I think CBS could see that creatively the show was not built to go the distance and wisely cut its losses.
Q:What are the soap opera ratings locally? I saw in the paper that KDKA was ahead of WTAE at 1 p.m. daily. I know "The Price is Right" is winning the 11 a.m. slot easily.
Would you mind answering this question: What is the rating and share for "ET" here in Pittsburgh?
-- Anonymous, S. Fayette
Joe Klein, is that you? I kid.
The rating/share for "Entertainment Tonight" was 7.6/12, No. 2 in the time period behind "Wheel of Fortune" in November.
We don't cover the soaps regularly -- prime time and local TV are enough of a challenge to keep up with -- but since you asked, here are the November sweeps ratings for the primary soap time slots:
12:30 p.m.
"Young and the Restless" (KDKA) 6.5/19
"Family Feud" (WPXI) 3.8/11
"Access Hollywood" (WTAE) 3.0/9
1 p.m.
"All My Children" (WTAE) 2.4/7
"Tyra Banks Show" (WPXI) 2.0/6
1:30 p.m.
"The Bold and the Beautiful" (KDKA) 5.6/17
2 p.m.
"As the World Turns" (KDKA) 3.2/9
"Passions" (WPXI) 2.7/8
"One Life to Live" (WTAE) 1.6/5
3 p.m.
"Days of Our Lives" (WPXI) 4.4/11
"The Guiding Light" (KDKA) 4.1/10
"General Hospital" (WTAE) 2.4/6
Q:I am very upset about an event that took place on Sunday evening. My car spun out of control on Shady Avenue and became stuck facing oncoming traffic in the middle of the road. Lynne Hayes-Freeland from KDKA and her cameraman parked right around the corner from where I was stuck and got out of their van. I opened my window and called over to them to see if they could assist me, and they completely ignored me. As I was in my car trying to call the police and AAA for help (to no avail because there were too many other accidents at the time), Lynne and her cameraman were busy getting their equipment ready. It was at least 10 minutes before a passerby came to my rescue and then Lynne ran over to get an interview with them.
I understand that news teams have a job to do, but if they are the only people around at the time someone has an accident, it is only human to ask someone if they are OK. Instead, KDKA used the fact that I'm pregnant and stuck in ice and snow as part of their news story.
I just want to know if when see an accident happen and if they're the only people around, do they ever talk about whether to have the common courtesy to ask someone if they are OK first, or is it their practice to just go and start taping when they see something happen?
-- Elana, Shadyside
KDKA news director John Verrilli spoke with Hayes-Freeland about the incident and offered this response: "She did approach the car to make sure the driver was not hurt. Although the driver was quite upset, she was not injured or in any danger. She was looking for help to get her car off the ice. Since the road conditions were still very bad Lynne did not feel comfortable attempting to drive the woman's car, or push it with a company vehicle. Lynne offered to call 911 for help, but the woman had already called both the police and AAA.
"Since the woman was not hurt and the car was not in imminent danger, in Lynne's judgment it was better to wait for more professional assistance. As part of their duties, our staff members cover many emergency situations. I am confident that in a life and death situation they would always do whatever was possible to help. It is ultimately always a judgment call as to when to get directly involved."
In a phone conversation, Elana said the KDKA news crew ignored her initial calls for help, and she did think they heard her request for assistance.
"They were looking at me, but they never came over [initially]," she said. "It would be one thing if they came over to help me. I would have answered their questions [on camera]. But they couldn't be bothered to ask me how I was doing until somebody else showed up."
First Published: December 16, 2005, 5:00 a.m.
