Q: I'm curious about the sports team at Channel 4: I haven’t seen Ashley Liotus in quite a while. She often covered the Steelers throughout the week, but it seems her airtime has been non-existent since the NFL season ended. Emily Giangreco is usually on weekends, but recently Andrew Stockey was in Nebraska for the Duquesne game and he anchored the entire sports segment live from Omaha. I even saw Mike Clark one evening reporting on sports at 11 p.m., in addition to his news anchoring spot.
— John, Greensburg
Rob: Liotus has been a freelancer who fills in from the time she started at the station prior to Giangreco’s arrival in summer 2022. Liotus had been working at WTAE two or three days per week until recently. She still does some freelance work for Channel 4, but less now that she’s primarily working as a producer for SportsNet Pittsburgh.
Q: On March 24, TNT was supposed to broadcast the Penguins-Avalanche game. Since it was broadcast locally on SportsNet Pittsburgh, it was blacked out on TNT. My question is why didn’t TNT show alternative programming in its place rather than a graphic for the length of the game announcing the contest was blacked out?
— Zach, Latrobe
Rob: It’s not unusual that when a game airs on a local channel the national telecast on another channel would be blacked out. As a cable channel, TNT has one feed that goes out nationally — it doesn’t have the capability to alter programming in just one specific TV market beyond the blackout screen.
The NHL and its national broadcasters are able to pick/move around games throughout the season. The March 24 game was originally a TNT exclusive, but then TNT took the Feb. 14 game so March 24 was given back to SNP and the March 24 game became a co-exclusive with TNT still airing the game outside of Pittsburgh and SNP carrying the game locally.
Q: Is there going to be an agreement between the Pittsburgh baseball club and Comcast to broadcast the baseball games this year without having to spend additional money to upgrade my current Comcast service? My monthly invoice is currently the most expensive item in my monthly budget! Being on a fixed income, I’m sure I am not the only senior citizen complaining about this for the Pirates games this year!
— P.C., via email
Rob: Comcast has not rescinded its decision earlier this year to move SportsNet Pittsburgh, which carries the bulk of Pirates and Penguins games, to a higher, more expensive tier of service.
Q: Where can I watch the Pirates on DISH?
— Fred, via voicemail
Rob: DISH dropped what is now SportsNet Pittsburgh in September 2021 and never looked back. SNP, which carries the majority of Pirates games televised, is not available on DISH.
Q: Every day around 3 a.m. Xfinity “updates” my cable box. How can there be software updates every day? What is it doing?
— Joyce, via Facebook
Rob: Software updates happen pretty regularly with dynamic electronics and with a cable box, I can easily imagine daily updates given the ever-changing nature of TV listings that make up a cable subscription’s programming guide.
Yes, there is an update every day and Xfinity customers can choose the time of day for the update as part of their settings preferences.
Q: I read in TV Guide over a month ago that “Finding Your Roots” planned to broadcast a show on March 5 featuring regular people, not celebrities. It did not air. Do you know if that special episode will ever be shown on PBS/WQED?
— Amy, via email
Rob: That particular “Finding Your Roots” episode will now be broadcast at 8 p.m. April 9 on PBS stations.
