When will ‘Victoria’ return on PBS?
Post-Gazette TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions online every Friday in Tuned In Journal blog at post-gazette.com/tv. Here’s a selection of recent queries.
Q: When will “Victoria” return to PBS?
— DICK, BETHEL PARK Rob: “Victoria” is on an indefinite hiatus. It’s expected to be back but not anytime soon, certainly not in January as it has been in recent years.
Q: What new fall series on network TV was canceled the fastest this year?
— JOE VIA E-MAIL Rob: Technically, nothing has been canceled — networks rarely admit a show is done-done until May — but realistically it was NBC’s “Sunnyside,” which got yanked from the schedule by mid-October and then unspooled its remaining episodes at NBC.com.
Q: I’ve noticed most dramas on network TV use the term “fall finale” nowadays to signal when they are going on hiatus for the winter holidays. I was just curious as to why this is a fairly recent thing, as I don’t remember them promoting shows like this even 5-10 years ago?
— JARED VIA EMAIL Rob: Once upon a time viewers would tune in and watch reruns so networks had no incentive to announce a show was ending its rollout of new episodes.
Once viewers stopped watching reruns, networks largely stopped airing them in favor of more original programming, whether that’s a substitute series or specials. So now there’s no reason not to tell viewers a show is taking a break and there’s actually incentive to let viewers know when the series will resume, which is why we see “fall finales” that often include a note on when the show will be back in the new year.
Q: Any idea why CBS All Access has the “CSI” and “CSI: Miami” on its streaming platform (well, at least three seasons of original recipe), but not any of “CSI: New York” or
“CSI: Cyber”? And what about older CBS series such as “The District” or “The Agency”?
— MARJ VIA EMAIL Rob: CBS owns all the “CSI” shows, so it makes sense to expect them to be on CBS All Access. My understanding is prior licensing agreements are the reason for some of the “CSI” series not being available at this time, but I suspect they will be eventually.
Remember, just because a show aired on CBS doesn’t mean CBS owns it. In the past more than today, networks often bought shows from other nonaffiliated studios so rights to those series remain with the studios that produced the programs. (“The District” and “The Agency” were both produced by NBCUniversal but aired on CBS, which is why they are not on CBS All Access.)
Q: You reported that WPTG and WOSC were going to increase their power in November. Has this happened yet?
I was looking forward to the Christmas programming on GetTV. — DENNIS, SOMERSET
Rob: According to WPTG/WOSC station manager Rob Bruno, “Our Pittsburgh station WPTGCD RF Channel 30 and Virtual Channel 69 does not reach the Johnstown/Altoona Market (Somerset) even with the power increase.”
Mr. Bruno said WOSC and WPTG are broadcasting at higher power but are predicted to go even higher this spring.
“We have another station WTOO-CD, Channel 22, in Johnstown coming online in February,” he added. “This station will most likely carry
GetTV and this viewer should be able to see that station — but unfortunately not in time for this Christmas season.”