What happened to a WTAE meteorologist?
Q: What happened to Alex Alecci from WTAE? I was shocked when he said it was his final day at the station. — LINDA, BETHEL PARK
Rob: Alecci, who joined the station in late 2018, took a new job with WTAE sister station WESH-TV in Orlando, Fla.
The New Jersey native began his broadcasting career in Florida.
Q: Any idea why two senior anchors on KDKA-TV, Susan Koeppen and Rick Dayton, were the ones released with the Viacom cutbacks? There are several recently hired field reporters (not anchors) on the station. Normally, dismissals are based on a “last in, first out” basis. Was it a salary decision?
— LOUIS VIA EMAIL
Rob: I sent all questions received on this subject to KDKA-TV general manager Chris Cotugno and news director Kathy Hostetter, but they did not want to get into specifics of any of the questions.
“We are going to decline to discuss the layoffs that have happened across ViacomCBS except to say the employees who are leaving KDKA are dedicated professionals and good people,” said Cotugno in response to multiple viewer questions I forwarded to him. “We will miss them, and we are grateful for their service here. While we are not completely immune to the impact of the pandemic on the economy, we still have an outstanding team here at KDKA that will continue to produce the same number of newscasts and the same high quality local coverage that has long been one of our defining qualities.”
The “last in, first out” approach is not realistic in TV news or the entertainment business because salaries are so widely divergent.
Local news anchors can be paid anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 or sometimes more. Reporters typically make between $50,000 and $80,000. So if the company’s goal is to save $400,000, they can dismiss two anchors or seven reporters. A local news station can’t afford to lose seven reporters and remain competitive in the Pittsburgh market.
Q: Any idea when “Wynonna Earp” returns? What about “The Outpost”? — MATT VIA FACEBOOK
Rob: If not for the pandemic, “The Outpost” probably would have been back this summer. Instead, The CW is holding it for its fourth quarter schedule, where it will air at 9 p.m. Thursdays. My guess is it will return in October.
Syfy has not announced a premiere date for “Wynonna Earp,” but it is still expected to air new episodes this summer.
Q: I have been reading everywhere that Cinemax was going to stop producing original series. I have had Cinemax ever since I got cable and only watched it for series like “Banshee,” “Jett,” “Rellik,” etc. Once I saw the final season of “Strike Back,” I dropped Cinemax because I had been paying $12 per month extra since Comcast dropped it from their lineup about a year ago. Then the new show “Trackers” premiered on Cinemax on June 5. What happened to “no new original series”?
— DIXIE, CLINTON
Rob: Dixie is correct. I was in the room in January at the Television Critics Association winter press tour when WarnerMedia exec Kevin Reilly said Cinemax was done with original programming, so I was surprised to see “Trackers” show up, too.
My understanding is “Trackers” was ordered before the decision to scrap originals came down. It’s essentially one of a few leftovers that will unspool through the year before the focus of the network shifts entirely to blockbuster theatricals. Don’t get too attached to any of these DOA shows — Seems unlikely they will last beyond their first seasons.