Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking Royce Jones’ departure, Mister Rogers tribute song, Disney characters meet the NFL

In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including a new Mister Rogers tribute song and video released last week by actress/singer Kate Micucci. The video features illustrations of Rogers and Mr. McFeely (David Newell) and sweet lyrics of appreciation, including, “So long old friend/Til we meet again/I liked you/Right from the start.”

Owen and Benz discuss the departure of Royce Jones from KDKA-TV. Owen wonders if Jones’ contract was not renewed given the terse, two-sentence memo from the news director. Owen speculates that perhaps to station executives it made sense to have a younger person anchor the 10 p.m. news when Channel 19 was an affiliate of younger-skewing The CW and it may make less sense to station executives now that Channel 19 is an independent station with the much older-skewing “48 Hours” as the 10 p.m. newscast lead-in. Of course, one could simply re-assign an anchor/reporter in the case of a mismatch and Jones’ departure leaves KDKA open to criticism for a noticeable lack of diversity among its remaining roster of news reporters and news anchors.

Benz offer his reaction to the season three premiere of “The Morning Show” on Apple TV+ and the cancellation of HBO’s “Winning Time” after a downer season finale.

The pair discuss the Disneyfication of an upcoming NFL game on Disney+. For the Oct. 1 (9:30 a.m.) Atlanta Falcons vs. Jacksonville Jaguars game from Wembley Stadium in London, Disney+ will deliver an alternate telecast that features real-time coverage using characters from “Toy Story” in a fully animated rendering of the game. Animated versions of play-by-play announcer Drew Carter and analyst Booger McFarland will be joined by an animated 12-year-old Pepper Persley as reporter.

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