TV Q&A: What degrees do Pittsburgh TV meteorologists have?

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review.

Q: Of all of the “meteorologists” that are on the Big Three Pittsburgh news stations, do you know how many actually have a four-year degree in meteorology or atmospheric sciences?

– Leo, Imperial

Rob: Combing through bios of all of Pittsburgh’s current TV meteorologists, it appears the majority of the slate has a certificate in broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State University, which in most cases is not a four-year degree program.

But there are some exceptions.

Kasey Reigner at WTAE-TV has an undergrad degree in meteorology and atmospheric science from Penn State.

WTAE’s Brian Hutton Jr. earned meteorology degrees from California University of Pennsylvania and Mississippi State.

WTAE chief meteorologist Mike Harvey studied aerospace science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, which appears to have a meteorology component, and then studied broadcast meteorology at Mississippi State.

KDKA-TV’s Ron Smiley has a degree in atmospheric science from Ball State University.

WPXI-TV’s Scott Harbaugh majored in journalism with a specialization in pre-meteorology at Ohio University before going through the certificate program at Mississippi State.

Q: What happened to “Escape to the Chateau” on HGTV?

– Betty, Latrobe

Rob: “Escape to the Chateau” is no longer releasing new episodes on HGTV. The show’s new home is the streaming service Peacock, which lists seven seasons of the series available.

Q: In regards to the Penguins’ TV broadcasts, there is advertising under the ice and on the glass – and it changes throughout the game. Is this advertising visible at the arena or is that just for TV?

– Carol, McCandless

Rob: This is called “virtual” advertising that changes during the game. And, yes, these “virtual” advertising logos are only visible on TV, not at the arena.

Q: Is “Mom” still on hiatus? Is it even coming back? Was it canceled and I missed it? Also, what’s Anna Faris been up to these days since she left? I was sad to see her leave the show.

– John via email

Rob: I reported in February 2021 that CBS chose to end “Mom” in its eighth season. The finale aired in May 2021.

Other than voicing a character in Fox’s animated comedy “Housebroken,” Faris has been lying low, although it appears she has a movie in development.

Q: Apparently Jan. 28 was not a fluke: WQED-TV has started showing “PBS NewsHour” at 7 p.m. on an ongoing basis, even though PBS produces it at 6 p.m. (and streams it live on their YouTube channel). Why did WQED change its evening schedule?

– Mark, Squirrel Hill

Rob: This is a temporary displacement caused by equipment failure that doesn’t allow the station to switch between the national PBS feed and local programming.

The live 6 p.m. feed of “NewsHour” is on satellite feed HD03, but WQED needs to air packaged programming from the HD01 feed because of its current inability to switch between feeds.

I reported on Jan. 31 that WQED may be in this scenario for a few weeks. The station planned to update its 16-year-old master control system in a month’s time. The station is now trying to expedite that process.