TV Q&A: What happened to WPXI's Mike Holden?

Q: Is Mike Holden still at WPXI? I don’t recall seeing him in a while.

—Beth, McCandless

Robin: Although he recently won a regional Emmy award for his past work at WPXI-TV, Holden left the station in June for a job at WEWS-TV in Cleveland where his family lives.

Q: Why isn’t Xfinity’s Smart Resume working properly? Once you come to the commercials (the yellow line when you hit fast forward), it’s supposed to automatically stop at the end of all commercials and pick up the program where it left off. For the longest time Smart Resume hasn’t worked correctly and checking the internet, it’s all over the country according to the forums. … I’m tired of paying for a remote if it’s not going to do what it’s supposed to do. When Smart Resume stops, you still have one-to-two minutes of commercials left to watch unless you fast forward again and try to stop at the beginning of the next part of program.

—George, via email

Robin: I had not even heard of this function. Its existence is a little surprising given that a core revenue source for Comcast’s NBC and its cable channels is advertising from commercials that surely those companies would prefer viewers not skip over.

Per Comcast’s Bob Grove, “We are aware of the issue with Smart Resume described here, and our engineers are working on a resolution. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank customers for their patience.”

There is no ETA on when Smart Resume might be fixed.

Q: Do you have any idea why “The Rookie” and “The Rookie: Feds” don’t air back-to-back? CBS and NBC do it for so many of their shows (“FBI” shows on CBS, “Chicago” shows on NBC), and it seems like a missed opportunity for ABC.

—Patrick, via Facebook

Robin: It is curious. Networks create schedules based on what is in the best interest of the network in totality, and evidently the calculus at ABC was it would be better to have “The Rookie” and freshman spin-off “The Rookie: Feds” on different nights rather than airing back-to-back on a colonized single night.

Among nine new broadcast network shows this fall, “The Rookie: Feds” ranks No. 7, per IndieWire’s ratings analysis. But ABC has ordered another nine episodes, giving the series a full 22-episode first-season order.

CBS’s “Fire Country,” “East New York” and “So Help Me Todd” comprised the Top 3 in that IndieWire ratings analysis and CBS recently ordered additional episodes of all three shows for the 2022-23 broadcast season (but did not specify how many additional episodes each series will get).

My favorite among new broadcast shows, ABC’s “Alaska Daily,” ranked No. 4 and that was before multiplatform ratings were released for its premiere episode showing “Alaska Daily” had more viewers than “Grey’s Anatomy.” It won’t extend its first season beyond the initial 13-episode order, perhaps in part due to star Hilary Swank’s pregnancy, and linear ratings have declined in subsequent weeks.

Q: Do you know when HBO Max will start showing season four of BBC’s “Ghosts?” It has already aired across the pond.

—Chuck, Scott Township

Robin: An HBO Max rep said they have no air date schedule yet for the latest season of the original British series that inspired CBS’s “Ghosts.”