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: I’m watching Channel 11, and Cara Sapida is doing her excellent reporting as usual. I know she wore a wig while she was going through cancer treatment a few years ago. I’m wondering now if that is her real hair that has grown back or two different wigs? Sometimes her hair is straight, then it’s curly. She’s beautiful, wig or no wig.
— Brian, Harrison
Rob: Sapida said after returning to the air following cancer treatment, she did wear a wig for a brief period but soon after decided to forgo wearing it.
“I felt it would be more authentic for our viewers to witness the hair growth process. Now that my hair has grown back, I mostly wear it naturally curly,” Sapida explained. “Before my diagnosis, I believed straightening my hair was necessary to look professional. When I was sick and lost all my hair, I regretted all the time spent straightening it. I realized that professionalism comes from who you are, how you show up and the quality of your work — not from how your hair looks. Embracing my natural curls has been both a reminder of that shift in perspective and surprisingly healing. So, to answer your question, no wigs since early 2021.”
Q: Do you know why SportsNet Pittsburgh has cut back on its West Virginia University programming? For example, the “WVU Coaches Show” used to run Friday afternoon and repeated on Saturday morning. It also ran in the late hours at night. On Dec. 20, it was only scheduled for the afternoon. Another example is “Mountaineer Game Day.” WVU football played in the relatively minor Frisco Bowl on Dec. 17, but no “Game Day.” I know from advertising that there was a “Mountaineer Game Day” on Nexstar Medica Group channels in the state of West Virginia.
Does it have anything to do with the coaching turmoil at WVU — the resignation of basketball coach Bob Huggins and the more recent firing of football coach Neal Brown?
— Louis, via email
Rob: My understanding is programming and whether it gets pre-empted depends on scheduling commitments.
Per an SNP spokesperson, “SNP will continue to carry all WVU coaches shows and ‘Game Day’ shows throughout the basketball and baseball seasons. For the most part, the coaches shows will premiere Fridays at 5 p.m., and re-air once at night and once Saturday morning (barring any scheduling conflicts). ‘Gameday Live’ will air live throughout the basketball season at 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays.”
Q: I love “Brilliant Minds” and “Matlock.” How do I tell the networks to please renew them if I’m not participating in a Neilsen survey?
— Lynn, via email
Rob: Your efforts are probably best directed toward convincing other people to watch the shows. Networks haven’t really paid much attention to snail mail letters since the ‘90s. These days, a social media outcry is probably more likely to make an impact. But even that is a long shot now that the bottom line is of primary importance to broadcast networks in secular decline.
“Matlock” has already been renewed for the 2025-2026 TV season; “Brilliant Minds” has not. You can write to NBC at NBC Entertainment, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, Calif., 91608-1002.