Following last year’s news that Alby Oxenreiter was leaving his role as Channel 11 sports director after a 2023 surgery to replace two heart valves, WPXI announced his replacement.

As expected, the station promoted from within, naming sports anchor/reporter Jenna Harner as sports director. Channel 11 also hired Shelby Cassesse as a full-time sports anchor/reporter. Cassesse has been freelancing for the station regularly on the sports beat.

Harner joined WPXI in 2020 at the onset of the pandemic just as sports were shutting down.

“What’s so comfortable about coming to Pittsburgh is knowing sports are such a big role in the life of the community,” Harner told me in 2020. “If the Steelers don’t win on Sunday, on Monday everyone is sad and upset. Their lives are based around these teams, which I love. That was a huge drawing point for me, to come to a place where the sports teams are so valued and people care about what’s happening 24/7.”

In its post, WPXI said Harner and Cassesse will host a pregame special before the Pirates’ opening day game against the New York Mets. Harner will report from New York with Cassesse in the Channel 11 studio in Pittsburgh. The pregame show will air at noon March 26 with the game following at 1:15 p.m.

Premiere dates

Season three of “When Hope Calls: Brookfield” streams on Great American Pure Flix April 2 and airs on cable’s Great American Family at 8 p.m. Sunday beginning April 5.

Animated “One Piece” returns to streamer Crunchyroll with the new “Elbaph Arc” on April 5.

The cast of MTV’s “Laguna Beach” come together again for “The Reunion: Laguna Beach,” streaming April 10 on Roku Channel.

Adult Swim’s “Smiling Friends” ended with its third season — it had previously been renewed for a fourth and fifth season, but the show’s creators told The Hollywood Reporter they are “burnt out” — but two straggler episodes will release on April 12.

The fourth season of The CW’s “Sullivan’s Crossing” debuts at 8 p.m. April 20.

The fifth and final season of “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” debuts June 12.

Ending

As expected, Hulu’s “The Bear” will end with its upcoming fifth season, streaming sometime later this year.

PBS’s “Masterpiece: Mystery!” series “Miss Scarlet” has started filming its seventh and final season.

MTV’s “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” will end with an 18-episode farewell season (8 p.m. May 7).

Channel surfing

Netflix gave a straight-to-series order to “Alexander,” about the teen years of Alexander the Great, from “Heated Rivalry” creator Jacob Tierney. … Gayle King signed a new deal to remain in place as an anchor on “CBS Mornings.”