Pittsburgh’s Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned duopoly, WPGH and WPNT, has a new general manager, Tim McCoy, currently GM at Sinclair’s WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio. He’ll now oversee both Pittsburgh stations and Sinclair’s Steubenville outlet. Long-time WPGH/WPNT general manager Rich Cook is out, as his position was eliminated in favor of the dual-market GM role.
The change was announced to staff in Pittsburgh and Steubenville on Tuesday.
McCoy has been the GM at WTOV for 32 years, an eternity in the ever-changing world of broadcasting — and he’s been there through multiple owners, including Cox, which sold WTOV to Sinclair in 2013. WTOV is an NBC affiliate on its main channel and a Fox affiliate on a digital subchannel.
McCoy recognizes the jump from Steubenville, market No. 163, to Pittsburgh’s market No. 28, is significant.
“We have a lot of people at WPGH who’ve worked there a long time,” McCoy said. “I’m relying on them to help me come up with ideas and execute them.”
McCoy described a “disruptors” group that meets at WTOV to pitch ideas.
“The way I manage is with ideas and my best friend is a big white board here in Steubenville,” McCoy said by phone Tuesday afternoon. “We all come up with ideas to execute, not just the GM.”
McCoy recalled when WTOV meteorologist Jeff Oechslein pitched a cooking podcast that became “Cooking up a Storm,” which recently celebrated its 100th episode.
McCoy intends to split his time between WTOV’s facility and the WPGH/WPNT building in Pittsburgh.
McCoy said he “values” the relationship with WPXI, which produces newscasts for WPGH, and he and WPXI general manager Kevin Hayes “both came up through Cox together.”
McCoy, a Steubenville native, emphasized local programming on the Sinclair stations, from high school football game broadcasts on Pittsburgh stations to a Pirates podcast WTOV launched two weeks ago hosted by Bill Phillips, formerly a WPXI sports anchor/reporter, to an NFL draft special, “Yinzer’s Draft Night” (7-8 p.m. April 23), which will air on WPGH, WTOV and other regional Sinclair stations. Talent appearing on the program will come from all the Sinclair regional stations, including Phillips, WTOV’s Jack Hillgrove (grandson of University of Pittsburgh Panthers announcer Bill Hillgrove) and WPGH’s Darren Zaslau.
“We like the synergy of all the stations doing things together,” McCoy said. “I hope there’s more of this in future collaborations.”
McCoy also notes that plenty of on-air talent now working in Pittsburgh got their start at WTOV, including WTAE’s Ryan Recker and KDKA-TV’s Mary Ours, Erica Mokay and Jessica Guay.
“Our calling card is developing people at TOV for other markets,” McCoy said. “We’re very proud of that. We’re the 163rd market in the country, but we don’t play that way.”
‘Kingstown’ casting
Nestor Carbonell (“Lost”) joins the final season of Paramount ’s “Mayor of Kingstown,” now filming in Pittsburgh, playing Enrique Molina, described by the streamer as “a boss who comes to Kingstown to avenge a relative who has gone missing.”
Peabody Awards
Nominees for 2026 Peabody Awards in entertainment include HBO Max’s “The Pitt,” “Heated Rivalry” and “The Rehearsal;” Netflix’s “Adolescence,” “Death by Lightning,” “Forever” and “Mo;” Disney ’s “Andor,” Adult Swim’s “Common Side Effects,” FX’s “Dying for Sex,” Stan’s “Invisible Boys,” ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” BritBox’s “Mr. Loverman,” MUBI’s “Mussolini: Son of the Century” and Apple TV’s “Pluribus.”
Renewed
Peacock renewed “The Burbs” for a second season.
HBO renewed Steve Carell’s “Rooster” for a second season.
FX renewed “Welcome to Wrexham” for three additional seasons.
ABC renewed “The Rookie” and “Will Trent” for the 2026-27 TV season.
Prime Video renewed “Young Sherlock” for a second season.
Paramount renewed “The Madison” for a third season; the show’s second season has already been filmed.
Channel surfing
Netflix released the first look at its “Little House on the Prairie” reboot this week, with the first season slated to debut July 9. … This week, the Discovery Channel airs a new space exploration special, “Artemis II: To the Moon and Back” (8 p.m. April 16). … The “Malcolm in the Middle” revival drew 8.1 million views in its first four days of release, making it the biggest series premiere of 2026 for Disney /Hulu. … This is a little different for a streaming service, even if the synergy is familiar: Disney and Hulu will live stream the red-carpet arrivals at the New York premiere of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” (5:30 p.m. April 20). … Netflix picked up the comedy “Everyone is Doing Great,” created by and starring “One Tree Hill” stars James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti, with plans to stream the first two seasons beginning May 11. … A new season of “Tucci in Italy,” hosted by actor Stanley Tucci, debuts at 9 p.m. May 11 on National Geographic and all episodes stream May 12 on Disney and Hulu. … A “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” exhibit, featuring hands-on activities, live performances and photo opportunities, debuts May 22 at the Bronx Zoo. … Netflix ordered a wilderness survival competition series hosted by Alan Ritchson (“Reacher”).