While Pittsburgh may have gotten itself wound up in knots about reddin’ up for the NFL Draft, TV coverage was less about Pittsburgh and more about the players vying to land their initial NFL gigs. That’s to be expected. To the NFL and most of the NFL Draft audience, the draft is the thing; the setting is secondary
But there were plenty of aerial beauty shots of the city – in daytime, at night – particularly at The Point, Downtown and on the North Shore.
Visual Pittsburgh cues were evident on the NFL Draft stage (yellow bridges everywhere) and some light chatter about the city – more than you’d get on “Monday Night Football” — was interspersed throughout the three days of coverage.
NFL Network’s “NFL Draft Kickoff” Thursday began with scenes of local crowds clad in Steelers gear waving Terrible Towels while the show’s hosts, in their Inglewood, Calif., studio debated the finer points of local geography.
“What do you call that when [the rivers] come [together]?” asked Mike Garafolo.
“It’s the confluence,” replied Pittsburgh native Brian Baldinger. “The Ohio River comes right at the confluence to meet the Monongahela and the Allegheny. You learn that early in life if you’re from Pittsburgh.”
On ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday morning, anchor Robin Roberts referred to the NFL Draft as a three-day “extravaganza” before throwing to reporter Rhiannon Ally in Pittsburgh where she was surrounded by fans clad in Seattle Seahawks gear to her right and Steelers fans to her left. In the first hour of Friday’s “GMA,” the NFL Draft report was all about the players drafted Thursday, nothing much about Pittsburgh.
The City and the Steelers got their best shout-outs – from what I saw (with the usual caveat: I did not watch every single second of coverage on every channel) – on ABC Thursday in prime-time when the announcer described the city as “one of the great football towns in all of the land and they have been anticipating this moment.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell emerged on the North Shore stage flanked by Steelers T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward with the latter invited to energize the hometown crowd.
“This is Steelers Football: Tough, physical and built to last,” Heyward said. “But everything we do today is built on the legends before us.”
Then one-by-one Heyward announced the arrival of Steelers greats on the stage: Mel Bount, Lynn Swann, Hines Ward, Ben Roethisberger and Terry Bradshaw.
“Pittsburgh, this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for,” Goodell said, returning to the mic. “Yinz ready?”
The theme of local legends returned Saturday in a short titled, appropriately, “Legends,” narrated by Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, who name-checked Pittsburgh pro athlete royalty.
“Around here, they only need one name,” Skenes said, before mentioning Honus, Roberto, Pops, Crosby, Yagr, Lemieux, Mean Joe and Franco, Bradshaw and Big Ben. “This town has been a breeding ground for legends. Welcome to the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.”
Saturday’s coverage under cloudy, rainy skies began with Goodell recognizing more than 100 high school students from Western Pa. representing schools who have had players drafted into the league or enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame alongside some Pittsburgh business owners.
Saturday’s telecast also included a hometown favorite: Michael Keaton returned to Pittsburgh to announce the 159th pick where the Steelers chose Riley Nowakowski.
“I hope it’s me, I hope it’s me,” Keaton teased before announcing Nowakowski. “Go Steelers! Beat ‘em, Bucs!”
‘BSG’ back
“All this has happened before and all this will happen again,” a line from the 2004-09 Syfy series “Battlestar Galactica” proved prophetic inside the series and outside, too. The critically acclaimed show returns to streaming May 1 with its initial miniseries, all four seasons and movie “The Plan” available to stream at Paramount and on Pluto TV. Spin-off series “Caprica” will only stream on Paramount .
Kept/canceled
Fox renewed “Fear Factor: House of Fear” for a second season.
Amazon’s Prime Video renewed adult animated comedy “Hazbin Hotel” for a fifth and final season.
Prime Video canceled “The Boys” spin-off “Gen V” after two seasons. New spin-off “Vought Rising” will debut in 2027.
Channel surfing
Last week “The Pitt” was named a 2026 Peabody Award winner in the entertainment category alongside “Adolescence,” “Common Side Effects,” “Dying for Sex,” “Forever,” “Heated Rivalry,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Mussolini: Son of the Century,” Pluribus” and “The Rehearsal.” … The first quarter theatrical hit film “Wuthering Heights” streams on HBO Max May 1. … “Big Bang Theory” spin-off comedy series “Stuart Saves the Universe” will debut on HBO Max sometime in July.
You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, X/Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.