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: What is going on with KDKA-TV? All these young women newscasters — and a few young men, too. There are so many. The good ones — Stacy Smith, Paul Martino — appear to be leaving all of a sudden. I understand retirement but it seems as if it’s less expensive to hire all these young people than to keep the more respected newscasters. — Pat, Carnegie Rob: Not all TV news departures are created equal. While having an experienced news staff with more veterans than any other TV outlet in town is often a boon to a TV station and their newsgathering abilities, it also means at some point there will be a wave of turnover as employees reach natural retirement age. That’s some of what we’re seeing now at KDKA. At 72, Stacy Smith decided to retire on his own time table after 50 years in broadcasting. But that’s not true in every case. Others who felt slighted after losing anchor desk duties opted to leave sooner rather than later. The station’s latest departure is Dr. Maria Simbra, medical reporter, whose last day at KDKA will be May 28. Simbra, a neurologist, joined the KDKA staff in May 2002 and retired from medicine to concentrate on reporting 12 years ago. Her 19th anniversary with KDKA just passed last week. Simbra says her time at the station was bookended by 9/11 at the start (during her second week as a station intern, she headed to Pittsburgh International Airport with reporter Bob Allen only to have evacuees tell them, "There’s a [hijacked] plane headed for Pittsburgh!”) and the pandemic at the end of her tenure. "I am considering a few different options, looking at companies that specialize in medical communications,” Simbra says, noting she’s not considering any TV jobs. Simbra was the only TV medical reporter in Pittsburgh and it seems likely that KDKA will hire another general assignment reporter rather than a specialist like Simbra. As for the multitude of departures from the station, which also includes the retirement of "Pittsburgh Today Live” producer Jill Neely, Simbra says, "I find it remarkable that all of us independently arrived at the same conclusion at roughly the same time.” Q: Was Paul Martino pushed out? Was that a financial decision? — Carmine via voicemail Rob: Martino chose to retire after he was reassigned from weekend anchor duties to general assignment reporting. While Bryant Reed and Royce Jones had been rotating weekend evening anchor duties, it seems perhaps they weren’t quite ready. Station executives now say John Shumway will become the weekend evening anchor at the end of this month. Certainly the more veterans who depart, the less money the station is spending on more expensive long-time employee salaries compared to less expensive newcomers. My understanding is the station offered Martino a contract with no cut in pay (before he was taken off weekend anchor duties). He accepted it and then after he lost the anchor desk he chose to move on. Q: Who do you think will replace Stacy Smith at 4 and 6 p.m.? Could Susan Koeppen be rehired? I questioned KDKA’s decision last year with Stacy at retirement age. Or possibly move Ken Rice to the coveted 6 p.m. anchor slot? — Elaine via email Rob: Ken Rice seems like a logical candidate for 6 p.m. and I would guess station executives might seek out someone younger for the 5 p.m. newscast in an effort to build a bench for when it’s Rice’s turn to retire. As part of the remaking of KDKA’s weekday evening newscasts, that might mean bringing in someone from the outside. Aside from recent hire Briana Smith, KDKA lacks diversity in its anchor ranks after the departures of Lisa Washington and Kimberly Gill. I do not foresee the station re-hiring Koeppen. Q: In looking at one of your recent TV QA columns I noticed your list of shows on the bubble, namely "Clarice,” "The Resident,” "Law & Order: Organized Crime” and "Manifest.” We record these shows on our DVR along with many others and was wondering if recording these shows count as being watched. We’re the "older generation” and it seems like we don’t count anymore as to what shows are being broadcast anymore. Everything is geared for the 20-year-olds. Is this true? — Janet via email Rob: It is true to a degree but it’s been true since perhaps Janet was in the advertiser-coveted age 18-49 demographic, which networks began targeting in the 1960s. Today networks still like the 18-49 demo but they recognize they’re more likely to have success with the 25-54 demo since young people have largely abandoned network TV in favor of cable and now streaming services. As for the bubble shows Janet mentions, they’re generally older-skewing shows (and the networks knew they would be when they ordered those shows) perhaps with the exceptions of "The Resident” and "Manifest.” NBC did renew "Law & Order: Organized Crime” and Fox will bring back "The Resident” for the 2021-22 TV season; "Manifest” remains in limbo. "Clarice” won’t be back on CBS but may get a second season on Paramount . Viewers are only counted in Nielsen ratings data - whether watching live or on a DVR - if they are part of the Nielsen panel which extrapolates ratings based on a sample of the population that participates in its panel. You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow Rob on Twitter or Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. 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