Submit your question to Rob Owen

Submit your question to Rob Owen: http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/questions/qaform.asp

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about ratings, WQED-HD and TV stations turning newscasts into commercial vehicles.

As always, thanks for reading, and keep the questions coming.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

Q: What is this thing David Letterman does when he comes out? He seems to point at his watch to somebody offstage. What is that all about?

-- Bill, Scott

Rob: Letterman does not really do interviews and tends not to reveal much so I didn't have a lot of hope of getting a specific response. A show representative said that "it's just one of those things Dave does when he comes on stage."

There was both speculation and attempts at explanation on the Internet but I have no way of knowing if any of that is accurate.

Q: I was looking for the weekly rating for the week that CBS had the Superbowl but I looked all over the entertainment section on the following Wednesday and didn't see anything. Do you have the numbers for the networks that week?

-- Glenn, 47, North Hills

Rob: Per The Nielsen Company for ratings the week of Feb. 1-7, which includes the Super Bowl, the networks stacked up this way:

As for shows that week, here's the Top 10:

Q: Every year Channel 4 News presents Seven Springs WinterFest as "news." This is so blatantly illegal, as Channel 4 sponsors the event. Seven Springs buys advertisements, and in return gets news coverage for a week. It is the definition of payola. Powerful interests with money should not be allowed to buy the news in a democracy.

-- Adam, 30, Whitehall

Rob: I wrote about this in 2009 and twice in 2004 (first time and second time) and it's not illegal. But it is ethically questionable and as I've argued before it introduces commercialism into a newscast, which should have boundaries against such incursions.

And it's not just WTAE that's guilty. Last year KDKA started doing something similar in a marketing partnership with Hidden Valley. (And to be fair and up front, it should be noted that the Post-Gazette has a marketing partnership with KDKA.)

I put Adam's question to the news directors of WTAE and KDKA for a response.

KDKA-TV news director Coleen Marren e-mailed: "The promotion that the viewer refers to was a station promotion and had nothing to do with the news department. We provided no related news coverage. Our meteorologist, who made an appearance at the event, did his forecast from Hidden Valley."

But I'm pretty sure the event was discussed during KDKA newscasts, perhaps exclusively during weather reports, but it was during the news.

Promotions like "Winterfest" or "SnowBlast" certainly make one wonder how objective either station could be covering a news story at either resort, especially during these events. That perception in the eyes of thoughtful viewers is problematic.

WTAE news director Alex Bongiorno did not respond to a request for comment.

Q: Perhaps you can answer a question for me. WQED tells us that they are transmitting in HD. However, everything they transmit is pillar boxed. It's incredibly annoying as fully one third of the image cannot be seen. I have e-mailed them but never heard back. I find it difficult to believe that WQED, who depends on public donations to keep running, either cannot or will not transmit in full screen HD. I have reached the point where I don't even watch them at all. I wonder how many other viewers feel the same way. I have DirecTV. They may very tell you that it is DirecTV's fault. It is not. My neighbours have Armstrong Cable and they have the same problem. It seems that the fault lies entirely with WQED.

-- Joan via e-mail

Rob: As soon as this e-mail came in over the weekend, I flipped on WQED-HD on Comcast and there were no bars, no pillar boxes. The channel was in full HD, which lead me to believe the problem was with how Joan was receiving and not how WQED was transmitting.

WQED director of engineering Paul Byers communicated with Joan on Monday -- before I contacted him for comment on Wednesday -- explaining her quarrel should be with DirecTV, not WQED: DirecTV does not carry WQED in HD.

In his e-mail to her, Byers said WQED has been in communication with DirecTV and DISH Network about carrying WQED in HD; he has been told that DirecTV will begin transmitting the WQED high definition program channel in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

Byers also explained, "When we receive a program from another station that is produced in standard definition with a 4:3 aspect ratio, we transmit the program on our high definition channel in the same 4:3 (or pillar box) aspect ratio as it was produced. Approximately 1/3 of the programs that we air each day are like this. With our own locally produced programs ... or when we receive a program from another station that is produced in high definition with a 16:9 aspect ratio, we transmit the program in high definition. Obviously, legacy programs like "The Lawrence Welk Show," which were produced long before high definition was invented will be shown in the pillar box format."

Byers said programming from 6 p.m. to midnight is almost always in high definition and without pillar box.

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