{"id":1956746,"date":"2025-08-12T21:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1956746"},"modified":"2025-08-12T21:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:22:07","slug":"tv-talk-dicks-sporting-goods-joins-entertainment-biz-wtae-hires-westmoreland-reporter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/tv-talk-dicks-sporting-goods-joins-entertainment-biz-wtae-hires-westmoreland-reporter\/","title":{"rendered":"TV Talk: Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods joins entertainment biz; WTAE hires Westmoreland reporter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"storyContent\">\n<!-- ccpa version--><\/p>\n<p>Coraopolis-based Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods launched its own entertainment studio, announcing the venture, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cookiejardream.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cookie Jar A Dream Studios<\/a>, last week ahead of Tuesday\u2019s premiere of the 51-minute \u201cBig Dreams: The Little League World Series 2024\u201d (9:30 p.m., ESPN), chronicling last year\u2019s competition in Williamsport, Lycoming County. (The film will repeat on ESPN at 1 p.m. Aug. 17 and stream on ESPN+.)<\/p>\n<p>Mark Rooks, vice president of creative, entertainment and sponsorships at Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods, said the company sees the studio as a marketing tool but also a way of \u201ctelling great stories, creating fans of sport and, along the way, hopefully developing fans of Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods as a brand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe that sports have the power to change lives and build community, and the studio lives [out] that belief through storytelling,\u201d Rooks said Tuesday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Big Dreams: Little League World Series | ESPN Films\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Rx6WnaR-7Aw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The studio\u2019s name was inspired by the story of Dick\u2019s founding when 18-year-old Dick Stack borrowed $300 from his grandmother \u2014 money she kept in a cookie jar \u2014 to open a bait-and-tackle shop in Binghamton, N.Y., in 1948. That store eventually grew into the Dick\u2019s chain consumers know today.<\/p>\n<p>Cookie Jar, which soft-launched in 2024, is based at Dick\u2019s Coraopolis corporate headquarters. Even before the studio started, Dick\u2019s first got involved with filmmaking with the 2014 doc, \u201cWe Could Be King,\u201d about rival Philadelphia football teams forced to join up due to budget cuts. The company has been involved in making five feature-length films and 10 shorts\/docu-series in the past 10 years, including the 2024 Netflix doc \u201cThe Turnaround,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt33303813\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_the%2520turnaround\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">about a Phillie\u2019s superfan<\/a>, and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbclosangeles.com\/olympics-2028-los-angeles\/paralympic-champion-ezra-frechs-adaptive-docuseries-peacock\/3755610\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent three-part Peacock docu-series \u201cAdaptive,\u201d<\/a> about paralympic athletes. Cookie Jar has won two sports Emmys, which Rooks said is a rarity for a Fortune 500 company.<\/p>\n<p>Cookie Jar often partners with other production companies, including <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/highergroundmedia.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Higher Ground Media<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/breakwaterstudios.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Breakwater Studios<\/a>, on their projects, initiating some films and joining others in progress.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe try to approach this space with an open mind and not say no to things before we have the opportunity to try to digest them and jump in when it feels like the right project in a way we think we can add value,\u201d Rooks said.<\/p>\n<p>While several films have been set in Philly, Rooks said the studio expects to tackle Pittsburgh-set stories, too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are powerful sports stories that are anchored in the Pittsburgh market that we absolutely have an interest in,\u201d Rooks said, including \u201cClemente,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/roberto-clemente-s-legacy-and-racism-he-faced-explored-in-new-doc-exclusive-11787078\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an upcoming documentary film on Pirates great Roberto Clemente<\/a> that Cookie Jar invested in. That movie will get a limited theatrical release on Sept. 12, premiere at PNC Park on Sept. 15 and air on the History Channel on Sept. 23.<\/p>\n<p>While Cookie Jar has mostly operated in the documentary space, Rooks said the company is also developing scripted series.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CLEMENTE | Official Trailer | Coming to Theaters 9\/12\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jvXA3-w_ZS0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"neFMT neFMT_body-subhead\">New hire at WTAE<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Channel 4 has filled its vacant Westmoreland County reporter role with the hire of reporter Ed DiOrio, a Hunker Burrough, Hempfield Township, native. His first on-air report will be Friday from the Westmoreland County Fair.<\/p>\n<p>DiOrio, a 2021 graduate of Waynesburg University\u2019s communications\/sports broadcasting program, joins WTAE after two years as a reporter at WLOS, the ABC affiliate in Asheville, N.C. Prior to that, he worked for two years at WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio, as a weekend news anchor\/weekday reporter. He also worked for three summers as an on-field emcee for the Washington Wild Things in Washington, Pa. During college, DiOrio worked as a producer and assisted with Pirates game broadcasts at KDKA-AM.<\/p>\n<p>A 2017 Hempfield Area High School grad, DiOrio said it was always a goal to work in the Pittsburgh TV market.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the listing came up for Westmoreland County reporter, my eyes lit up like a Christmas tree,\u201d said DiOrio, who will work out of WTAE\u2019s office in Greensburg <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/triblive.com\/local\/westmoreland\/greensburg-barber-opts-for-retirement-after-more-than-60-years-in-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">near where his grandfather operated a barbershop for decades<\/a>. \u201cTo have the DiOrio name still have a presence, that\u2019s cool to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"neFMT neFMT_body-subhead\">\u2018Kingstown\u2019 ending?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>At a recent fan convention in Florida, Jeremy Renner, star of \u201cMayor of Kingstown,\u201d said the show, returning for its fourth season sometime in October, will end \u201cin two more\u201d seasons, presumably meaning after the fifth season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found a cool end, I\u2019m not going to tell you, but we found a really cool end, I think, to the show,\u201d Renner said, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thepopverse.com\/tv-jeremy-renner-paramount-plus-mayor-of-kingstown-series-ending\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">per Popverse.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Paramount+ has not yet announced a fifth season renewal or if a fifth season would be the final season. Representatives from the streaming service did not respond on the record.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"neFMT neFMT_body-subhead\">\u2018Pitt\u2019 premiere date?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last week, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/john-wells-interview-the-pitt-er-1236337780\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cThe Pitt\u201d executive producer John Wells seemed to suggest the show\u2019s second season will premiere Jan. 8<\/a>. Publicists for HBO Max did not respond to requests for confirmation.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"neFMT neFMT_body-subhead\">Kept\/canceled<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Season two of \u201cOne Piece\u201d won\u2019t stream on Netflix until 2026, but already the live-action show has been renewed for a third season.<\/p>\n<p>Disney+ canceled \u201cGoosebumps\u201d after two seasons.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"neFMT neFMT_body-subhead\">Channel surfing<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Next week Fox launches \u201cLego Masters Jr.\u201d (8 p.m. Aug. 18, WPGH), which features kids instead of adults competing in building with Lego. Fox bills one of the teams, Ajay and Zak, as brothers from Pittsburgh. It turns out they <em>are<\/em> from Pennsylvania but <em>not<\/em> from Southwestern Pa. Fox said the kids get that billing \u201cto maintain some discretion given their young ages.\u201d \u2026 Mt. Lebanon native Joe Manganiello hosts NBC\u2019s \u201cInside the Worlds of Epic Universe\u201d (9 p.m. Aug. 20, WPXI), a one-hour promotion for <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/triblive.com\/lifestyles\/travel\/universal-orlando-one-ups-disney-with-epic-universe-which-cmu-grads-helped-create\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the new theme park that opened earlier this year<\/a>. The presence of \u201cWicked\u201d director Jon Chu has theme park enthusiasts speculating that the company will use the special to announce that a new \u201cWicked\u201d-themed land will be added to the park. \u2026 Upcoming streaming services ESPN ($30 monthly) and Fox One ($20 monthly) will be bundled at $40 monthly beginning Oct. 2. \u2026 In a $7.7 billion, seven-year deal, UFC will relocate from ESPN to Paramount+ beginning in 2026. All events will be included with a Paramount+ subscription, eliminating pay-per-view.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/triblive.com\/aande\/movies-tv\/tv-talk-dicks-sporting-goods-joins-entertainment-biz-wtae-hires-westmoreland-reporter\/mailto:rowen@triblive.com\">rowen@triblive.com<\/a> or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, X, Bluesky and Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location. <\/p>\n<p><script nonce=\"yvt6nspK\">\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '110232789685143');\nfbq('set','agent','tmgoogletagmanager', '110232789685143');\nfbq('track', \"PageView\");\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source triblive.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coraopolis-based Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods launched its own entertainment studio, announcing the venture, Cookie Jar A Dream Studios, last week ahead of Tuesday\u2019s premiere of the 51-minute \u201cBig Dreams: The Little League World Series 2024\u201d (9:30 p.m., ESPN), chronicling last year\u2019s competition in Williamsport, Lycoming County. (The film will repeat on ESPN at 1 p.m. Aug. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1956747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1956746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/TV-Talk-Dicks-Sporting-Goods-joins-entertainment-biz-WTAE-hires.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1956746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1956747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1956746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1956746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1956746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}