KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh presently broadcasts 43 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 7 hours each weekday, 4½ hours on Saturdays and 3½ hours on Sundays). From the beginning, under the then-call letters WDTV, the original newscast titles were known as "The Esso Reporter". In 1953, Bill Burns was hired as anchor, and he would go on for the next 35½ years. When Westinghouse brought Channel 2 in late 1954, and then changed its call letters to KDKA-TV in 1955, the news department was expanded. In 1962, Marie Torre joined KDKA-TV as one of the first female anchors in Pittsburgh television history (and she would stay for 15 years). In the early 1960s, Paul Long joined the station as anchor, and he would go on to co-anchor the station's weekday morning newscast titled Daybreak (before he would leave the station for rival WTAE-TV in 1969). On November 22, 1963, Bill Burns provided almost three hours of local live coverage of the shooting & assassination death of John F. Kennedy. Also in 1963, Al McDowell joined the station as anchor, and he would remain for the rest of the 1960s. In 1965, KDKA-TV changed its newscast titles and rebranded to the Eyewitness News brand. In 1967, Dick Stockton joined Channel 2 as sports director/anchor, when he was only in his late twenties, until he left in 1971. In 1968, Bob Kudzma joined Channel 2 as lead weathercaster, and he would become one of the greatest television weathercasters in Pittsburgh history. In 1973, Lee Arthur was hired by KDKA-TV as sports anchor, becoming Pittsburgh's first television female sports journalist. Also in 1973, Al Julius first joined the station as commentator, until he first left in 1978. On July 15, 1974, Patti Burns (Bill Burns' daughter) joined the station as anchor/reporter. On October 18, 1976, Bill Burns and Patti Burns began anchor the 12 p.m. weekday newscast, becoming the first father/daughter anchor team in the United States, they would both anchor together for more than 10 years. In 1977, Ray Tannehill joined the station and became the main weeknight news anchor, which he would remain for nearly 25 years. Also in 1977, Lynne Hayes-Freeland joined the team. In 1978, John Sanders joined the station as main sports director/anchor (whom he would remain for more than 10 years). Also in 1978, Wayne Van Dine joined the team as investigative reporter (where he would remain for 25 years). In 1979, Harold Hayes joined KDKA-TV as a reporter. At the start of the 1980s, Mary Robb Jackson joined the team as investigative reporter. In 1981, Al Julius returned to the station as commentator. In 1982, the people joined the station as reporters were Ralph Iannotti and Bill Flanagan (who to do business reporting). Also, Bob Pompeani joined the station as sports anchor. In 1983, Stacy Smith joined the station as anchor. Also throughout the 1980s, the people joined the station as anchor/reporter were Paul Martino, Brenda Waters and John Shumway. In 1991, David Highfield joined the station full-time as a reporter (he would later go on to be anchor). In 1993, Andy Sheehan joined the team as investigative reporter. In the mid 1990s, Ken Rice and Jennifer Antkowiak (who both joined the station as anchors) launched KDKA-TV's 5 p.m. weeknight newscast. On April 22, 1996, the station rebranded its newscasts titles from "Eyewitness News" to "KDKA-TV News". In 2002, KDKA-TV became the first television station in the Pittsburgh market to launch a 4 p.m. weekday newscast. In 2003, Kristine Sorensen joined the station as reporter/anchor. On June 16, 2009, KDKA-TV began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. On August 17, 2020, KDKA-TV debuted a new 7:30 p.m. weeknight newscast, becoming the only station in the Pittsburgh television market during the Prime Time Access Hour.