WNBC-TV, NBC owned-and-operated television station in New York, had been enjoying success with it's news department with it's newscasts since the station first sign-on the air on July 1, 1941. At the start, under the original call letters WNBT and on the original channel 1, the news department started its original newscast title: "The News of World War II". In 1944, the news department rebranded its newscasts as "The Camel News Caravan", with the arrival of Bill Ryan. On May 8, 1945, WNBT broadcast hours of news coverage on the end of World War II in Europe, and remotes around New York City. In the spring of 1946, when WNBT changed its frequency from VHF Channel 1 to Channel 4 after channel 1 was removed from use for television broadcasting, the news department continued to expand. In 1949, Tex Antoine joined the station to do the weather forecast. In 1951, the news department of Channel 4 changed its newscast titles to "The News with John McCaffrey". On October 18, 1954, when the station changed its call letters to WRCA-TV, the news department continued to grow. In 1956, the station rebranded its newscast titles to "The Shell Oil News". Also in 1956, Gabe Pressman first joined the station as reporter/anchor, he would go on to become one of the legendary news reporters in New York television history. On May 22, 1960, when Channel 4 changed its call letters to WNBC-TV, Pressman became the main news anchor when the news department rebranded its newscast titles to "Gabe Pressman and the New York Area News". In 1963, Pressman and Bill Ryan were paired as main weeknight news anchors to anchor New York's first early weekday evening half-hour newscast: "The Gabe Pressman-Bill Ryan Report". In 1964, Jim Hartz joined the station, becoming one of the youngest reporters at 24. In 1966, Channel 4 rebranded their newscasts titles. At that time, for the 6 p.m. newscast: "The Sixth Hour News", and for the 11 p.m. newscast: "The Eleventh Hour".