WPVI-TV in Philadelphia presently broadcasts 53 hours, 25 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 8 hours, 5 minutes each weekday and 6½ hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). It all began in 1958, when Channel 6 had the then-call letters WFIL-TV, the newscast titles were under the name: "The RCA Color Newsreel". In the 1960s, Channel 6 branded its newscasts titles as "WFIL-TV News". In the mid 1960s, Hank Sperka joined Channel 6 as a reporter, and from there he would go on to become one of the greatest reporters in Philadelphia television news history, before he retired in 1986. On April 6, 1970, under news director Mel Kampmann, he established and created the "Action News" format, with Larry Kane (who joined the station in 1965) as main anchor, Bill White (who became one of the first African-American sportscasters in Philadelphia television news history) as main sports director, and Frank Davis (who joined the station in 1967 and became one of the first meteorologists in Philadelphia television news history) as main weathercaster. That format had allowed to feature more news stories. In early 1971, after one year as sports director, Bill White left the station and he was replaced by Joe Pellegrino (where he would remain until he left in 1977). When Channel 6 changed its call letters to WPVI-TV on May 7, 1971, the "Action News" format stayed the same, and the news department was expanding again. In late 1971 or 1972, Jim O'Brien joined Channel 6 as a weekend sports anchor. On October 1, 1972, under news director Dave Davis, Channel 6 newscasts started using the Action News theme music: "Move Closer to Your World", which was composed by Walter Liss, Jr. and written by Al Ham. In late 1972, O'Brien became the lead weathercaster. In 1973, he left the station and he was replaced for one year by Bob Gale as lead weathercaster. In late 1974, O'Brien returned to the station as lead weathercaster. In 1975, Don Tollefson joined Channel 6 as a general assignment reporter, becoming the youngest reporter at the age of 22. In September 1975, Cathy Gandolfo joined Channel 6 as a news writer. In 1976, Don Tollefson was named sports director and lead sports anchor (the position he would hold until he left the station on May 4, 1990). On May 17, 1976, Vernon Odem joined the station as reporter, becoming one of the first African-American reporters in Philadelphia television news history. On June 1, 1976, Jim Gardner joined Channel 6 as a reporter and anchor for the noon weekday newscast. In November 1976, he started anchoring the 5:30 p.m. weekday newscast. After Larry Kane left WPVI-TV, Jim Gardner became the solo anchor of both the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. weeknight newscasts on May 11, 1977, from then he would go on to become of the greatest news anchors in Philadelphia television history and the dean of Philadelphia television. In the summer of 1977, Marc Howard joined Channel 6 to replace Gardner to co-anchor with Jim O'Brien for the 5:30 p.m. weekday newscast. In July 1977, Rob Jennings joined Channel 6 as a weekend evening solo anchor (where he would held that position until he retired on July 21, 2013). Also in 1977, Cathy Gandolfo was promoted to general assignment reporter, and one year later (in 1978), she became the station's New Jersey correspondent. Chris Wagner also joined the station in 1977, this time as anchor/reporter. On February 20, 1978, Lisa Thomas-Laury joined Channel 6 as co-anchor and reporter for the noon weekday newscast, becoming one of the first African-American women to anchor in the Philadelphia television news market. In 1980, Channel 6 introduced its own news helicopter: Chopper 6. On March 23, 1981, Channel 6 expanded its 5:30 p.m. weekday newscast to 5 p.m., along with the hiring of Scott Palmer as sports anchor for that newscast, Palmer who would go on to do sports on the 5 p.m. weeknight newscast for more than 20 years, before he would leave WPVI-TV in January 2005. On April 15, 1981, Gary Papa joined Channel 6 as a weekday sports reporter and weekend evening sports anchor. Also in April 1981, John Rawlins joined the station as general assignment reporter. Also in 1981, Robin Garrison joined Channel 6 as anchor and reporter. In 1983, Lisa Thomas-Laury started co-anchoring the 5 p.m. weekday newscast with Marc Howard. On September 25, 1983, Jim O'Brien died in a skydiving accident. After O'Brien's death, Dave Roberts (who joined Channel 6 in 1978) took over as lead weathercaster for the rest of his career. Also in 1983, Channel 6 launched the CrimeStoppers segment for the station's newscasts. In 1984, Dave Frankel joined the station as investigative reporter. In the mid 1980s, Eliott Rodriguez joined the station as reporter (he would held that position before he left in 1987). In July 1986, Nora Muchanic joined the station as a New Jersey Bureau reporter. In the late 1980s, Dann Cuellar joined Channel 6 as a reporter. In April 1988, Rick Williams joined Channel 6 as a reporter. In 1989, Channel 6 expanded its weekday morning newscast to a half-hour at 6:30 a.m., with Monica Malpass (who joined the station in 1988) as solo anchor, and Dave Frankel as weather & traffic anchor. In 1990, David Murphy joined Channel 6 as general assignment reporter. In 1991, Gary Papa was promoted to sports director for the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. weeknight newscasts. In October 1995, Cecily Tynan joined the station as weekend evening meteorologist and weekday general assignment reporter. In 1996, Karen Rogers joined the station as reporter and she would later joined the AccuWeather team as meteorologist. In December 1996, Matt O'Donnell joined WPVI-TV as a reporter. In 2000, WPVI-TV replaced its magnet board with a new video screen for the AccuWeather forecast team. In August 2002, Sarah Bloomquist joined the team as a reporter. Two months later, in October 2002, Nydia Han joined Channel 6 as reporter. In late 2002, Lisa Thomas-Laury began to experience health problems. Her first symptoms were tingling in her feet, and went on medical leave. In September 2003, Walter Perez joined the station as reporter. In 2004, Monica Malpass and Rick Williams were named co-anchors for the 5 p.m. weeknight newscast. Also in 2004, Chad Pradelli joined the station as investigative reporter. On April 20, 2004, Gary Papa revealed to viewers on the air that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and so had treatment for that by losing his hair as a result, but he continued to work while receiving chemotherapy. In September 2004, Matt O'Donnell was promoted to co-anchor of the weekday morning newscast. In the mid 2000s, announcer Jeff Kaye's voice was started to show signs of decaying. In January 2005, Tamala Edwards joined WPVI-TV as O'Donnell's co-anchor on the weekday morning newscast. In April 2005, Adam Joseph joined WPVI-TV as weathercaster for the 6 p.m. & 11 p.m. weekend newscasts. In November 2005, Matt Pellman joined the team as a traffic reporter for the 5 p.m. weeknight newscast. In February 2006, Channel 6 introduced a new HD-capable helicopter, and officially named "Chopper6 HD". On July 24, 2006, WPVI-TV began broadcasting its local newscasts in full 720p high-definition; all field video shown during WPVI-TV's newscasts shot in high-definition. In July 2007, during the 6 p.m. weeknight broadcast, Gary Papa announced that he was going through chemotherapy. On May 13, 2009, Gary Papa anchored his final sportscast at WPVI-TV, and over a month later, on June 19, 2009, he died at the age of 54. In June 2009, Katherine Scott joined the team as reporter. On September 12, 2009, WPVI debuted another revamped and fully modernized news set. On December 11, 2009, Dave Roberts officially retired from the station, by sign-off after doing his last weather forecast, which was on the 6 p.m. weeknight newscast. In January 2011, was named sports director and sports anchor on the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. weeknight newscast, while Jamie Apody was named sports anchor on the 5 p.m. weeknight newscast. On May 26, 2011, Channel 6 debuted its 4 p.m. weekday newscast, Brian Taft and Shirleen Allicot as anchors, Alicia Vitarelli (who joined the station in October 2010) as features anchor, and Adam Joseph as meteorologist. In August 2012, Keith Russell left the station, and he was officially replaced by Ducis Rodgers as sports director for the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. weeknight newscasts. On September 8, 2014, the station's noon weekday newscast was expanded to one full hour. In September 2018, WPVI-TV became the third station in the Philadelphia television market to start its weekday morning newscast at 4 a.m. On January 11, 2022, Jim Garden anchored his final 11 p.m. newscast and was replaced by Rick Williams. On December 21, 2022, he retired full-time from anchor duties, after his final 6 p.m. weeknight newscast, and he was replaced by Brian Taft. On September 11, 2023, Channel 6 launched an additional hour-long 10 a.m. weekday newscast, with co-anchors Alicia Vitarelli, Alyana Gomez & Nydia Han, and weathercaster Karen Rogers.