WEWS-TV in Cleveland-Akron presently broadcasts 39½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6½ hours each weekday, 4 hours on Saturdays and 3 hours on Sundays). In addition, the station produced the sports highlight and discussion program ''News 5 Sports Sunday'', which airs Sunday nights following the 11 p.m. newscast. When WEWS-TV signed on the air on December 17, 1947, they started covering news events. That winter, Cleveland experienced a blizzard, and for the first time WEWS-TV had provided extended coverage for hours. In the early to mid 1950s, Channel 5's first newscasts and weather reports were delivered by Tom Field. In 1959, Dorothy Fuldheim (whom had been with the station since it signed on) began to formulate her own newscast, and she was the first woman in the United States to have her own television news analysis program. In the 1960s, Channel 5's news department changed its 11 p.m. newscast titles to "East Ohio Company 11:00 News. On Christmas Day 1967, a 27-year-old named John Hambrick took over as lead anchor of WEWS-TV's evening newscasts with Fuldheim staying on as commentator, along with Don Webster presenting the weather, and Gib Shanley as sports director. In 1968, WEWS-TV changed its format of its newscasts slightly to a version of Eyewitness News. In 1970, Dave Patterson joined Hambrick on the early newscast, and became co-anchor on the 11 p.m. newscast in 1971. On January 3, 1972, Channel 5 debuted its weekday morning program: "The Alan Douglas Morning Exchange", with Douglas as original host, and Don Webster as announcer. In March 1972, Webster briefly left WEWS-TV. And on April 1, 1972, Liz Richards became co-host and weather forecaster of the program. In July 1972, Douglas left the program and WEWS-TV. In August 1972, the program was renamed: "The Morning Exchange", with Fred Griffith as co-host, and he would remain host throughout the program's history. Also in 1972, Ted Henry joined the station as news producer, later weathercaster. Also at that time, Nev Chandler joined WEWS-TV to work at the assignment desk. In 1974, Tim Taylor joined Channel 5 as consumer reporter/weekend anchor. In 1975, Ted Henry became weekend evening anchor. In 1976, Henry began co-anchoring the 6 p.m. & 11 p.m. weeknight newscasts with Dave Patterson. In early 1977, WEWS-TV debut its late weekday afternoon/early weekday evening program: "The Afternoon Exchange". On July 17, 1977, Wilma Smith joined Channel 5 as co-host of The Afternoon Exchange. In 1978, Channel 5 became the first station in the Cleveland television market to launch a new news helicopter: "Chopper 5". On March 16, 1979, Liz Richards left "The Morning Exchange" as co-host, and she was replaced by Jan Jones. In 1982, WEWS-TV's news department underwent another major change. In the 5 p.m.-6 p.m. slot, they changed it early evening program from "The Afternoon Exchange" to "Live on 5", which was originally hosted by Wilma Smith and Don Webster. In 1983, Smith became co-anchor the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. weeknight newscasts with Ted Henry. On December 21, 1984, Gib Shanley retired after his final sports anchoring on WEWS-TV newscasts. In 1985, Nev Chandler took over as sports director. In 1991, Channel 5 dropped the long-standard Eyewitness News branding, and adopted its new newscast titles: "Newschannel 5". In December 1993, Wilma Smith anchored her final newscast at WEWS as lead anchorwoman and left. On August 7, 1994, sports director Nev Chandler died of colon cancer. In 1995, Leon Bibb joined Channel 5 as anchor/reporter. On September 10, 1999, after 27 years, "The Morning Exchange" ended its run. In June 2000, Tracy Carloss joined the station as anchor/reporter. In April 2005, John Kosich joined the station as reporter. In October 2006, Bob Jones joined Channel 5 as reporter. On January 7, 2007, WEWS-TV became the 3rd television station in Cleveland to begin broadcasting newscasts in high definition. On May 21, 2009, Ted Henry retired as primary news anchor at WEWS-TV, became the longest serving news anchor in Cleveland television history. In November 2010, Channel 5 became the first television station in the Cleveland market to expended its weekday morning newscasts to 4:30 a.m. In August 2016, Rob Powers joined Channel 5 On September 26, 2016, WEWS-TV retired the Newschannel 5 name, and the newscast titles were changed to: "News 5". At the same time, WEWS-TV began using a graphic identity. On July 28, 2017, after 30 years at Channel 5, Lee Jordan retired by anchoring her final newscast. On August 1, 2017, Leon Bibb retired by anchoring his final newscast for WEWS-TV. In April 2018, Jon Doss joined Channel 5 as sports anchor.