WNCN broadcasts 35½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 5½ hours each weekday, 3½ hours on Saturdays and 4½ hours on Sundays). Shortly after being acquired by The Outlet Company, WNCN began developing a full-scale news department. The station debuted its local newscasts (which were titled at the time as "NCN News") on September 4, 1995, a week ahead of its switch to NBC, with a half-hour early evening newscast at 7:00 p.m. (becoming the market's first-ever newscast in that timeslot during its run) and a late evening newscast at 11:00 p.m. nightly, followed by the launch of its hour-long weekday morning newscast at 6:00 a.m. the following day. Many changes occurred in the station's news operation during the late 1990s, including the expansion of its weekday morning newscast to two hours beginning at 5:00 a.m. and the cancellation of its 7:00 p.m. newscast due to low ratings. It was the first television station in the market to produce a 4:00 p.m. newscast, even though it had a brief run.