the station is best known for its local newscasts which are among the highest rated in the united states. it runs their newscasts under the branding of "newswatch 16". wnep has led the ratings in northeastern pennsylvania for most of the last 30 years and according to nielsen data attracts more viewers than the other stations in town combined. in 2000, the weekday morning program earned shares between 50 and 60 meaning that 50 to 60% of televisions in the market were tuned to this station. their on-air personalities are well known in the area. chief meteorologist tom clark had been with the station since 1981 and was one of the region's most popular broadcasters. he retired, and his final broadcast was on december 31, 2016. his wife noreen, who was a meteorologist for the weekend news, had been with the station since 1982. she retired in april 2018. marisa burke, a native of nearby danville, had been with the station since 1984 and solo anchored the noon news and co-anchored the weeknight 6 o'clock newscast with scott schaffer. she retired from wnep on october 28, 2016. fox requested most of its affiliates to air local news in 1990. to satisfy this, wnep began producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on the area's affiliate wolf-tv (then channel 38) in 1991. in november 2009, after being unable to reach an agreement with wnep on a contract extension, wolf announced its intention to turn to wbre to produce an hour-long 10 p.m. newscast beginning january 1, 2010. wnep then announced that it would begin a 10:00 p.m. newscast on its sister station wnep2 on the same date.