in a simulcast with WLW Radio. George Bryson, Sr. replaced him in 1956. When Ed Kennedy became the play-by-play announcer in 1961, he would remain for 11 seasons, working with Frank McCormick for 8 seasons. Also calling games on WLWT were Ken Wilson, Charlie Jones, Bill Brown, Ray Lane, Johnny Bench, and Joe Morgan. Citing economic reasons along with declining ratings and pressure from NBC, WLWT did not renew its contract following the 1995 season. Cincinnati Bengals In 1968, when the Cincinnati Bengals were enfranchised by the American Football League, channel 5 became the station of record for the team as Avco acquired broadcast rights to the team's preseason games, which were also distributed to Dayton, Columbus, and Indianapolis. WLWT would also carry most regular-season Bengals games through NBC's contracts with the AFL and the National Football League through the end of the 1997 season, when NBC lost its broadcast rights to the American Football Conference to CBS. In the present-day WLWT airs Bengals games when they are featured on NBC's Sunday Night Football as well as ESPN's Monday Night Football'', a benefit of WLWT owner Hearst's 20 percent stake in the sports network. The station has aired the Bengals' appearances in Super Bowls XXIII and LVI. News operation WLWT presently broadcasts 42 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6½ hours each weekday, 4½ hours on Saturdays and five hours on Sundays). , WLWT generally has the third-rated local newscasts in the Cincinnati market, however, it has been showing steady ratings growth in its newscasts in recent years. WLWT now places #1 or #2 in all newscasts in the key adult demographics. It was the number one rated newscast in the city for several years when Jerry Springer served as anchorperson. On April 20, 2013, WLWT became the fourth and final Cincinnati television station to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. Prior to the upgrade, its newscasts aired in 16:9 widescreen standard definition. With the switch to HD, WLWT debuted a new set, as well as the new Hearst-mandated standardized graphics and music package ("Strive" by inthegroovemusic). The station maintains a weather beacon atop the Radisson Hotel in Covington dubbed the "Weather Lights". Technical information Subchannels The station's digital signal is multiplexed: NBC Weather Plus ceased network operations in late 2008; however, WLWT continued to broadcast local weather programming as "News 5 Weather Plus" on its