For decades, North Texans have known where to find John McCaa at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. But that won't be the case after next spring. The veteran WFAA-TV (Channel 8) news anchor has announced plans to retire.

John McCaa (WFAA)

"After more than 42 years in television news, I intend to retire next March," McCaa told the station Monday. The longtime anchor first announced his decision on Facebook.

"Am I ready? In some ways yes, in some ways no. Management has graciously asked me to stay longer, and I have politely declined. It is not easy to step away from a business in which you have worked for two-thirds of your life and loved even longer," said McCaa, who first joined the station in 1984.

He first worked out of WFAA's Fort Worth bureau, but has been in the Dallas newsroom since 1988, the station said in news release. He took a seat at the anchors' desk full time in 1992, and today, McCaa co-anchors the nightly 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts with Cynthia Izaguirre.

"John represents all that is good about local journalism, and WFAA will always be better as a result of his influence," the station's president and general manager Brad Ramsey said Monday in a statement. "He has been there for our audience through the good stories and the bad, but it's the consummate journalist, behind the scenes, always focused on the truth and the best story we can tell, that we will miss most."