With studios at Shaker Square, WOIO operated with a minimum of local output but boasted a unique "nineteen" identity and irreverent on-air persona, along with a program inventory of long-established reruns that appealed to a younger audience.

[12] Following the failure of the WHK permit, The Plain Dealer itself filed for an application on July 17, 1962, spurred by passage of the All-Channel Receiver Act,[13] but withdrew their bid by that September, with publisher Thomas V. H. Vail citing the economic uncertainty of UHF.

[16] Cleveland Broadcasting was awarded the permit on November 12, 1964, with president Ray T. Miller teasing the idea of their station as the flagship of a 40-station regional UHF network,[17] and WERE host Bill Gordon was considered for a nighly talk show.

[32] Malrite purchased WHK and WMMS in 1971,[42] Wain and Weiss had previously been partners with Zingale in Westchester Corp., while Hubert B. Payne was the sales manager for WKYC-TV, the first African-American executive for a local network affiliate.

"[32] The structure of the bid had Malrite's Maltz, Hirsch and Wilson directly owning preferred non-voting stock and supplying one-third of the capital equity; voting interest was evenly split between Metroplex and Diamond under an FCC waiver for broadcasters that provided substantial financing for a minority-controlled station.

[44] The FCC's legal review board upheld the judge's decision on October 15, noting Channel 19 Inc. planned to put all common stock owners in management unlike CTC.

[50] After what amounted to 34 years of multiple failed attempts to build a station on channel 19, WOIO finally took to the air at 7:55 a.m. on May 19, 1985, with an on-air message by Payne and Lakewood native Pat McCormick serving as an "opening day" continuity host;[51] engineers tested the signal hours earlier with an overnight transmission of Dr.

[63] Akron Beacon Journal critic Mark Dawidziak lauded WOIO for having a "clean and sharp" on-air look that suggested care, consideration and significant investment.

[54] WBNX-TV, owned by the ministry of televangelist Ernest Angley, came online on December 1, 1985, but positioned itself on family-oriented and religious fare, along with less-expensive older reruns and movies.

[50] Driven into a financial crunch, Malrite offered to acquire WOIO outright in June 1986—in effect, purchasing the 51 percent controlling stock held by Diamond and Metroplex[67]—as a capital infusion.

[67] WCLQ-TV's ownership, itself badly overextended and continuing to lose money with limited chance for profitability, put the station up for sale in January 1986,[70] with HSN parent company Silver King Broadcasting purchasing it in August.

[75] While WCLQ-TV's ownership publicly objected to Malrite's purchase of WOIO,[68] a legal challenge filed against it was rendered moot due to the Silver King sale.

[85] The station did feature some locally produced public affairs programming, including a weekly talk show hosted by area attorney Larry Elder.

[61] Fox's success on Thursday nights—led largely by The Simpsons—enabled WOIO to post its highest ratings to date on October 15, 1992, beating WUAB and WKYC outright, and besting WJW-TV and WEWS-TV in several timeslots.

[90] WOIO signed a five-year affiliation contract with Fox in October 1993, leading WUAB to align with the United Paramount Network (UPN)[91] nearly a year in advance of their 1995 launch.

[105] WOIO also committed to carrying Late Show with David Letterman live at 11:30 p.m.—a factor Malara considered "a very big deal", as WJW-TV delayed it until midnight after the New World-produced Valley of the Dolls.

[114] Raycom acquired WUAB outright on March 11, 2000, after the FCC relaxed rules allowing common ownership of two commercially licensed television stations in the same market.

[126] Several days after the sale was approved by the FCC,[127] Gray announced WLFM-LD would be relaunched as Telemundo affiliate WTCL on January 1, 2022, with evening newscasts in Spanish produced by WOIO.

[131] On July 18, 2022, Gray filed a conditional use certificate request with Independence, Ohio, for construction of a two-story studio facility on land overlooking the I-77–I-480 interchange in a proposal titled "Project VO SOT"; WOIO-WUAB-WTCL's current 10-year lease at Reserve Square runs through 2027.

General manager Dennis Thatcher expressed a desire to start a local news service, noting some advertisers—under the impression viewers did not see WOIO as a "real" station—refused to deal with them.

[141] WOIO rebranded as CBS 19 News in April 1996 in a move Plain Dealer critic Tom Feran regarded as the station "(having) to recover from success" after years of a strong association with Fox.

Newly appointed news director Kimberly Godwin-Webb refocused the newscasts to have faster pacing, tighter editing, and consumer-driven segments and de-emphasized what was internally called a "Lazy Susan" anchor desk.

[147] Still, viewer loyalty towards well-established competition continued to plague WOIO, with the 6 p.m. news remaining stuck in last place, even ranking behind Roseanne reruns on WUAB and American Journal on WBNX-TV.

Raycom's takeover of WOIO and WUAB led to news director Kimberly Godwin-Webb leaving in September 1998,[151] followed by general manager Tom Griesdorn in March 1999.

[155] While in Los Angeles—a market dominated by tabloid journalism—Applegate found ratings success at KCBS-TV with saturation coverage of the Lyle and Erik Menendez trial, the 1994 Northridge earthquake and the O. J. Simpson murder case, the latter with Harvey Levin as a dedicated reporter.

[168][169] WOIO hired Youngstown anchor Catherine Bosley in 2005, shortly after her dismissal from WKBN-TV when pictures of her participation in a wet T-shirt contest surfaced online, prompting accusations of the station "cashing in" on her notoriety.

[184] Robinson's hiring came as WOIO drew national attention for depicting the 2012 federal corruption trial of multiple Cuyahoga County officials, including Jimmy Dimora, via puppetry as cameras were prohibited.

Assuming the role from WUAB, Joe Tait—the team's longtime radio voice and president of broadcast operations[208]—announced the WOIO telecasts with former Cavalier Jim Chones as color commentator.

[82] WOIO secured the local simulcast rights to ESPN Sunday Night Football's Browns–Oilers telecast on December 23, 1989, which was up to that point was the highest-profile broadcast in station history.

[214] Browns preseason games returned to WOIO in 2005 via a three-year deal; this also included team-produced NFL Draft coverage, training camp reports and a weekly coach's show.