It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Dabl affiliate KFXA (channel 28, also licensed to Cedar Rapids) under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Second Generation of Iowa, Ltd.

The two stations share studios at Broadcast Park on Old Marion Road Northeast (along IA 100) in Cedar Rapids; KGAN's transmitter is located in Rowley, near the junction of Buchanan, Benton and Linn counties.

[7] The Series was carried by special arrangement with NBC, but WMT-TV was a primary affiliate of CBS with selected programs of the DuMont Television Network.

[14] In December 1967, American Broadcasting Stations announced it was negotiating to sell WMT radio and television to WAVE Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky;[15] the $9.98 million purchase was approved by the FCC in June 1968.

As a condition of the merger, Cosmos opted to sell WMT-TV as well as WFRV-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and WJMN-TV in Escanaba, Michigan.

[19] Guy Gannett Broadcasting Services of Portland, Maine, agreed to acquire WMT-TV in February 1981, becoming the company's third television station and first in the Midwest.

[23] The Seattle Times Company acquired Guy Gannett's newspapers, while the firm's television stations were purchased by Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group.

[24] The Guy Gannett purchase gave Sinclair diversification into affiliates of the Big Three networks and beyond a portfolio heavy with Fox, WB, and UPN stations.

At the time, Sinclair was attempting to shed some of the smaller-market stations it had acquired in a string of recent purchases to improve its balance sheet.

[26] The deal never received approval from the FCC or the United States Department of Justice because of the ownership structure of Sunrise, which was affiliated with investment firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst.

In part, this was due to the consulting work of Marion-based Frank Magid; WMT-TV was the firm's first client, and its success attracted other station groups to the company.

[36] At the time, WMT-TV made a critical mistake in ousting meteorologist Craig Johnson in favor of Bill Bailey, a popular comedic weatherman in the Quad Cities market at WOC-TV.

[37] During the time KWWL ascended to first place in the market, its news director was Grant Price, who had previously parted ways with WMT-TV in 1972 over philosophical differences.

[41] His replacement, Mark Strehl, lasted just two years; when his contract was not renewed, he characterized KGAN as a "revolving door" with constant anchor changes.