In September 1984, KNLC transitioned into a hybrid format similar to that offered by the independent stations owned at the time by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), incorporating a selection of secular classic television series featuring sitcoms and westerns from the 1950s and early 1960s, many of which had not been airing in many other U.S. markets.

The daytime schedule from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. featured a mixed format of secular and religious shows, though cartoons exclusively occupied the 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. time periods and classic sitcoms aired from 5 to 7 p.m.

In 1986, the New Life Evangelistic Center launched a second religious independent serving the Columbia–Jefferson City market, KNLJ in New Bloomfield; the ministry would sell that station to the Christian Television Network in 2007.

Crediting an avalanche of mail from the Fox Kids Club with influencing the decision, the network opted to move its children's shows to KTVI beginning in September 1996.

However, Channel 24 refused to clear as much as 75 percent of UPN's output because of views by management that felt the network's programs and advertisements were offensive.

KNLC also turned down an offer by Paxson Communications to affiliate KNLC with Pax TV (now Ion Television), after KUMO-LP (channel 51) and its full-power parent station in Mount Vernon, Illinois, WPXS (channel 13), disaffiliated from the network in 2004 (the network would return to KUMO and WPXS in 2005, however it would not be available over-the-air in the market from 2008 to 2013, when Ion affiliated with WRBU following that station's transfer into an Ion-controlled trust company.

In May 2024, NLEC TV began airing announcements indicating that its over-the-air coverage on 24.2 would be ending June 24, the day before Weigel launched MeTV Toons, a new network dedicated to classic cartoons.

The remaining syndication contracts were nullified on February 1, 2018, upon MeTV's move to KNLC's main channel, due to a non-compete clause that NLEC agreed upon as a condition of maintaining its subchannel.

In concurrence with the conversion arrangements, KNLC's then-owner New Life Evangelistic Center partnered with KMOV to raise funds to purchase digital converter boxes for viewers living in low-income households around their shared viewing area.