It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside ABC affiliate KTVX (channel 4).

The two stations share studios on West 1700 South in Salt Lake City; KUCW's main transmitter is located atop Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, extended by dozens of translators that carry its signal throughout Utah and portions of Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming.

It struggled for its first decade-plus on the air with technical issues, some of which resulted from the transmitter being blocked from the Salt Lake Valley by terrain, and poor finances.

[4] After delays, KOOG-TV made a four-hour debut on October 19, 1985; its first day of broadcasting was cut short when a transmitter part burned out and had to be sent back to the factory.

Its transmitter was sited on Little Mountain, and intervening terrain blocked large areas of the Salt Lake Valley from receiving channel 30.

[7] In December 1986, this was remediated when a translator was installed atop the Beneficial Life Building in Salt Lake City,[8] but the reputation of KOOG as a station that was hard to receive persisted.

[12] The station's attempt to present Weber State Wildcats athletic events[13] lost money when advertiser support came in far below what had been predicted.

[17] In 1992, Trivest laid off all but three employees due to a lack of advertising revenue; the remaining staff expanded their duties, with the business manager not only handling accounting but taking out the trash.

[24] Channel 30 continued to broadcast the network through 1997, even as Paxson prepared to move its offices from Ogden to Salt Lake City and its transmitter to Farnsworth Peak.

[26] At the same time, plans were set in motion for a new station to replace channel 30 as the WB affiliate in the Salt Lake City market.

[29] By March 1998,[29] Paxson entered into an agreement with Roberts Broadcasting and ACME Communications where each group would acquire the other's assets, but WB programming would remain on channel 30.

[31][32] Neither station would have studios in Utah County; channel 30 went on air from facilities in Murray, while Paxson also sought Salt Lake–area office space.

[37] English also appeared on the station's morning show, WBAM, which debuted for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and utilized radio disc jockeys from KZHT as hosts.

[51] In 2009, KUCW entered into a four-year agreement to telecast Utah State Aggies athletics, including football and men's and women's basketball.

[58] The station's signal is multiplexed: On April 3, 1997, the FCC adopted its Sixth Report and Order establishing digital television service allotments.