WMVS first signed on the air on October 28, 1957, as the 28th educational television station in the United States and the second in Wisconsin (after WHA-TV in Madison).

Upon a September 2010 realignment of its digital signal, the station's changed its on-air branding to "Milwaukee Public Television, Channel 10-HD".

The WMVS spectrum was combined to serve both channels, with the only changes being the 36.4-36.6 subchannels being removed for bandwidth conservation concerns.

However, with the complexities of the digital transition causing viewers to be unable to receive WMVS's VHF over-the-air signal – as has been a major problem in other markets – the Milwaukee PBS stations re-mapped their digital channels on September 1, 2010, in order to maximize their services, and to prepare for WMVT's 36.1 channel to eventually be transmitted in high definition in response to viewer demand.

WOOD-TV's analog signal propagated easily across Lake Michigan and was sometimes receivable clearly in the lakeshore communities of Port Washington and Sheboygan.

WOOD-TV likewise placed translator stations in Muskegon and Holland to avert cross-lake interference from WMVS-DT and to provide extended analog service for those communities.

[12] Also planned is a boost in power of the main WMVS signal courtesy of a Public Telecommunications Facilities Program award.

WMVS and WMVT wound down their analog broadcasting operations at 9 a.m. on that date, prefaced with a broadcast of the station's inaugural introduction followed by the national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", then a final display of the Indian Head test card and test tone before both stations signed off their analog service.

Unusually, Milwaukee PBS never introduced any second audio program channels allowing the use of services such as Descriptive Video Service on their digital channels for over a decade after launch, a rarity in the PBS system as DVS is usually expected as a regular feature (DVS and SAP were available during the analog age on both stations).

[14] On August 31, 2017, Milwaukee PBS discontinued two audio channels carried by WMVT; Milwaukee PBS Classical on 36.4, which carried programming from WFMT/Chicago's "Beethoven Satellite Network", and Milwaukee PBS Jazz on 36.5, which carried programming from WFMT's "Jazz Satellite Network", due to WMVT's upcoming spectrum merger with WMVS and to save revenue from costly carriage agreements with WFMT.

[15] Sinclair, Weigel Broadcasting, and Milwaukee PBS all decided on a switch date of January 8, 2018, for their various local spectrum moves.