Originally formed in 2008 as a joint venture between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Weigel Broadcasting, the network carried various unscripted series from Entertainment Studios' library.

[2][3][4] The "This TV" name was chosen as a branding and marketing avenue for the network and its stations, with slogans such as "This is the Place for Movies", "It Doesn't Get Any Better than This", "This is What You're Watching", "Stay Here for This" and "This is the Channel!"

[5] At launch, in addition to featuring content sourced largely from the MGM film and television library, Canada-based Cookie Jar Group (now WildBrain) provided children's programming for This TV's daily morning schedule until November 2013.

Tribune Broadcasting, owners of the classic television multicast network Antenna TV, took over daily operations of This TV on November 1, 2013; concurrently, the network moved its affiliation in Chicago from the fifth digital subchannel of Weigel flagship station WCIU-TV (channel 26) to a newly created third subchannel of Tribune's television flagship WGN-TV (channel 9).

[11] After the transition, This TV launched a permanent high-definition master feed, allowing its affiliates to carry the network in a widescreen format for the first time.

The network's first continuity announcer was Milwaukee radio personality Robb Edwards, who was replaced later in the Weigel era by Jim Cummings; Andy Geller, the primary promo voice of ABC through the 2000s, took over when Tribune assumed partial ownership of This TV.

The network's film telecasts usually, by far, were "television" cuts meant for broadcast syndication which feature content edits, dubbing or muting of profanities (including some that may otherwise be permissible on broadcast television) and some time edits by removing superfluous plotting or adult scenes toned down to fit within a two-hour timeslot with commercials.

In addition to its film content, the network also carried a modest amount of vintage comedy and drama series from the 1950s to the 1990s, airing in the early morning most days of the week and on weekend evenings.

The block's main children's programming was branded under the banner name "This is for Kids", while a separate lineup of Cookie Jar-produced shows that met the Federal Communications Commission's regulations on children's television programming in the United States requirements was branded under the name "Cookie Jar Toons".

On May 3, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would launch KidsClick, a multi-platform children's programming endeavor featuring long-form and short-form animated content from various production studios.

Sinclair named This TV as the national carrier of the venture's three-hour morning cartoon block, which introduced on July 1 – coinciding with the launch of a syndicated version that would initially be carried on Sinclair-operated stations in certain markets.

[10] On July 1, 2018, This TV discontinued carriage of KidsClick, which was transferred full-time to Sinclair-owned online content-focused network TBD (which began carrying the block on a transitional basis two months prior on May 7).

[22] In South Bend, its status on WCWW did not change, partly because Tribune does not own a television station in that market, unlike in Chicago and Milwaukee.

In 2014, Tribune began to produce promotional advertisements for This TV that it distributes to its affiliates for broadcast on their main signals (which are modified to allow stations to insert over-the-air and cable channel information) in high-definition television.

In April 2021, Allen Media Group announced that the ABC Owned Television Stations had picked up the network as a replacement for Laff in the wake of Ion Television coming under the management of the Katz Broadcasting division of Scripps (which would then move Laff to Ion stations in those markets), restoring much of the major-market coverage loss from 2019.