The two stations share studios on Government Street in downtown Baton Rouge; WAFB's transmitter is located on River Road near the city's Riverbend section.

[3] It launched as a television counterpart to local radio stations WAFB and WAFB-FM, which both signed on in 1948 and were affiliated with the Mutual Broadcasting System.

During 1988, AFLAC invested $2 million in redesigning the studio, dropped the -TV suffix from its call letters and began branding itself as "Louisiana's News Channel", a slogan the station still uses today.

In addition, the new owners cancelled the station's beloved 33-year-old half-hour local weekday program Storyland, then the longest-running children's program, hosted by Buckskin Bill Black, and rechristened it as Buckskin and Friends, an hour-long show that aired on Saturday mornings until it was cancelled in September 1990.

The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion – in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom – resulted in WAFB gaining new sister stations in nearby markets, including CBS/ABC affiliate KNOE-TV in Monroe and NBC/CBS affiliate KALB-TV in Alexandria, in addition to its current Raycom sister stations.

Two games many adults can remember Buckskin playing were called "Hully Gully" which helped to teach counting numbers and the "Monday Morning March".

Through two gracious campaigns from his show, Buckskin Bill helped to start the Baton Rouge Zoo.

Upon being taken over by AFLAC, station management canceled the daily Storyland on September 30, 1988, and converted it to a Saturday morning hour-long program called Buckskin Bill and Friends that began airing on November 5, 1988.

Bill Black later became involved with the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools Board and other civic organizations until his death on January 10, 2018.

On December 30, 2023, WAFB parent company Gray Television announced it had reached an agreement with the New Orleans Pelicans to air 10 games on the station during the 2023–24 season.

[13] WAFB's newscasts have had the second-highest ratings at 10 p.m. in any of the country's biggest television markets according to The Des Moines Register in Iowa.

The only station to get a bigger share of the local audience was KCCI, the CBS affiliate in Des Moines, which was watched by 17.9% of area households.

WAFB also has a Cox cable channel devoted to airing simulcasts and rebroadcasts of its news broadcasts.

[15] Despite becoming rarer among other television news operations, WAFB occasionally broadcast an editorial that was usually delivered by the station manager.

The station's signal is multiplexed: Beginning in October 2024, WAFB's third subchannel has been affiliated with the Gray Television owned Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network.