The station is owned by Delta College in University Center, an unincorporated community in Frankenlust Township in southwestern Bay County.

The station first signed on the air on October 12, 1964, as WUCM-TV; the "UCM" stood for University Center, Michigan, its city of license.

WDCQ is currently the third most-watched PBS station in Michigan, behind WTVS in Detroit and WGVU-TV in Grand Rapids.

For practicality and monetary reasons, school officials opted to activate only channel 15, from a location that was close enough to the Tri-Cities to provide city-grade coverage to the area.

Even though FCC regulations would usually mandate that WDCQ use "35" as its virtual channel, Delta College sought and received permission to use "19" instead.