The station launched primarily as a vehicle for subscription television (STV) programming from Super TV, which served the Washington and Baltimore areas.

Over the years, the station has had several partial attempts at airing or producing local newscasts; the most recent, DC News Now, debuted in 2022.

Theodore (Ted) Granik had once hosted The American Forum of the Air, a debate program on NBC Radio;[4] his Washington application was one of seven he planned nationwide, primarily in the northeastern U.S.[5] O. Roy Chalk, then-owner of DC Transit, applied through his company, Transportation Communications of America.

[13] Granik moved forward with his plans to house the station in the Sheraton Park Hotel, where WRC-TV had once been based until it built new facilities in 1958.

On September 21, 1970, Granik died in New York; his obituary in The Washington Post stated that the station was to go on the air in late October.

In December 1974, Channel 50 Inc., a group owned by Ledbetter and the Model Cities Economic Development Corporation, filed with the FCC to acquire the construction permit from Cowan for $75,000 (equivalent to $478,188 in 2024).

At the time, the FCC had a policy of one STV service in a market, and WDCA-TV (channel 20) had also filed for authority for subscription broadcasts.

In 1976, the two STV proposals and WGSP-TV's assignment of construction permit were consolidated in one hearing, with Channel 50 Inc.'s financial qualifications an issue in the proceeding.

In July 1980, the FCC finally greenlit the assignment of the permit to Channel 50 Inc., and it also approved WGSP-TV's STV programming, which was initially to be provided by Teleprompter Inc., a cable television programmer and part-owner of Showtime.

[24] However, Teleprompter lost interest in over-the-air STV and helped Ledbetter, a former manager of WBNB-TV in the U.S. Virgin Islands, to find a replacement.

[27] During the day, the programming was "freeform" in nature, with variety shows and eclectic fare from independent producers; there was little need to generate advertising revenue because of the STV lease.

[33] The STV service was showing a profit, but the new ownership began to plan the station's transition to ad-supported commercial broadcasting.

[35] Super TV continued on channel 54 in Baltimore until March 31, 1986, when it left the air as one of the last over-the-air STV services still in business.

[41] It was doomed by low ratings, a poor economy, and the Gulf War, which scrambled news viewing habits right as the program started; as a result, WRC-TV ended the arrangement effective October 25, 1991.

[42] The station also tried its hand at producing a local show on issues from a youth perspective, Kids Point of View Television.

[43] Hill's broadcast stations would be mired in a series of financial issues in the early 1990s that ultimately led to a foreclosure on her two television properties.

[45] An executive with broadcasting industry analyst Paul Kagan Associates labeled WFTY as "in distress", claiming it had "never had a dime of cash flow"; it was attracting too small of an audience to show in ratings books, and it had reportedly lost money for multiple years running.

They proceeded to foreclose on the note in August 1993 and have WFTY and WHLL in Worcester, Massachusetts, transferred to them; they paid Hill to continue managing the stations, an arrangement that later led to investigations by the FDIC inspector general and a House committee as to whether she illegally retained a financial interest after foreclosure.

The closest network affiliate to Washington was WJAL (channel 68) in Hagerstown, Maryland, which did not reach the District on cable or over-the-air.

[50][51] In December 1995, Jasas contracted with Tribune Broadcasting, which owned a minority stake in The WB, to manage WBDC-TV in a seven-year deal.

The program was produced from WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia, which Tribune then owned, and featured local reporters and WTVR news presenters.

[62][63] Though it otherwise faced no regulatory issues involving the stations in the Washington television market itself, the deal received significant government scrutiny over Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties,[64][65] prompting the FCC to designate it for hearing[66] and leading Tribune to terminate the deal and sue Sinclair for breach of contract.

[72] DC News Now launched on July 11, 2022, over both stations with minimal publicity, debuting its first marketing campaign in early October.