Owned and operated by network parent Weigel Broadcasting, the station maintains a transmitter in Ward Circle in Washington's northwest quadrant.

The station signed on for the first time on September 29, 1989, as W48AZ in Winchester, Virginia, a relay of the original WAZT-LP in Woodstock (then W10AZ, now WDCO-CD).

Ruarch sold the WAZT stations to JLA Media & Publications (no relation to ABC affiliate WJLA-TV, channel 7) in 2006.

Venture immediately began moving WAZT and its sister stations to the far larger Washington, D.C. television market.

On the same day, WDCO-CD and WIAV-CD flipped to Sinclair's TBD multicast network, simulcasting WJLA-TV's fourth digital subchannel in 1080i full high definition.