It was an affiliate of Fox from its start; before WFXS went on the air, most programming from the network was seen in north-central Wisconsin only via WLUK-TV from Green Bay on cable.

WFXS installed a direct fiber optic line to Charter's local headend for use by it and satellite providers to allow the services to carry a high definition signal.

WFXS was required to surrender analog channel 55 after its conversion, as that spectrum was sold to Qualcomm for use by its MediaFLO mobile video application.

Several issues caused problems such as hydraulic fluid freezing on the heavy winch system (required to lift the new antenna), high winds, and the installation not going as planned as a result.

It did so over the third digital subchannel of WAOW (and its satellite in Eagle River, WYOW) replacing the Retro Television Network (RTV).

The station was able to return the favor to WAOW a short time later when digital reception problems at WYOW prevented the signal from being received.

Subsequently, the WFXS license ceased broadcasting after nearly sixteen years on-the-air on July 1 at 11:59 p.m., and its studios on North 3rd Street were shut down.

[12] The former channel 31 allocation for Wittenberg was put up for auction in the spring of 2022, with Weigel Broadcasting winning the auction and intending to relaunch it some time in 2024 as a Green Bay station and possibly also serving Wausau and angling for pay-TV carriage in both markets, assuring full coverage for their subchannel networks, including MeTV, MeTV Toons, H&I, and Start TV, once the station signs on the air.

The broadcasts originated from WAOW's primary set at its studios (on Grand Avenue/US 51 in Wausau) but with unique duratrans indicating the Fox-branded shows.

On June 19, 2011, WAOW became the market's second television outlet to upgrade local news to high definition level.