[4] WGR-TV started out as an NBC affiliate sharing the 184 Barton Street studios of UHF outlet WBUF-TV (Channel 17).

UHF signals also did not travel as well as VHF, making it hard for viewers outside of Buffalo and its adjacent suburbs to get a clear picture.

ABC programming was not available in Buffalo for another two months until WKBW-TV (channel 7) signed on in November of that year as a full-time affiliate of that network.

Viewers could easily receive the station's VHF channel 2 signal, and WGR-TV now had more syndicated and network program options.

Originally a simulcast of its AM radio sister, it began airing its own programming under the WGRQ call sign in 1973.

However, the deal never materialized, and WIVB-TV was sold to the LIN TV Corporation after attempts to sell that station to Westinghouse Broadcasting, New World Communications, Tribune Broadcasting, Paramount Stations Group and the E. W. Scripps Company fell through;[citation needed] as a result, the Buffalo market was one of the few areas to not be affected by the affiliation switches that took place between late 1994 and late 1996.

[15] Previous local programs include the talk show Your Today in WNY (2007–2008), the talk show Nearly Noon (hosted by Dan Neaverth, 1980s), a local version of Bowling for Dollars (hosted by Ed Kilgore, for two runs – one in the 1970s and a second shorter run in 2008), the classic television anthology series Lunchtime with the Classics (September 7, 2010 – September 6, 2011),[16] and the weekly late-night series In the Buff (February 17, 2013 – late 2013).

[17] The Healthy Zone (2010–2014) was a weekday show hosted by Maria Genero and Dr. Derek Alessi, which focused on physical, emotional, community and financial health and wellness.

[21] WGRZ airs select Buffalo Bills games since 2006 as part of NBC's Sunday Night Football package.

Despite a conflict with the Kentucky Derby in 2007, WGRZ aired game 5 of the Senators–Sabres playoff series in its entirety, including the overtime period that NBC omitted and moved to Versus (later NBCSN).

Unlike most television stations, WGRZ takes an openly activist "watchdog journalism" approach to its news coverage, with its commitment to "Holding People In Power Accountable" and being "On Your Side".

From 2001 to 2003, WGRZ-TV (as part of an NBC initiative, as well as an effort to preempt WIVB's plans to launch its own prime time news program for WNLO) produced a 10 p.m. newscast for Pax owned-and-operated station WPXJ-TV (channel 51).

WGRZ-TV was the last of the three Buffalo television news outlets to produce a midday newscast, which it debuted in February 2008 in a traditional noon time slot.

[24] From then until October 29, 2011, the station's news footage was shot in 4:3 SD, then cropped to a 16:9 aspect ratio and upconverted to 1080i in master control, before HD graphics and pictures were added for broadcast.

On January 17, 2011, WGRZ debuted a new set for its newscasts during Daybreak, which was designed for the transition to high definition newscasts and features extensive use of steel, glass and wood in combination with HD flat panel displays, blue lighting, and a background of several local landmarks (including Buffalo City Hall, Niagara Falls, the Erie Community College City Campus, and Old Erie County Hall).

As a result of this partnership, former Buffalo News reporter Jim Haney and former Patch reporter Dan Telvock began serving as contributors for WGRZ, conducting interviews on the Sunday edition of Daybreak, producing weekly news segments with Investigative Post content, and making periodic appearances on WGRZ's other newscasts.

[37] In August 2013, WGRZ announced a partnership with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to provide traffic reports for the Daybreak and First at Five newscasts on weekdays.

All meteorologists and weather anchors (except Kevin O'Neill and Josh Koslowski) have an AMS and/or NWA Broadcast Seals of Approval.

[44] In February 2010, WGRZ unveiled a new weather set that includes HD flat panel displays, improved lighting, and graphics and technology upgrades which would be phased in throughout that spring.

[48] On May 3, 2010, "Precision Doppler 2" introduced 3D storm-tracking capability, as well as a real-time lightning indicator (WIVB had earlier upgraded its radar to include these capabilities in 2007); it also debuted a new weather crawl system called "Storm Team 2 Alert", with enhanced features such as the ability to display both county maps and doppler radar with any warnings that are issued.

Aside from a brief period in the 1970s when lead anchor Ron Hunter led WGR-TV's newscasts to the top of the Nielsen ratings, WGRZ was historically the third-place station in the Buffalo market through most of its first four decades on the air.

Both WGRZ and WIVB-TV benefited from WKBW-TV's decline in the late 1990s; WGRZ had the further advantage of investment from Gannett, a major nationwide multimedia company (something WKBW had when it was owned by Capital Cities Communications, which had sold channel 7 in 1986 upon its acquisition of ABC to comply with ownership limits rules in place then, which WKBW was affiliated with, then as now).

In the November 2009 sweeps, WGRZ was one of many NBC affiliates to fall victim to the so-called "Leno Effect" (in which NBC affiliates' late-evening newscasts experienced decreased ratings stemming from the weakening NBC lead-in The Jay Leno Show); as in many of the affected markets, WGRZ's 11 p.m. newscast fell to a distant third, behind both WIVB-TV and WKBW-TV (although WGRZ's weekday morning newscast regained the lead over WIVB's morning show, thanks in large part to the return of John Beard to the Buffalo market after over 25 years in Los Angeles).

With NBC moving Leno back to The Tonight Show in February 2010, WGRZ rebounded to a much closer second place behind WIVB-TV in the July 2010 sweeps; however, Daybreak lost ground, once again falling behind WIVB.

[54] For the February 2013 sweeps, WGRZ widened its lead in the morning by 24%, in large part due to the addition of Melissa Holmes as co-anchor of Daybreak.

Only the late evening newscasts during the week trail WIVB-TV in viewership; however, WGRZ is still dominant in the key demographics which advertisers covet most.

In 1983, to coincide with the call letter change to WGRZ-TV, the "futuristic" logo consisted of two lines, making an outline of the number two.

In 1988, the station's logo consisted of simply a large number "2" in a common Avant Garde font, with a yellow triangle over blue added in the early 1990s.

[69] According to the Baseball Hall of Shame book series by Joe and Al Zullo, WGR-TV did not complete the telecast of the game between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 26, 1981.

As part of the SAFER Act,[76] WGRZ kept its analog signal on the air until June 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.