The three stations share studios in Horizons Plaza at 140 Lower Terrace in downtown Buffalo; WNED-TV's transmitter is located in Grand Island, New York.

[8] NBC expanded WBUF's transmitter power considerably—ultimately, to 1 million watts—to improve its signal strength and range and built a new studio and transmitter complex on Buffalo's north side to provide service capabilities to match market-leading WBEN-TV and fast-rising WGR-TV, which took the ABC affiliation when NBC moved its programming to channel 17 in August 1956.

After more than two years, and with a third VHF station looming, NBC opted to shutter WBUF on September 30, 1958; its programming returned to WGR-TV.

The WBUF studio building was acquired by WBEN, which moved its radio and television stations there and from which WIVB-TV, the former WBEN-TV, still operates.

[12] In February 1959, a consortium of educational leaders organized as the Western New York Educational Television Association applied for a new construction permit for the station, having secured the temporary use of equipment of both stations at Elmwood and the long-term use of soon-to-be-vacated WGR facilities in the Hotel Lafayette, as well as a pledge for $115,000 (equivalent to $919,624 in 2023 dollars) in equipment from NBC.

In 1975, the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association bought two commercial radio stations, WEBR (AM) and WREZ (FM).

In 1993, it was renamed WNED (AM) after cutbacks in government funding forced it to dramatically cut its local programming in favor of network and syndicated content.

However, WNEQ failed to gain approval to from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to be carried on basic cable in southern Ontario, denying it access to potential viewers and donors, and both stations struggled financially.

Starting in May 2006, co-production of Reading Rainbow continued with Educate Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland, after the University of Nebraska Regents (the owners of GPN) sold its long-time production interest to WNED-TV - this sale involved the station as petitioners in legal action against long-time Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton.

[19][20] WNED-TV, along with sister stations WBFO and WNED-FM, began collectively referring to themselves as "Buffalo Toronto Public Media" on February 4, 2020.

Because of inadequate signal coverage to rural schools in the valley areas of mountainous southwestern New York State, WNED-TV once had a massive network of translator licenses – in some cases even "extra-legal."

For the better part of the last four decades, WNED-TV has relied heavily on Toronto and southern Ontario for viewership and financial support; since at least 1999, it has identified as serving "Buffalo/Toronto" on-air.

More than half of its members are in Canada; in February 2020, WNED officials told The Buffalo News that Canadians represented 66 percent of the station's viewership and membership revenue.