The two stations, known as "TV 7&4" and together with WGTU/WGTQ as "UpNorthLive", carry the same programming and one of the largest television markets east of the Mississippi River: 23 counties in the Northern Lower Peninsula, three counties in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, and portions of Northern Ontario including Sault Ste.

However, WTOM has not been available in Canada on cable since the early 2000s when Shaw Communications replaced it with Detroit's WDIV-TV (channel 4).

[6] Company president Les Biederman had signed on WTCM, Northern Michigan's oldest radio station, in 1940.

In the 1950s, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) collapsed the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula into the Traverse City–Cadillac market.

Since WPBN was already operating at the maximum power allowed, Biederman signed-on WTOM-TV in Cheboygan on May 16, 1959.

In late 2005, following that company's purchase of the Liberty Corporation, Raycom announced that WPBN would be sold along with another NBC affiliate in the Upper Peninsula, WLUC-TV in Marquette.

On September 19, 2007, an application was filed to the FCC by Max Media to sell WGTU, its full-time satellite WGTQ, and CW cable station to Tucker Broadcasting for $10 million.

Unlike WPBN, WTOM-DT on UHF channel 35 did not initially offer NBC programming in full high definition.

WPBN's owners have traditionally poured significant resources into its news operation, resulting in a much higher-quality product than conventional wisdom would suggest for such a small market.

In terms of viewership, WPBN has long been a distant runner-up in the news ratings behind WWTV, according to Nielsen Media Research.

After a stint in Hollywood that included roles on The Twilight Zone and a movie filmed on Mackinac Island called Somewhere in Time, Melvoin came back to WPBN to host Deputy Don Rides Again and the horror flick Count Zappula.

It originates from a secondary set at WPBN's studios, and features local news and weather but also goes into detail covering community events and various businesses.

Morgan Murphy Media acquired WBKB-TV in Alpena in late 2023, a station which carries four of the five major commercial networks through subchannels to serve the market.

WBKB has traditionally struggled to maintain a full-time news and weather staff due to industry labor issues and Alpena's overall low market standing which left it in a state of constant turnover, with recent graduates working on-air on short 'starter' contracts.

WPBN/WTOM will also take over weather responsibilities for WBKB-TV, which had been fulfilled by a mix of contracted meteorologists and forecasts complied by NewsNet in Cadillac over the last few years and struggled to remain staffed by the station full-time.