L. B. Wilson, Inc., was found to be the only bidder for the original channel 10 license not to have engaged in coercive action, and was thus awarded a temporary permit to begin telecasting.

Led by on-air talent including Ann Bishop, Dwight Lauderdale, Bryan Norcross, Michael Putney and Calvin Hughes, WPLG's news department emerged in the 1970s as a leader in local television ratings and has maintained that position ever since.

WPLG has been owned by Berkshire Hathaway since 2014, when Post-Newsweek (renamed Graham Media Group) divested it, but continues to maintain infrastructure and logistical ties to its previous ownership.

[3] WPST-TV first signed on the air on August 2, 1957,[4] from a transmitter tower and facilities purchased from Storer Broadcasting when their UHF outlet, WGBS-TV, was taken dark.

[22] WPST-TV was originally given a date of September 15, 1960, to vacate the airwaves[12] and allow for WLBW-TV to take to the air, but a series of appeals filed by Baker delayed the process substantially, with the FCC temporarily suspending the order.

[23] WLBW-TV was given authority to transmit a test pattern during the overnight hours, doing so starting in November 1960,[24] operating on a standby basis employing a minimum of staffers.

[25] After Baker exhausted his appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court denying a writ of certiorari to Judge E. Barrett Prettyman's ruling affirming the FCC's revoking order on October 9, 1961,[26][27] the commission imposed a new deadline of 3 a.m. on November 20, 1961.

[28] WPST-TV's last day of operations on November 19 featured an on-air editorial delivered by Baker[29] decrying the FCC's verdict and rejected the allegations levied against the station.

[35] Despite this severe license discontinuity and little connection between the two other than the ABC affiliation, what is now WPLG claims the National Airlines station's history as its own.

[37] Some of the faces seen on WPST-TV moved to the new station, including Bill Bayer (whose public affairs program Important became Miami Press Conference after the change).

In 1965, the station acquired a parcel of land at Biscayne Boulevard and NE 39th Street to construct a purpose-built, color-equipped facility with two studios.

[46] Construction began that fall,[47] and the studio formally opened in March 1967,[48] allowing the station to broadcast local programs, including the dance show Saturday Hop, in color.

[50][51] The FCC approved in September 1969,[52] and one of the Wilson ownership's last acts was to deliver $250,000 in bonus checks to WLBW and WCKY employees with a year or more of tenure.

From April 2007 to May 2009, WPLG was South Florida's most-watched English-language television station according to Nielsen; this can partially be attributed to its availability on Comcast's West Palm Beach system, which in turn had a potentially negative effect on the ratings for that market's ABC affiliate, WPBF.

The purchase would have created a duopoly between WTVJ and WPLG—duopolies involving two "Big Three" stations ordinarily would be prohibited under the FCC's media ownership rules, which do not allow duopolies involving two of a market's four highest-rated stations in terms of audience share; however during the May 2008 Nielsen ratings period, WPLG ranked in first place and WTVJ ranked sixth in total-day viewership, allowing the possibility of a purchase.

Under the proposal, WTVJ would have merged its operations with WPLG at the studio facility (which was under construction at the time) on Hallandale Beach Boulevard in Pembroke Park.

[57] However, the sale was cancelled on December 23, 2008, with NBC Universal and The Washington Post Company citing poor economic conditions and the lack of approval by the FCC.

As a result of this relocation, all of the South Florida market's "Big Three" network stations are based outside of the Miami city limits.

On March 12, 2014, Graham Holdings announced that it would sell WPLG to the BH Media subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway in a cash and stock deal.

In 2004, WPLG, along with then–sister station KSAT-TV, was one of the many ABC affiliates to refuse to air an uninterrupted Veterans Day broadcast of the 1998 movie Saving Private Ryan.

[citation needed] In 2004, WPLG announced it had won a bidding war to air Dr. Phil and Judge Judy starting in 2006.

[65] However, the station had a contractual stipulation not to air Dr. Phil in direct competition with The Oprah Winfrey Show, also produced by Harpo Productions.

But by 2011, Dr. Phil's ratings had slipped and WPLG announced that the show would move back to WFOR, replacing Oprah which had just ended its 25-year run.

Don Noe joined WPLG in 1979 and was one of Miami's most popular chief meteorologists (Walter Cronise having moved to the morning newscasts) up until his retirement in 2007; Chuck Dowdle, meanwhile, had left by 1986 for fellow ABC station WSB-TV in Atlanta; his slot was filled by Khambrel Marshall, who later moved to WFOR and then to WPLG's former sister station in Houston, KPRC.

Since 1993, WPLG has used several versions of Gari Media Group's "The One and Only" news music package, which took its name from a longtime slogan originally used by the station from 1979 to 1999 and was revived in 2014.