It is owned by Tegna Inc., which provides certain services to Fox affiliate WUPW (channel 36) under a joint sales agreement (JSA) with American Spirit Media.

The two stations share studios on North Summit Street in downtown Toledo; WTOL's transmitter is located on Cedar Point Road in Oregon, Ohio.

The station was originally owned by the family of former area prosecutor and congressman Frazier Reams along with WTOL radio (AM 1230, now WCWA; and FM 104.7, now WIOT).

As Cancom had to seek regulatory approval several months in advance, it elected to go with WTOL, the largest CBS station closest to Detroit.

[5] In January 2012, LIN TV Corporation announced it would sell its local Fox affiliate WUPW to American Spirit Media for $22 million.

[8][9][10][11][12][13] On August 20, it was announced that McLean, Virginia–based Tegna Inc. would purchase WTOL and sister station KWES-TV in Odessa, Texas, for $105 million.

Through the shared services agreement with WUPW, WTOL may also simulcast long-form severe weather coverage on channel 36 in the event that a tornado warning is issued for any county in its northwest Ohio viewing area.

[16] On January 2, 2014, it was officially announced that longtime evening news anchor Chrys Peterson would be leaving WTOL after nearly twenty years at the station.

[17] On April 24, 2014, it was officially announced that Emilie Voss would succeed Chrys Peterson and join Jerry Anderson as the evening anchor on WTOL.

In March 2019, WTOL attracted viral attention for video it posted on Facebook to motivate local high school students heading into their exams, which featured its anchors excessively using slang.

The segment received mixed attention, with some observers considering it to be an exaggerated attempt to appeal to the demographic, but others applauding the anchors' willingness to participate in the video.