WDAK was the first television station in the Columbus market (beating rival WRBL by just over a month) and is the fifth-oldest in the state of Georgia and second-oldest outside Atlanta.

It was originally owned by Allen Woodall Sr., owner of WDAK radio (540 AM), and Martin Theaters (forerunner of Carmike Cinemas and AMC Theatres).

Woodall sold his interest in the station to Martin Theaters in 1956 and the call letters were changed to the current WTVM.

On the same day WTVM moved to channel 9, it switched its primary affiliation to ABC, while relegating NBC to secondary status shared with WRBL.

Additionally, fellow NBC affiliates WSB-TV in Atlanta and WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Alabama, both transmitted fairly clear Grade B signals to the region.

The station switched to ABC full-time in October of that year when WYEA (now WLTZ) signed on and took over the NBC affiliation.

In 1997, AFLAC sold its entire broadcasting division, including WTVM, to an investment group that merged with Ellis Communications to form Raycom Media.

On February 2, 2012, Chief Meteorologist Derek Kinkade hinted on the WTVM Weather Facebook page that major studio changes were on the way.

The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion—in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom—resulted in WTVM gaining new sister stations in nearby markets, including CBS affiliate WTVY and NBC affiliate WRGX-LD in Dothan, Alabama (while separating it from WDFX-TV).

In addition to the main studios, the station operates an East Alabama bureau near the campus of Auburn University.

WTVM produces a nightly prime time show for sister station WXTX known as Fox 54 News at 10.

A regional network has developed among Montgomery's WSFA, Huntsville's WAFF 48 News, and Birmingham's WBRC in which stations share information, equipment such as satellite trucks or even reporters' stories.