It is owned by American Spirit Media, which maintains a joint sales agreement (JSA) with Tegna Inc., owner of CBS affiliate WTOL (channel 11), for the provision of certain services.

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

In order to complete Raycom's acquisition of Malrite (which would be finalized in 1999), WUPW was spun off to Sunrise Television due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules at the time prohibiting common ownership of two stations in the same market.

Raycom sold WNWO to Barrington Broadcasting in 2006 after its merger with the Liberty Corporation gave it ownership of CBS affiliate WTOL.

Until 2001, WUPW was the only over-the-air television station in the area to air cartoons weekday afternoons as the local WB affiliate, WT05, was cable exclusive.

[12] On December 12, 2012, at 5 p.m., Buckeye CableSystem ceased broadcasting of WUPW, due to a dispute between the cable system, American Spirit and Raycom Media.

After a three-week extension period passed with both parties failing to agree on a new contract, American Spirit Media withdrew permission for DirecTV/AT&T U-verse to retransmit the signals of its stations as of 11:59 p.m. EDT on September 21.

As the SSA partner of WTOL, the station may also simulcast long-form severe weather coverage in the event that a tornado warning is issued for any county in its northwestern Ohio viewing area.

The broadcast was extended to an hour on August 6, 2001, with a five-minute "Fastcast" review of news, weather, and sports ending at 11 while also expanding to seven nights a week.

The news operation quickly established itself as critically acclaimed, with their newscasts winning several Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards and citations from the Associated Press of Ohio for overall excellence.

On January 5, 2004, WUPW launched Fox Toledo News First at 4 on weekdays with the nightly 10 o'clock show renamed as First at 10 and an updated set and new graphics.

The channel maintains partnerships with the Toledo Free Press, Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune, Findlay Living Magazine, Wauseon Fulton County Expositor, and at one time, on WNWT AM 1520.

In early January 2012, long time news anchor Laura Emerson left the station and moved to Kentucky to join NBC affiliate WPSD.