The station is owned and operated by Innovate Corp. alongside W23BW-D (channel 23).
WZCK was originally known as W08CK, and broadcast a low-power analog television signal on channel 8.
The station was owned by the Science of Identity Foundation, a new religious movement with Hindu roots, and broadcast music, some religious programming, and a station ID from a transmitter atop the Tenney Building near the Wisconsin State Capitol and a signal only strong enough to cover the central Madison Isthmus and the UW campus.
Though it was off the air for most of the 2010s, W08CK was for a time the only station in Madison to broadcast on the VHF band (CBS affiliate WISC-TV left analog channel 3 for digital channel 50 in the 2009 digital TV transition; Fox affiliate WMSN-TV (channel 47) would relocate its physical digital signal from 11 to 49 earlier in the 2010s).
By 2016, W08CK would be acquired by DTV America, an owner/operator of LPTV stations throughout the U.S. With the silent station rechristened WZCK-LD, DTV America moved the allocation to channel 36, now transmitting from the WKOW tower on Madison's west side.