The station began operations on August 30 as WTVN-TV, Columbus' second television station. It was owned initially by Picture Waves, Inc., a local firm that also operated WTVN radio. During 1950, Picture Waves sold the WTVN stations to the Taft Television and Radio Company, which was based in Cincinnati. Taft signed-on WTVN-FM (96.3 MHz., now WLVQ) in 1959.
WTVN-TV was an affiliate of the DuMont network at its inception, and in 1953 took on a secondary affiliation with ABC. Channel six became an exclusive ABC station when DuMont closed down operations in 1956.
