As an independent station

Petry Television, a national advertising sales firm and representative to television stations nationally, applied through subsidiary Delta Television in 1977 for a construction permit to build channel 24. John Serrao, the operations director for Petry, noted that Memphis was the largest market lacking an independent station or a station on the ultra high frequency (UHF) band.^[7] The FCC granted the construction permit in December,^[8] and by June, construction was under way on studios at 2225 Union Avenue in Memphis.^[9]

WPTY-TV began broadcasting on September 10, 1978.^[10] In the weeks leading up to its launch, local dealers reported a surge of interest in UHF antennas to receive the new station.^[11] The schedule focused on counterprogramming the city's three network affiliates with alternative offerings.^[12] It also filled a void in sports coverage: syndicated Southeastern Conference basketball, which appeared on the station's schedule in its first year, had gone unaired in Memphis the year before.^[13] In addition, the station offered the live discussion program Memphis Forum.^[14]

WPTY was the only independent station in Memphis until April 18, 1983, when TVX Broadcast Group launched WMKW-TV on channel 30.^[15] With two independents in town, the stations engaged in competition among themselves,^[16] though WPTY led WMKW in the ratings.^[17] A year later, Petry sold the station to Robert H. Precht, a former producer of The Ed Sullivan Show, for $13 million; Precht also owned television stations in western Montana.^[18] Less than two years later, Precht sold WPTY-TV to Chase Broadcasting, owner of WTIC-TV in Hartford, Connecticut; the original sale price of $12.5 million was discounted to $11.2 million because of the state of some of channel 24's equipment.^[19][20]

Fox affiliation

In 1989, as part of a process of divesting its smaller-market stations, TVX Broadcast Group sold WMKW-TV to MT Communications, which renamed it WLMT.^[21][22] In the span of a year, channel 30 would lose its two main programming attractions to channel 24. First to go was Memphis State University basketball; WPTY-TV presented a proposal to the university that paid three times as much money per game.^[23]

The next year, the Fox affiliation came up for renewal, and WPTY-TV intensively lobbied the Fox network; it had stronger ratings than channel 30, drawing a 7.4 percent share of total-day ratings to WLMT's 4.1.^[24] On WLMT, some Fox shows had less than half the audience they did in other cities.^[25] Fox chose to move its affiliation to channel 24 effective July 1, 1990.^[26] Memphis was one of four markets, all in the South, where Fox moved its affiliation during 1990; of the other three, two (Little Rock, Arkansas, and Nashville) involved ex-TVX stations, with the Nashville station losing its Fox affiliation also owned by MT.^[27]

Chase Broadcasting announced in 1991 it would sell some or all of its properties in order to invest in new business ventures in Eastern Europe after the end of the Cold War, particularly successful cable television systems in Poland.^[28] Three months later, Chase announced the sale of WPTY-TV to Clear Channel Television for $21 million, with WPTY-TV becoming Clear Channel's sixth Fox affiliate and its largest-market station when the new owners took over on April 1.^[29][30] Clear Channel fended off a bid by WLMT for Tigers basketball when the rights came up for renewal in 1992;^[31] the next year, it assumed most of channel 30's operations under a local marketing agreement (LMA), allowing the once-rivals to pool resources and programming.^[32]

Affiliation switch to ABC

In May 1994, Fox announced a 12-station affiliation switch agreement with New World Communications in major markets; Fox was actively looking for upgrades from UHF stations like WPTY-TV to stations in the very high frequency (VHF) band. Memphis was not involved in the New World switches, but a rumor circulated and was quickly quashed that the Memphis NBC affiliate, WMC-TV, was seeking to move to Fox; its owner, Ellis Communications, owned four Fox stations, even though Clear Channel had become the second-largest group owner of Fox affiliates.^[33] However, in August, Fox made its move by purchasing local ABC affiliate WHBQ-TV (channel 13) from Communications Corporation of America, which had just taken over ownership.^[34]

Movement around the switch was initially slow because Fox needed to wait for FCC approval to purchase WHBQ-TV; the FCC at the time was considering petitions from NBC about whether Fox was a foreign-owned entity not allowed to own broadcast stations.^[35] As part of a series of attempts to prevent News Corporation, the parent company of Fox, from acquiring additional stations, NBC had filed a request to the FCC to reject a pending trade of Denver's KDVR for Fox-owned KDAF in Dallas, as well as the network's purchase of WFXT in Boston, on the grounds that the company was in violation of foreign ownership rules (which prohibit a foreign-owned company from maintaining more than a 25 percent interest in a U.S. television station). The Memphis deal had still not been filed with the FCC by January 1995, four months after being announced.^[36] Foreign ownership had been a sensitive issue for Fox even prior to the New World deal. In 1993, its attempt to acquire WGBS-TV in Philadelphia was derailed after an objection was filed on ownership grounds.^[37][38] In the wake of the objection, the FCC opened a foreign ownership review into Murdoch's existing station holdings; had it ruled negatively, a forced ownership change or license loss could have meant the end of the network.^[39]

On June 12, 1995, the FCC notified WHBQ-TV that the commission had approved its sale to Fox,^[40] which was officially announced the next month.^[41][42] By then, channel 13 had already notified ABC that it would disaffiliate from the network on December 1, and WPTY-TV was named as the new ABC affiliate.^[40]

To prepare for launching a news operation, Clear Channel purchased a building at 2701 Union Avenue Extended to be renovated to house WPTY–WLMT; this also allowed channel 30 to move in with channel 24.^[43] The affiliation switch and launch of local news programming took place December 1, 1995.^[44]

In 1999, WPTY-TV took on a secondary affiliation with The WB, airing its prime time programs in late night slots. The WB had no full-time affiliate in Memphis; a local cable channel, "TV Memphis", aired its programming until the WPTY-TV affiliation.^[45] WB programs moved to WLMT in 2003.^[46]

WPTY-TV and WLMT began digital broadcasting on May 1, 2002.^[47] WPTY-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over channel 24, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television; it continued to broadcast on channel 25, using virtual channel 24.^[48]

Both stations were included in the sale of Clear Channel's television station portfolio to Newport Television, controlled by Providence Equity Partners, for $1.2 billion on April 20, 2007 (equivalent to $1.76 billion in 2023). The sale was made so Clear Channel could refocus around its radio, outdoor advertising and live event units.^[49][50] The sale received FCC approval on December 1, 2007; after settlement of a lawsuit filed by Clear Channel owners Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital against Providence to force the deal's completion, consummation took place on March 14, 2008.^[51][52]

WATN-TV: Nexstar and Tegna ownership

As part of a liquidation of Newport Television's assets, Nexstar Broadcasting Group purchased WPTY-TV and WLMT in a 12-station deal worth $285.5 million (equivalent to $379 million in 2023) on July 19, 2012.^[53] Nearly immediately, Nexstar announced that it would move the stations from their aging five-story building in midtown Memphis into a former MCI call center on the city's northeast side.^[54] The relocation, in addition to providing more up-to-date facilities for the stations, was done because the impending replacement of the adjacent Poplar Viaduct would create vibrations and noise making the building unsuitable for television production.^[55] As part of a major rebrand, WPTY-TV became WATN-TV after moving into the new studios.^[56]

In 2019, Nexstar acquired Tribune Media, owner of Memphis CBS affiliate WREG-TV.^[57] Nexstar opted to retain WREG-TV (as well as WJKT in Jackson, which had been associated with WATN–WLMT) and sold WATN-TV and WLMT to Tegna Inc.^[58] Tegna reintroduced the ABC 24 brand to the station on September 27, 2021, with a new logo.^[59]

Notable former on-air staff

• Dayna Devon – weeknight anchor/reporter (1997–1999, now at KTLA)^[81]