The station first signed on the air on September 15, 1997 as WQHB; it originally operated as a primary UPN and secondary WB affiliate, with The WB's prime time programming airing on a one-day delay from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. It also aired select programming from Pax TV (now Ion Television) following that network's 1998 launch. The station's original main transmitter in Sumter was not nearly strong enough to provide a decent over-the-air signal to Columbia; as a result, WQHB began operating a fill-in translator in Columbia, W67DP (channel 67).