The station signed on as WVSB-TV on May 29, 1983 as the third commercial station in the market. It was supposed to launch on May 1, but equipment and weather delays pushed the date back. Originally owned by Venture Systems and airing an analog signal on UHF channel 27, WVSB immediately took the ABC affiliation from WTVA, which carried ABC programming on a secondary basis. From its start, the station had the disadvantage of being a UHF-band television station competing with two well-established VHF stations.