The station was originally operated as an independent station, although it held secondary affiliations with all four major networks of the time – CBS, NBC, ABC and DuMont—in part because microwave links for network programming only went as far as Tampa. During its first year of operation, channel 38 relied on film and kinescopes for prime time programming. Later in the fall of 1953, however, the area's main telephone provider, Peninsular Telephone (later owned by GTE), provided WSUN-TV with a private microwave link in time for the World Series, making it the first television station in the country to receive live programming via microwave relay. The station quickly secured a primary affiliation with CBS, while continuing to cherry-pick programming from NBC, ABC and DuMont. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.