WSTQ-LP signed on June 19, 2000, as WAWA-LP and was owned by Venture Technologies Group, LLC. The majority of the lineup consisted of home shopping and other paid programming. On October 20, 2001, ten months after WNYS-TV dropped its UPN affiliation, WAWA-LP picked it up. For two years, it asked for carriage on Time Warner Cable. Due to the station's schedule outside of prime time, the provider found no justification for doing so, and it was not obligated to carry WAWA-LP due to its status as a low-powered station which had no "must-carry" protection.