Founded December 9, 1983, the station went on the air in July 1984 as W43AG under the ownership of the publisher of the "Kentucky New Era" newspaper. It was the first standalone low-power television station to ever sign on in Kentucky. The call letters were changed to WKAG-LP in 1994 (after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allowed low-power stations to use traditional call signs with an "-LP" suffix, instead of a translator-style call sign), and to WKAG-CA in 2002 (reflecting its Class A status).