The station began broadcasting on VHF channel 3 on February 1, 1956 and was co-owned with WSAV radio (630 AM; later WBMQ) after a long legal battle over the frequency with the owners of WJIV (900 AM). It initially aired an analog signal from a transmitter on top of a bank building on Broughton Street in Downtown Savannah. The flashing WSAV sign was a landmark on the street for many years. WSAV radio had long carried NBC Radio programming, so WSAV-TV took the NBC television affiliation.