The station launched as WDAU in February 1991. Airing an analog signal on UHF channel 34, it was the market's fourth television outlet to sign-on and has been with Fox since the very beginning. It was established after a small group of Ozark investors saw the market as being underserved with the network and the need for a locally based affiliate in the area; prior to the station's sign-on, Fox programming was limited to the extreme northern fringe of the Dothan market, which was served by WCOV-TV from Montgomery. The call sign had been previously used on what is now CBS affiliate WYOU in Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (a sister station to rival ABC affiliate WDHN in Dothan).