Channel 25 is one of the country's first UHF stations. It launched as WKNX-TV on channel 57 on April 5, 1953. It was a CBS affiliate and was owned by Lake Huron Broadcasting, along with WKNX radio (AM 1210, now WJMK at AM 1250). It also shared ABC with DuMont affiliate WTAC-TV and NBC affiliate WNEM-TV at the time (which later became sister to the former WKNX radio). The station began broadcasting from studios on South Washington Avenue in downtown Saginaw. When WTAC-TV went out of business in 1954, WKNX-TV and WNEM-TV shared ABC until WJRT-TV joined in 1958. On September 14, 1965, it switched to the stronger channel 25. Later, the station relocated its studios to a new location on State Street in Saginaw.