About WLNS 6

On October 13, 1990, WLAJ began broadcasting from a repurposed appliance store. Joel Ferguson, the founder of the market's first independent station, WFSL-TV, initially owned the station (now Fox affiliate WSYM-TV). Ferguson had founded WLAJ with the profits from the sale of WFSL.

Lansing was one of the largest markets in the United States without a full-time ABC affiliate prior to its sign-on in 1990, despite being large enough to support three full network affiliates since at least the 1960s. However, the city received just two VHF licenses: channels 6 and 10, which are occupied by CBS station WLNS and NBC affiliate WILX-TV, respectively. Even after the FCC enforced all-channel tuning in 1964, UHF was not considered practical. Lansing is physically located between Detroit to the east, Flint/Saginaw/Bay City to the north, Toledo to the south, and Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek to the west. As a result, it was unlikely that a third VHF licensee could have been added. Cable and satellite have developed sufficient penetration in Mid-Michigan by the 1980s to make a UHF "Big Three" affiliate possible.