The station is one of the nation's earliest UHF television stations, signing on as WKNX-TV Channel 57 in April 1953. Originally co-owned with WKNX radio (AM 1210, now WNEM at AM 1250), it was a CBS affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation; ABC was shared with DuMont affiliate WTAC-TV and later then-NBC affiliate WNEM-TV (now a sister station to the former WKNX radio) until 1958 when WJRT-TV began operations. In 1965, the station changed channel numbers from 57 to 25, and in 1972 the station relocated to its current studios. The move was so that channel 25 would serve Flint, Saginaw and Bay City, just like WNEM-TV and WJRT -- prior to 1972, Flint's official CBS affiliate was Lansing's WJIM-TV. At the same time, new owners Rust Craft Broadcasting changed the station's call letters to WEYI