The original construction permit for the station was granted on October 29, 1987, for operation on channel 46;[2] the station was assigned the call letters W46AV.[3] Originally owned by Tel-Radio Communications Properties, the permit was transferred to the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in 1988.[4] A license to cover was issued August 16, 1990.[5] It moved to channel 51 in 2000[6] and became W51CU.[3]
TBN sold W51CU to Tim Wall, owner of Scranton Broadcasting Company, LLC in 2010.[7] Soon after the sale was approved (but while still under TBN ownership), the station changed its call letters to WGUD-LP.[3] Scranton relaunched WGUD-LP on September 1, 2010, as a FamilyNet affiliate, with some local programming. On January 4, 2013, the station changed its call sign to WGUD-LD. In 2017, due to the eventual rebranding of FamilyNet, WGUD-LD changed affiliates again.
On October 3, 2022, the station changed its callsign from WGUD-LD to WTBL-LD.[8][9]
WTBL-LD currently has a construction permit to move its signal to digital channel 38.[12] A previous such permit, granted in 2006, expired on June 19, 2009. Around 2011, WGUD-LP consummated its relocation, and began broadcasting three subchannels, with programming from FamilyNet, MeTV and Pursuit Channel. The Cowboy Channel replaced FamilyNet on July 1, 2017.