The channel began as a translator for independent TV station WBTR (then known as WKG-TV) in 1988. As original station owner Woody Jenkins and Great Oaks Broadcasting had problems garnering cable coverage in the Greater Baton Rouge area, he set up translator stations, including W39AW, to broaden the station's cable coverage. W39AW also brought UPN programming to the region when the network began operations. In 1996, the station change its channel to 23.
By the mid 1990s, Jenkins succeeded in gaining enough cable coverage for WBTR that he began to sell off his former translators or adapt them to bring localized programming to the communities served. In late 1998, Jenkins began different test formats for a TV station to cover the Florida Parishes (Tangipahoa, St. Helena, Livingston, and St. Tammany Parishes) with the station signing on by the end of December.[1] On December 16, 1998, the station signed on with localized programming to the Hammond-Ponchatoula region as well as with a primary affiliation with America One with a secondary affiliation America's Voice Network.
Like with WBTR, Woody Jenkins struggled to get WSTY on the local cable provider, Charter Communications, given the limited number of channels available at the time. Exercising the right of must-carry, he filed a complaint with the FCC against Charter asking for cable coverage and reparations.[2] By August 1, 1999, Charter began carrying WSTY on its lineup.[3]
In 2005, Jenkins and Great Oaks Broadcasting sold the station to Veritas Broadcasting Company, and the station soon fell into the hands of Pontchartrain Investors, LLC. Today, WSTY is affiliated with The Family Channel (previously My Family TV). It is unknown as to when the station dropped its America One affiliation.
Current local programming for WSTY includes: The Great Outdoorsmen, Louisiana's Bayou Country Outdoors, and Spiritual Outdoor Adventures.
Station owners Pontchartrain Investors also have a construction permit to convert WSTY's signal from an analog LP station to a digital LD station on channel 38.
