Raycom Media commenced construction on the station in late 2007. It was the only station that Raycom built and signed on. The company inherited the construction permit for the station when it merged with the Liberty Corporation, the owner of WIS in Columbia. WMBF-TV signed on for testing in late-July 2008 with a station ID slide. On August 7, it officially signed-on at 11:59 p.m. with NBC welcoming the station on-air the following day on "Today", "NBC Nightly News", and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien". The sign-on of WMBF-TV occurred in time for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics.