The station was founded on January 8, 1986 as W17AI, a Columbus translator signal for owner Wendell A. Triplett's primary television holding, WWAT-TV in Chillicothe. This arrangement, intended to increase the station's reach into the larger Columbus market, was discontinued in 1992, when WWAT (rebranded as WWHO) was added to many Columbus cable lineups. Following its disassociation from the former WWAT, W17AI became a full-time affiliate of the Home Shopping Network. In 1998, the station changed its call letters to WDEM-LP and became an affiliate of the America's Store home shopping network, reverting to HSN programming following the discontinuation of America's Store.

On December 17, 2008, Channel 17 was upgraded from low-power status to Class A; accordingly, its callsign was changed to WDEM-CA to reflect this.  Despite this status, the station identified itself on-air as "WDEM-TV" for some time afterward.

In February 2009, WDEM, under new management, dropped its HSN affiliation and repositioned itself as a station focusing on arts, culture, entertainment and lifestyles of the Columbus area. This new format, unique in the market, features a mix of locally-produced programming, older films and classic TV shows.

On July 8, 2009, the station's calls changed to WDEM-CD, with the -CD designation standing for "Class A digital television station".