needed to contend in a market that gained a second major independent station. It was a charter affiliate of The WB in 1995.

The purchase of New Orleans's previous ABC affiliate, WVUE, by a group linked to the Fox network led to an affiliation switch in New Orleans on January 1, 1996, in which ABC programming moved to WGNO. The station also began producing local newscasts, which found some viewers but generally were in fourth-place