the station began operation on july 5, 1984 as wgse, an independent station owned by carolina christian broadcasting. it was the first station in the market licensed to myrtle beach. wgse carried about two-thirds religious shows and one-third secular shows. the station's original studios were located on seaboard street in myrtle beach. one of its programs was "grand strand tonight". the religious shows included "the ptl club", "jimmy swaggart", "richard roberts", and "the 700 club". it also carried a christian show called "niteline" which initially was produced at then-sister station wggs-tv in greenville. eventually, wgse began producing a local edition of "niteline" as well.