WGBO-DT
FCC | |
Facility ID | 12498 |
---|---|
ERP | 635 kW |
HAAT | 403 m (1,322 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°53′55.6″N 87°37′23.7″W / 41.898778°N 87.623250°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WGBO-DT (channel 66) is a
WGBO was established as WFBN in 1981 and primarily aired
History
Early years and Focus ownership
In 1979, four firms applied for construction permits to build television stations on Joliet's channel 66. Three of them had the same idea. American Television and Communications Corporation (ATC) was the division of
The four bidders agreed on a settlement under which Focus was granted the construction permit on July 22, 1980.[4] ATC and Lago Grande's bids were dismissed after the companies were reimbursed for their costs.[5] Murchison provided financing for the station, guaranteeing loans of up to $7 million for its construction in exchange for most of the revenue to be garnered from STV programming. However, before launch, Murchison sold most of his interest to another Texas company:[6] Buford Television of Tyler. Buford, whose only broadcast properties were TV stations in Tyler and Lufkin, Texas, was making an entry into the STV game. In 1980, it built and signed on WBTI, a hybrid subscription and ad-supported station in Cincinnati, and it had filed for permits to build similar stations in other cities.[7]
WFBN began broadcasting on September 18, 1981, and its subscription offering,
Spectrum was Chicago's second-largest STV operation behind ON TV on WSNS-TV (channel 44). By March 1983, WFBN's Spectrum had 60,000 subscribers to the 125,000 for ON TV on WSNS; further, Spectrum had not turned a profit since it launched, and the industry was starting to shrink as cable penetration increased (though the city of Chicago itself was still not cabled).[11] It tied up almost all of channel 66's broadcast hours, with WFBN's lone free offerings being a daily exercise show and a public affairs program aired twice a week.[12] The station, however, did try several other ad-supported programs in 1983, the most notable being a morning show, It's Too Early, helmed by longtime Chicago radio DJ Steve Dahl; it lasted less than a month after Focus claimed viewers complained, thinking the program too obscene for "public viewing".[13]
In August 1983, United Cable wrote down the Home Entertainment Network division and put all three of its STV systems up for sale.[14] United Cable sold the Chicago business to ON TV parent Oak Communications, and Spectrum subscribers began viewing a simulcast of ON TV programming on March 1, 1984, allowing for Oak to convert them to ON TV equipment using WSNS-TV's signal.[15]
WFBN began to prepare for a life beyond STV programming. Operational responsibilities were transferred to
Grant and Combined ownership
Ruhe and Geissler's businesses began to experience financial reversals in 1984, with UPI filing for
After the FCC approved Grant's purchase of WFBN in November 1985,
In a March 1987
After
Meanwhile, Combined put WGBO and its other stations up for sale in 1993, with a reported asking price of $100 million for channel 66; four buyers were said to have toured the station.[41] WBFS-TV in Miami went up for sale as well, and a report in Miami noted interest from Chris-Craft Industries, which had apparently attempted to negotiate a $90 million purchase of both outlets.[42] Broadcasting & Cable magazine reported industry speculation that Univision was among the interested buyers.[43]
Univision ownership
Univision's interest in WGBO stemmed from its unusual arrangement in Chicago. Its schedule was partially cleared by a longtime independent and ethnic station, WCIU-TV (channel 26).[44] While the station had shifted its weekday ethnic programming off its lineup to focus on Spanish-language shows, in the daytime hours, it continued to air the Stock Market Observer, an English-language business news programming block before 3:30 p.m. each weekday, and some shows in other languages still aired on weekends.[45] Univision wanted a full-time affiliate in the nation's third-largest market (and fifth-largest Hispanic TV market[46]), leading it to scout out and then enter into negotiations to purchase WGBO-TV, even though that station was no longer seeking a buyer.[47]
In January 1994, Univision announced that it would purchase WGBO from Combined for $35 million and move its programming there. While the deal included most of WGBO's non-license assets such as its studio facilities, transmission equipment and transmitter, it excluded its English-language programming inventory. The purchase was finalized on May 13.[48][49] In August 1994, Combined Broadcasting subsequently announced that it would sell its other two stations, WGBS and WBFS-TV, to the Paramount Stations Group for $165 million.[50][51]
In August 1994, Univision officially assumed ownership of WGBO.[52] However, Univision's part-time affiliation agreement with WCIU did not expire until December 31, 1994; as a result, Univision continued to run WGBO as an English-language independent for five months until the contract with WCIU expired. On January 1, 1995, WGBO switched to Spanish-language programming, giving Univision a full-time presence in the market for the first time since 1989, when the network disaffiliated from WSNS-TV to return to WCIU.[53] Most of WGBO's syndicated inventory, as well as Hoosier Millionaire, was picked up by a new independent station in Hammond, Indiana, WJYS,[54] while the Catholic Mass moved to WEHS-TV.[55]
Though WSNS had been a Spanish-language station for a decade when WGBO converted to Univision, channel 66 immediately took the ratings lead. By November 1996, its audience among Hispanics tripled that of WSNS.[56]
News operation
Upon switching to Univision on January 1, 1995, WGBO launched a news department and began producing local Spanish-language newscasts at 5 and 10 pm, hiring former KVEA news director Jacqueline Gallardo for the same post in Chicago.[57] The original newscasts were produced from a studio at WTTW,[58] with the early-evening broadcast originally anchored by Elio Montenegro and Edna Schmidt, and Jorge Barbosa serving as anchor of the 10 p.m. newscast.[59] On January 4, 2012, WGBO began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.[60]
After adding a midday newscast in 2018,
In 2019, WGBO partnered with The Chicago Reporter to create Latinext, a multiplatform bilingual newsroom focusing on the Hispanic community in Chicago.[64]
Technical information
WGBO is the only full-power TV station to use the John Hancock Center site full-time; six other low-power TV multiplexes and several backup FM facilities are also on the west mast,[65] and four full-power Chicago TV stations use the east mast in a backup capacity.[66]
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
66.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
WGBO–DT | Univision |
66.2 | 480i | NVSN | Nuestra Visión (soon) | |
66.3 | 4:3 |
GETTV | getTV
| |
66.4 | 16:9 | Crime | True Crime Network | |
66.5 | 4:3 | GRIT | Grit | |
2.2 | 480i | 4:3 | StartTV | Start TV (WBBM-TV) |
2.5 | Charge | Charge! (WBBM-TV) |
Subchannel broadcast with MPEG-4 video
Analog-to-digital transition
WGBO shut down its analog signal, over
References
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