WGBO-DT

WGBO-DT

Joliet–Chicago, Illinois United States
City	Joliet, Illinois
Channels	Digital: 35 (UHF) Virtual: 66
Branding	Univision Chicago Noticias Univision Chicago (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations	66.1: Univision for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	TelevisaUnivision (WGBO License Partnership, G.P.)
Sister stations	WXFT-DT, WOJO, WPPN, WVIV-FM
History
First air date	September 18, 1981 (42 years ago) (1981-09-18)
Former call signs	WFBN (1981–1986) WGBO-TV (1986–2009)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 66 (UHF, 1981–2009) Digital: 53 (UHF, 2005–2009), 38 (UHF, 2009–2019)
Former affiliations	Independent (1981–1995) Spectrum (subscription TV, 1981–1984)
Call sign meaning	Owned by Grant Broadcasting in the mid-1980s
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	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 / 41.898778; -87.623250
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.univision.com/local/chicago-wgbo

WGBO-DT (channel 66) is a television station licensed to Joliet, Illinois, United States, serving as the Chicago-area outlet for the Spanish-language network Univision. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Aurora-licensed UniMás station WXFT-DT (channel 60). The two stations share studios at 541 North Fairbanks Court in the Streeterville neighborhood; WGBO-DT's transmitter is located atop the John Hancock Center.

WGBO was established as WFBN in 1981 and primarily aired subscription television (STV) programming from the Spectrum service. After a consolidation in the Chicago STV market in 1984, the station converted to a more typical independent station. It was owned by the Grant Broadcasting System from 1986 to 1988, during which time it was the least successful station in the company's portfolio. Combined Broadcasting, the consortium of creditors formed in the wake of Grant's bankruptcy, sold the station to Univision in 1994, giving the network its first full-time outlet in Chicago in six years. Since 1995, WGBO has been Chicago's Univision station and has also produced Spanish-language local newscasts.