Though this shift could have been as confusing to viewers as the WBKB-WBBM-WENR switch of 1953, most Chicago viewers hardly noticed the change. The ones that did were disappointed as many of the popular Univision programs were no longer seen as WCIU only went Spanish after 5 pm.

In March of 1994, Univision announced it was planning to purchase struggling WGBO from Grant Communications. Milton Grant, owner of Grant Communications, had purchased a 50% ownership in the station from Douglas F. Ruhe and William E. Geissler, Nashville businessmen who also happened to own a huge stake in United Press International in January of 1985. The station, which began life in 1981 as WFBN, had been trying to stay afloat since its near disastrous union with Spectrum subscription television, a competitor to channel 44's ON-TV. The other 50% of the station remained with the WFBN original owner Focus Broadcasting, which was comprised of Ruhe and a group of investors. On January 1, 1986, it's calls were changed from WFBN to WGBO to reflect the new ownership.

Changed call letters notwithstanding, the station's luck didn't change. Even after an announcement of a 15 game contract to broadcast Loyola basketball in August of 1985, the station was crying "involuntary bankruptcy" that September. Grant had tried, unsuccessfully, to block the pending move of WPWR from channel 60 to 50 claiming such a move would leave his station in UHF no-man's land. Metrowest (owner of WPWR) responded by suing WGBO for signing with CNN Headline News claiming Grant was tying up programming with exclusive contracts. Litigation flew back and forth for years with Grant losing out to Metrowest.

With the sale official on January 1, 1995, Univision moved it's shows to WGBO. WCIU, on January 17 became a general market station for the first time since it went on the air in 1964. Later that year, in November, Telemundo announced it was purchasing a 74.5% stake in WSNS for $44.7 million, quite a lot of money for a station that once ran its commercials upside down!

Today both WSNS and WGBO both run slick hi quality produced programming aimed at the Spanish speaking audience. WCIU moved its remaining ethnic programming to its low power sister station, WFBT on channel 23.  All of its programming is brokered locally.  Late in 2001, NBC finalized the purchase of Telemundo, giving NBC two owned and operated stations in Chicago.  Around the same time, WEHS-channel 60, a Home Shopping Network station since its inception, became WXFT as Univision Inc., the new owners since earlier in the year, quietly began a transformation from home shopping to Spanish language programming as provided by Univision's new second network Telefutura.  

By the 1930s the name Balaban & Katz was synonymous with palatial air conditioned movie theaters.  At a time when many in the motion picture business (whether in film production or exhibition- the two being closely intertwined in those days) B&K and its parent company Paramount Pictures secured a experimental broadcast license for station W9XBK operating at  60-66 megacycles- then television's channel 2 in an early version of the VHF channel allocations.  A few frequency shuffles by the FCC and the grant of a commercial license in 1943 and WBKB CHANNEL 4 earns the honor as Chicago first commercial station.  It's the start of a long history of quality programming that continues to this day as WLS-TV Channel 7.  Speaking of frequency shuffles, follow Chicago television's switch to digital broadcasting.  Some stations are already operating a second digital channel.  Find out who at CHICAGO DIGITAL TELEVISION.  Ever wonder who were Chicago television's first and popular advertisers?  How were rates calculated?  Read MINUTEMEN and find out. \

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