WGBA-TV
WLRE, which stood for station co-founder Lyle R. Evans, sought to be operational as early as December 1977. It delayed so that it could put its transmission tower on Scray's Hill near De Pere, the location of other Green Bay market transmitter towers. Ultimately the location was approved, but it meant ground was not broken on the studio and antenna location until June 1980. The station signed on the air on December 31, 1980, broadcasting an analog signal on UHF channel 26. It was the Green Bay market's second independent station, after the short-lived KFIZ-TV (channel 34) in Fond du Lac from 1968 to 1972. It was also the first new commercial station to sign-on in Green Bay itself since WFRV-TV (channel 5) signed on in May 1955. On November 12, 1982, WLRE was able to power up a new transmitter and had plans for further antenna power boosts.
WGBA-TV
In October 2014, the station added "Wisconsin Tonight", a pre-primetime newsmagazine to nights without Packers team programming which features news rundowns, feature segments and various NBC affiliate service reports, along with some shared content from WTMJ, which also carries their own edition of "Wisconsin Tonight"; this averted a situation where "Inside Edition", which was moved to an earlier timeslot, might only air up to two of their five programs a week on the station in the fall and early winter. That show moved to WBAY in the same timeslot in September 2015, as WGBA replaced the 4 p.m. hour's programming with the new syndicated program "Crime Watch Daily", which was moved to 2 p.m. (replacing a second episode of "") starting with the 2016 Summer Olympics, in order to launch Scripps' national programs "The List" and "Right This Minute" in the 4 p.m. timeslot. In June 2017, "Wisconsin Tonight" was retitled "The Now Wisconsin", in line with Scripps' branding for their feature-heavy local newscast format; the "Wisconsin Tonight" title remains in use for a Saturday night advertorial program, presumably to prevent trademark dilution where another state station can claim the title for their program.