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.
WJXX
The station first signed on the air on February 9, 1997; the station was founded by WPR, L.P. and operated by Allbritton Communications under a local marketing agreement. In 1996, Allbritton had signed another LMA with WB affiliate WBSG-TV (channel 21) in nearby Brunswick, Georgia; in April of that year, ABC signed a ten-year affiliation agreement with Allbritton, which renewed contracts with the group's five existing ABC affiliates—WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.; WSET-TV in Lynchburg, Virginia; KATV in Little Rock; KTUL in Tulsa; and WHTM in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—and resulted in five of its other television stations switching to the network—among them were NBC affiliate WCIV (now Heroes & Icons affiliate WGWG) in Charleston, South Carolina, and low-power independent station W58CK (now WBMA-LD) in Birmingham, Alabama, and CBS affiliates WCFT-TV (now Heroes & Icons affiliate WSES) in Tuscaloosa and WJSU-TV (now Heroes & Icons affiliate WGWW) in Anniston (the three of which would form a triple-simulcast to serve as the ABC affiliate for central Alabama).