 | |
| |
|---|---|
| City | Allentown, Pennsylvania |
| Channels | |
| Branding | WFMZ-TV 69 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner | Maranatha Broadcasting Company, Inc. |
| WDPN-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | November 25, 1976 (48 years ago) (1976-11-25) |
Former channel numbers |
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Call sign meaning | Family Minded Zone |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 39884 |
| ERP | 80.6kW |
| HAAT | 332.5 m (1,091 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°33′52″N75°26′24″W / 40.56444°N 75.44000°W /40.56444; -75.44000 |
| Translator(s) |
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| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WFMZ-TV (channel 69) is anindependent television station inAllentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Locally-based Maranatha Broadcasting Company owns both WFMZ-TV andWilmington, Delaware–licensedMeTV affiliateWDPN-TV. The two stations share studios on East Rock Road onSouth Mountain in Allentown, where WFMZ-TV's transmitter is located. WFMZ-TV also maintains a secondary studio in thePPL Center sports arena inCenter City Allentown and a newsroom on Court Street inReading.
WFMZ mainly serves theLehigh Valley region (includingWarren County, New Jersey, in the New York Citymarket) andBerks County. Because the Lehigh Valley is part of thePhiladelphia television market, it also has significantcable reach into much of the Philadelphia area, includingTrenton. The station's over-the-air signal reaches some counties in northwestern New Jersey that are part of the New York City market and is carried on some cable systems in that area.
Prior to the debut of channel 69, an earlier television station that held the WFMZ-TV call sign and was based inAllentown operated onUHF channel 67 from December 1954 until April 1955. Like the current WFMZ-TV, it was co-owned withWFMZ radio (100.7 MHz). The radio station was sold twice in the 21-year gap between the two television stations.
In February 1975, WFMZ reapplied for a television station license with channel 69 having been substituted for channel 67 in Allentown.[3] The application was approved on December 9, 1975.[4] Studios and a transmitter were co-sited with WFMZ radio.[5] The channel 69 transmitter and much of the equipment came from the short-livedWHFV inFredericksburg, Virginia, which had ended operations in May 1975.[6]: 8:28
WFMZ-TV made its debut on November 25, 1976. Its programming consisted primarily of family-oriented entertainment shows, operating 13 hours a day.[7] The FM radio station remained co-owned until it was sold in 1997.[8]
In the 1990s, WFMZ began running fewer religious shows and more sitcoms, talk shows andreality shows. The station's news division, 69 News, also gradually expanded. By 2000, the station was running three hours of local Lehigh Valley news a day and a mix of comedy shows and talk, reality television, andcourt show programming. The station presently airs about six hours a day of news in addition to talk and reality shows.
In 1976, the station's news department debuted with two daily newscasts at 7 and 10 p.m. daily, known asNewspulse.[9] The news programs were later rebranded asChannel 69 News in the late 1980s and the station's news division gradually expanded. In 1989, WFMZ added a 5 p.m. newscast and in 1997, the 7 p.m. news show was moved up to 6 p.m.[10]
In 1995, WFMZ expanded its news service geographically with the debut of itsBerks Edition newscast at 5:30 p.m. In 1998, this program was expanded to include a 10:30 p.m. news broadcast. BothBerks Edition newscasts were established in response to a perception that the Allentown area was being covered more extensively than the Reading area by Philadelphia news stations. WFMZ originally used a small newsroom at theReading Eagle newspaper for these broadcasts.[6]: 27:05
Beginning in 1997,[11] WFMZ began experiencing significantly enhanced ratings for its news coverage of theLehigh Valley.[12] In the late 1990s, the station also launched its first Lehigh Valley-focused morning and noon news programs.[13]
In 2003, the region's firstSpanish language newscast,69 News en Español, debuted to serve the growing Hispanic community in the Lehigh Valley and Berks County areas.[14]
In 2005, WFMZ formed a broadcast partnership withWPVI-TV (channel 6), Philadelphia'sABCowned-and-operated station. The partnership permitted the two stations to cooperate in news gathering for local stories. In November 2017, WFMZ launched newly formatted and expanded newscasts. In May 2008, WFMZ became the fourth television station in the Philadelphia media market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts inhigh definition.
In October 2014, WFMZ added an hour-long newscast at 4 pm, making it the third station in the Philadelphia market (afterWCAU and WPVI-TV) to broadcast local news in the 4 p.m. timeslot. In February 2015, WFMZ debuted its new street-level studio inside thePPL Center sports arena inCenter City Allentown. The station broadcasts its noon news program from its PPL Center studio.
On September 25, 2023, WFMZ debuted a new 30-minute long 8 p.m. newscast. Previously, there was a gap in news coverage from 6:30 p.m. until the 10 p.m. newscast.
WFMZ produces local programs about business, sports and health-related topics, including:
| License | Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBPH-TV | 60.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WBPH-D1 | Lighthouse TV |
| 60.2 | 480i | WBPH-D2 | Radiant TV | ||
| WPPT | 35.1 | 39EXTRA | PBS | ||
| 35.2 | WORLD | World | |||
| WLVT-TV | 39.1 | 720p | WLVT-DT | PBS | |
| 39.2 | 480i | CREATE | Create | ||
| 39.3 | FRAN24 | France 24 | |||
| WFMZ-TV | 69.1 | 720p | WFMZ-HD | Independent | |
| 69.2 | 480i | WFMZ-WC | Local weather | ||
| 69.3 | WFMZ-ME | MeTV (WDPN-TV) |
WFMZ offers three subchannels on a multiplex shared withWBPH-TV,WLVT-TV, andWPPT. One is the 69 News Weather Channel, a continuous loop of regional weather information, traffic cameras, and news headlines. 69 News Weather Channel launched February 5, 2001, and is the first such multicast service in the United States; unlike other AccuWeather affiliates, who generally usedthe Local AccuWeather Channel service that mixed nationally-oriented segments produced by AccuWeather with local content, WFMZ's service has always been entirely local.[21] Another subchannel offers a simulcast of WDPN-TV'sMeTV channel.
The WBPH-WFMZ-WLVT-WPPT multiplex is broadcast on two digital replacement translators that improve reception in areas to the south of Allentown, including Philadelphia:
| Location | Channel | ERP | HAAT | Transmitter coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boyertown | 27 | 10 kW | 110.8 m (364 ft) | 40°19′03.0″N75°38′59.0″W / 40.317500°N 75.649722°W /40.317500; -75.649722 (WFMZ-TV (Boyertown DRT)) |
| Philadelphia | 7 | 0.04 kW | 40°2′33.0″N75°14′32.0″W / 40.042500°N 75.242222°W /40.042500; -75.242222 (WFMZ-TV (Philadelphia DRT)) |
A third digital replacement translator for WFMZ-TV on UHF channel 24 in Allentown, as well as separately licensed translator W24CS-D inReading, offer a different mix of channels with two additional subchannels from WDPN-TV, but none from WBPH, WLVT, or WPPT.
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WFMZ-HD | Main WFMZ-TV programming |
| 69.2 | 480i | WFMZ-WC | The 69 News Weather Channel | |
| 2.1 | 720p | 2-MeTV | MeTV (WDPN-TV) | |
| 2.4 | 480i | 2-H&I | Heroes & Icons (WDPN-TV) | |
| 2.6 | 2-DECAD | Catchy Comedy (WDPN-TV) |
In 2009, WFMZ began carryingRetro TV as a WFMZ subchannel. On January 24, 2014, however, MeTV announced that it would move its Philadelphia-market affiliation from WFMZ-TV's 69.3 subchannel to KJWP (channel 2, nowWDPN-TV), which has carried MeTV programming in addition to the WFMZ subchannel since November 2013.[23][24] In April 2014, Atlanta-basedTuff TV officially replaced MeTV on the 69.3 subchannel;[25] in December 2014, the signal began carrying theHeroes & Icons network feed. On October 1, 2019, WFMZ re-added MeTV as a simulcast of WDPN-TV on the 69.3 subchannel;[26] H&I is still seen in the market on WDPN's fourth subchannel.
WFMZ-TV shut down its analog signal over UHF channel 69 on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal regulations. WFMZ's digital signal continued broadcasting its pre-transition UHF channel 46,[27] usingvirtual channel 69.
WFMZ's standalone signal was sold in the2016 broadcast incentive auction. It entered into a channel-sharing agreement with WBPH-TV.[28] To relieve any congestion related to the channel sharing, some of WFMZ's subchannels moved to KJWP, which WFMZ purchased in a separate transaction with the proceeds from the spectrum sale.[29][30]
In New Jersey, WFMZ is carried on basic cable inPhillipsburg andMilford, which are both part of the New York City media market. WFMZ is carried on cable providers inSchuylkill County, includingTamaqua,Pottsville, and the surrounding areas ofCarbon County,Monroe County, andLuzerne County, each of which is located in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre media market. In northwestern New Jersey, WFMZ is also available on digital cable onXfinity'sPort Murray system alongside Philadelphia stationsKYW-TV,WTXF-TV, andWCAU.
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the Commonwealth ofPennsylvania | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Pennsylvania | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
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| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofNew Jersey | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of New Jersey | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
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Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofDelaware | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Delaware | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Independent | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
