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WFMZ-TV
WFMZ-TV (channel 69) is an independent television station in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Locally-based Maranatha Broadcasting Company owns both WFMZ-TV and Wilmington, Delaware–licensed MeTV affiliate WDPN-TV. The two stations share studios on East Rock Road on South Mountain in Allentown, where WFMZ-TV's transmitter is located. WFMZ-TV also maintains a secondary studio in the PPL Center sports arena in Center City Allentown and a newsroom on Court Street in Reading.
WFMZ mainly serves the Lehigh Valley region (including Warren County, New Jersey, in the New York City market) and Berks County. Because the Lehigh Valley is part of the Philadelphia television market, it also has significant cable reach into much of the Philadelphia area, including Trenton. 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 in Allentown operated on UHF channel 67 from December 1954 until April 1955. Like the current WFMZ-TV, it was co-owned with WFMZ 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. The application was approved on December 9, 1975. Studios and a transmitter were co-sited with WFMZ radio. The channel 69 transmitter and much of the equipment came from the short-lived WHFV in Fredericksburg, Virginia, which had ended operations in May 1975.
WFMZ-TV made its debut on November 25, 1976. Its programming consisted primarily of family-oriented entertainment shows, operating 13 hours a day. The FM radio station remained co-owned until it was sold in 1997.
In the 1990s, WFMZ began running fewer religious shows and more sitcoms, talk shows and reality 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, and court 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 as Newspulse. The news programs were later rebranded as Channel 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.
In 1995, WFMZ expanded its news service geographically with the debut of its Berks Edition newscast at 5:30 p.m. In 1998, this program was expanded to include a 10:30 p.m. news broadcast. Both Berks 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 the Reading Eagle newspaper for these broadcasts.
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WFMZ-TV
WFMZ-TV (channel 69) is an independent television station in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Locally-based Maranatha Broadcasting Company owns both WFMZ-TV and Wilmington, Delaware–licensed MeTV affiliate WDPN-TV. The two stations share studios on East Rock Road on South Mountain in Allentown, where WFMZ-TV's transmitter is located. WFMZ-TV also maintains a secondary studio in the PPL Center sports arena in Center City Allentown and a newsroom on Court Street in Reading.
WFMZ mainly serves the Lehigh Valley region (including Warren County, New Jersey, in the New York City market) and Berks County. Because the Lehigh Valley is part of the Philadelphia television market, it also has significant cable reach into much of the Philadelphia area, including Trenton. 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 in Allentown operated on UHF channel 67 from December 1954 until April 1955. Like the current WFMZ-TV, it was co-owned with WFMZ 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. The application was approved on December 9, 1975. Studios and a transmitter were co-sited with WFMZ radio. The channel 69 transmitter and much of the equipment came from the short-lived WHFV in Fredericksburg, Virginia, which had ended operations in May 1975.
WFMZ-TV made its debut on November 25, 1976. Its programming consisted primarily of family-oriented entertainment shows, operating 13 hours a day. The FM radio station remained co-owned until it was sold in 1997.
In the 1990s, WFMZ began running fewer religious shows and more sitcoms, talk shows and reality 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, and court 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 as Newspulse. The news programs were later rebranded as Channel 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.
In 1995, WFMZ expanded its news service geographically with the debut of its Berks Edition newscast at 5:30 p.m. In 1998, this program was expanded to include a 10:30 p.m. news broadcast. Both Berks 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 the Reading Eagle newspaper for these broadcasts.