WFMZ TV

What WFMZ TV does

WFMZ-TV, legally operated by Maranatha Broadcasting Company, Inc., is a regional broadcast television station and digital media company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, serving the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Poconos/Coal Region, and Western New Jersey. Founded in 1976 (with broadcasting dating to a 1986 milestone in the source data), the station operates primary channel 69.1 with the "69 News" brand and supplements coverage via digital subchannels 69.3 (MeTV), WDPN-TV 2.4 (H&I), and WDPN-TV 2.5 (Retro TV). The technical stack pairs traditional over-the-air broadcasting with the TownNews BloX CMS for wfmz.com, native iOS and Android mobile apps, and the WFMZ+ OTT streaming service distributed across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV, and Google TV. A regional live-camera network covers Allentown (Dorney Park, OtterCam), Bethlehem (Hotel Bethlehem, Main Street), Reading (Penn Street), Easton (Downtown), and the Poconos (Jim Thorpe, Stroudsburg) for weather and traffic reporting.

Name

WFMZ TV

Legal name

Maranatha Broadcasting Company, Inc.

Website

https://wfmz.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

WFMZ-TV is a privately owned regional broadcast television station serving Eastern Pennsylvania and Western New Jersey with local news, weather, traffic, and sports across broadcast, OTT streaming (WFMZ+), mobile apps, and digital channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Television Broadcasting

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Local TV Station Groups (Owned & Operated/Station Chains) (MPABACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Regional/Sub-National Broadcast Networks (MPABAAAM)

Keywords

• Local television broadcasting
• Local news coverage
• Weather forecasting services
• Digital streaming media
• Broadcast advertising sales

Headquarters

HQ city

Easton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Television Advertising: Local broadcast television advertising including spot ads, sponsorships, and branded content across multiple channels and time slots
2. Digital Advertising: Online advertising through wfmz.com including display ads, sponsored content, and programmatic advertising
3. Streaming Subscriptions (WFMZ+): Subscription-based streaming service providing ad-free or enhanced access to news content and programming on streaming devices

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

WFMZ-TV 69 News operates a regional broadcast television station serving the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Poconos, and Western New Jersey with local news, weather, traffic, sports, and entertainment programming across multiple channels (69.1, 69.3 MeTV, WDPN-TV 2.4 H&I, 2.5 Retro TV). The company also distributes its content digitally through the WFMZ+ OTT streaming service on Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV, plus iOS/Android mobile apps, the wfmz.com website, and email/text alert services. Revenue is generated primarily through television and digital advertising, with a recurring subscription component from the WFMZ+ streaming service.

Product overview

WFMZ-TV operates as a multi-platform regional broadcasting company offering a portfolio of television channels and digital services. The core offering includes the primary WFMZ-TV 69 News channel (69.1) providing comprehensive local news coverage, supplemented by secondary subchannels WFMZ-TV 69.3 MeTV, WDPN-TV 2.4 H&I, and WDPN-TV 2.5 Retro TV for extended programming. Digital services include the WFMZ+ streaming service for OTT delivery, native iOS/Android mobile applications, weather and traffic information platforms, and email/text notification services. Additional content features include 69 News at Sunrise morning programming, the Freddy Awards high school music program, Eat Sip Shop local business coverage, and America 250 anniversary content. The company also offers an online games section for visitor engagement. Together, these products form a broadcast-plus-digital ecosystem serving the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, Poconos, and Western New Jersey regions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WFMZ+: WFMZ's streaming service for watching news and syndicated programming 24/7 on streaming-enabled TVs.

Products and services

• WFMZ-TV 69 News (Channel 69.1) Primary local television news channel providing regional news coverage for the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, Southeastern PA, Poconos, and Western New Jersey, including Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Reading, and surrounding areas.
• WFMZ-TV 69.3 MeTV MeTV-affiliated secondary channel broadcast on 69.3, offering classic television programming from the Memorable Entertainment Television network.
• WDPN-TV 2.4 H&I (Heroes & Icons) Subchannel broadcast on 2.4 featuring Heroes & Icons heritage and general entertainment programming.
• WDPN-TV 2.5 Retro TV Subchannel broadcast on 2.5 featuring retro and classic television programming from the Retro TV network.
• WFMZ+ Streaming Service Over-the-top (OTT) streaming service providing 24/7 access to WFMZ-TV local news and syndicated programming on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV, and Google TV.
• WFMZ Mobile Applications Native iOS and Android applications providing breaking news alerts, weather forecasts, traffic updates, live streaming, and on-demand content access to mobile users.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RokucoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWFMZ+ streaming application is distributed through the Roku platform, making local news and programming available to Roku users nationwide
• Amazon Fire TVcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWFMZ+ streaming application distributed through Amazon Fire TV ecosystem, enabling access to local content on Fire TV devices
• Apple TVcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWFMZ+ streaming application available on Apple TV platform for tvOS users
• PeacockminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNBCUniversal's Peacock streaming platform carries WFMZ content as part of NBC10 Philadelphia regional coverage for major events like the Salute to Independence Parade
• TownNews (BloX CMS)coreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite content management system powered by TownNews BloX platform, providing the technical infrastructure for wfmz.com news website
• FCCcoreOthersFederal Communications Commission regulates broadcast operations; WFMZ maintains FCC Public Inspection File as required for broadcast license compliance

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WPVI-TV (6abc Philadelphia): ABC-owned local television station in the Philadelphia market. Its over-the-air signal reaches into WFMZ-TV's Lehigh Valley coverage area, competing directly for viewers and advertisers.
• WGAL (Hearst Television): NBC-affiliated local television station serving the Lancaster/Harrisburg market, adjacent to WFMZ-TV's coverage area and competing for south-central Pennsylvania viewers.
• NBC10 Philadelphia (WCAU): NBC-owned local television station serving the Philadelphia DMA, whose signal overlaps the Lehigh Valley and competes with WFMZ-TV for the same regional audience and advertising budgets.
• WNEP-TV: ABC-affiliated local television station serving northeastern Pennsylvania (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre), with overlapping Poconos coverage that competes with WFMZ-TV.
• KYW-TV (CBS Philadelphia): CBS-owned local television station in Philadelphia with reach into the Lehigh Valley, directly competing with WFMZ-TV for regional news audiences and ad dollars.

Emerging players

• Patch.com: Digital-native hyperlocal news network covering communities across the U.S., including towns in WFMZ-TV's Lehigh Valley footprint. Represents the digital-first competitive threat to traditional local broadcasters.

Broad incumbents

• Tegna: Major publicly-traded local TV station group with stations across mid-sized U.S. markets — comparable to WFMZ-TV in market positioning (local news focus, mid-size DMA) and digital subscription strategies.
• Sinclair Broadcast Group: Large publicly-traded local TV station group operating dozens of network-affiliated stations nationwide. As a station-group operator with diversified revenue and network affiliations, Sinclair is a structural comparator for evaluating WFMZ-TV's multi-station strategy.
• Nexstar Media Group: The largest U.S. local TV station operator, owning hundreds of network-affiliated stations. Comparable as a benchmark for station-group scale, digital growth strategy, and ad-revenue trends affecting regional broadcasters like WFMZ.

Others

• TownNews (BloX CMS): Technology vendor powering WFMZ.com via the BloX CMS platform. Indirect ecosystem peer relevant for benchmarking digital publishing capabilities and content monetization features available to mid-market local broadcasters.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/69News
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/69NewsWFMZTV
• Facebookfacebook.com/69WFMZ
• Instagraminstagram.com/69news
• TikToktiktok.com/@69newswfmz

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WFMZ TV