ALLENTOWN, Pa.—Owned by Maranatha Broadcasting Co., WFMZ-TV is an independent station based in Allentown, Pa., that also operates Maranatha-owned MeTV affiliate WDPN-TV Philadelphia. We are a unique operation, airing more than 10 hours of local news daily, covering the northern tier of the Philadelphia DMA and 12 total subchannels across our stations.
As sponsorships have become more graphics-intensive, we realized that our old automation was showing its limitations. Managing playout and graphics across multiple facilities and monitored channels also became increasingly inefficient with our existing system. We needed a cohesive platform from a single vendor that could handle automation and graphics with ease.
Linked Deployments
Imagine Communications offered exactly that. We adopted the company’s ADC automation and Versio Graphics solutions, deploying the automation across three sites: our main studios in Allentown, a disaster recovery site, and a separate onsite disaster playout server at the MeTV transmitter site in Philadelphia.
With the Imagine solution, we gained a unified workflow that aligned perfectly with how we already created content. The built-in Adobe After Effects integration was especially valuable.
Once we chose Imagine and went online, the benefits were immediate. Our syndicated content comes from sources such as Extreme Reach and Pitch Blue. For years, we segmented shows manually, a slow process of recording and segmenting each program by hand.
That changed with Imagine’s Motion feature, which reads BXF metadata from syndicators to segment programs automatically. Even when issues arise, we can reingest and resegment within minutes. The improvement in efficiency and reliability has been tremendous.
Versio Graphics has also transformed how we engage with our viewers. We now use a wide range of on-screen graphics, L-bars, snipes and more in our newscast and sponsored snipes on various channels. Each month, we partner with a local client for an awareness campaign tied to that month’s theme.
For Hispanic Heritage Month, for example, we created educational snipes with rotating facts about Hispanic history and culture. The system randomized which fact appeared, keeping content fresh and engaging.
We realized another example of the system’s flexibility when our Reading, Pa., newsroom celebrated the 30th anniversary of its “Berks Edition” newscast. Using Versio Graphics, we created a dynamic on-screen bug that animated from our standard logo to reveal the anniversary emblem. With the dynamic branding feature, the automation recognized when the Berks Edition newscast was live and automatically switched to the special bug, no reprogramming required.
That same efficiency extends to our weather channel, which runs nearly 300 graphics, all based on a single Adobe After Effects template that lets us quickly swap in client logos and publish updates. The process saves hours of production time and keeps every graphic consistent with our design standards. Versio Graphics made it easy to maintain, even with the many updates we manage each week.
Earlier this year, the platform played an instrumental role in overhauling our weather channel, enabling us to replace a complex system of external machines and contact closures. The system’s new “play from folder” feature lets us integrate video playback directly into the graphics engine, turning what could have been a costly rebuild into a quick, affordable transition.
Versio Graphics
Choosing Imagine for our operations was absolutely the right move. Versio Graphics and ADC automation have brought reliability, flexibility, and creativity to everything we do. Viewer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and Imagine’s support team has been outstanding. Whether troubleshooting or tracking down the source of issues, they’ve always been responsive and professional, even during late-night calls.
As an independent station preparing to celebrate our 50th anniversary during Thanksgiving week of 2026, we continue to chart our own path, guided by a forward-looking management team that’s always planning for growth. Our infrastructure gives us room to expand, and with Versio Graphics and ADC automation at the core, we’re well-positioned to keep innovating and delivering high-quality local content.
More information is available at https://imaginecommunications.com/.
