Non-profit local streaming service, Locast, which offers live streaming of local channels in nine markets, announced today that they have added the ability to stream on Amazon Fire TV devices. The service was previously available on iOS, Android, and Roku. The company has already announced that streaming on Apple TV devices is in development and should be coming early this year.
Available Cities
- New York
- Philadelphia
- Boston
- Washington DC
- Baltimore
- Chicago
- Houston
- Dallas
- Denver
Many use the service to supplement other Live TV Streaming Services link Philo or Sling TV which have limited local channels as part of their service. Locast is offered by non-profit Sports Fan Coalition New York which serves as a digital translator, meaning that Locast.org operates just like a traditional broadcast translator service, except instead of using an over-the-air signal to boost a broadcaster’s reach, they stream the signal over the Internet to consumers located within select US cities. This is the legal loophole that the non-profit uses to offer streaming for free.
The service is similar to Aereo, which was launched in 2012, but shut down through a Supreme Court decision in 2014. The main difference being that the service was for-profit and offered a DVR service for the content.
In all markets, Locast offers ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, as well as other broadcast channels like Telemundo, Univision, PBS, and independent stations. Since it is a non-profit, it has asked users for donations and has been using the market providing the most funding to decide which to launch into next.