Breaking: Cox Launches Hyperlocal Streaming Service Called Neighborhood TV in Over 100 ‘Zones’
Are you a cord-cutter who’s afraid of losing touch with the goings-on in your neighborhood? If so, Cox Media Group has the streaming platform for you. According to an exclusive report by Axios, the cable provider is launching a new streaming service called “Neighborhood TV,” which will provide 24/7 content feeds to viewers’ specific neighborhoods.
Each Neighborhood TV “zone” will feature a cluster of zip codes within a radius of six to eight miles. Neighborhood TV is currently available in 70 zones across the state of Georgia, and 30 more in North Carolina. Cox says it plans to launch 50 more such zones in the next three years. Orlando is coming in September, and the company wants to reach as many as 5,000 zones with its new service when all is said and done.
The markets served by Neighborhood TV’s hyperlocal channels are in areas in which Cox Media Group owns either local television or radio stations. Atlanta is the home of WSB-TV and corresponding AM and FM radio stations, Charlotte has WSOC-TV, and Orlando is home to WFTV.
To help it reach more users in the areas where it’s currently available, Cox is partnering with the local newspaper owner McClatchy to distribute Neighborhood TV. Users in zones where Neighborhood TV is now active will see the service advertised on the website of their local McClatchy-owned paper.
Cox Media Group’s majority shareholder is Apollo Global Management, but Cox Enterprises maintains a minority stake. The latter company is the sole owner of cable and internet provider Cox Communications. So while the companies have similar names and are corporately related, they are individual entities.
Local news is an important part of many viewers’ daily schedules. Traditional TV providers have relied on news, as well as sports, to keep customers subscribed to their services. Similarly, local affiliates have become an integral part of many platforms’ streaming plans in recent years. Nonetheless, pay TV providers, including Cox Communications, lost 1.73 million customers in the second quarter of 2023, so it’s clear the allure of local news isn’t enough to keep all users subscribed to an expensive pay-TV service. Perhaps the hyperlocal approach of Neighborhood TV will provide a counter to those other options.
Other companies are expanding their local news offerings via streaming, as well. In May, Fox launched a local news streaming platform, which features 17 Fox-owned-and-operated stations around the country. The reach of services like these is limited, but it grows as more services covering different parts of the United States crop up.
Other hyperlocal news streaming platforms like Very Local, Local Now, and more are available, and many come without a subscription cost. Check with them to see if their service is available in your area, or cross your fingers that if Cox Media Group has a local channel in your area that it is planning to expand its Neighborhood TV service to your area.
Local Now
Local Now is a free video streaming service that includes on-demand access to movies and TV shows. The service also provides several virtual streaming channels, including newscasts from New York, Denver, Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, and West Palm Beach. Over 220 cities in the United States have a localized feed. Local Now offers live severe weather coverage from The Weather Channel to people viewing in areas impacted by the severe weather event