Now more than ever, it’s important to know what’s happening your local neighborhoods and Amazon is making it easier for you to stay connected. The company announced today that the news app available on Amazon Fire TVs now supports local news channels.
Starting today, live and on-demand local news will begin rolling out on Amazon’s news app in 12 major cities — initially available in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle — including popular local stations CBSN Chicago, ABC7/WABC-TV New York, KIRO7 Seattle, and News 12 New York from news distributors such as ABC Owned Television Stations, CBSN, Cox, The E.W. Scripps Company, and Altice USA.
“There have been so many important events and stories in 2020 that have driven the news industry like never before; and we believe it’s more important than ever to provide free access to both local and national news for all our customers,” stated Sandeep Gupta, VP of Amazon Fire TV. “Adding access to local news is the latest step in our commitment to helping our customers stay informed. We’ve been amazed by the popularity of Amazon’s news app and view local news as the next indispensable piece for our customers.”
Earlier this week, the e-commerce giant announced that they are enabling two-way video calling support on the Fire TV Cube (2nd generation). Customers can now pair a third-party webcam with Fire TV Cube to place and receive hands-free Alexa video calls from their TVs to any other Alexa-enabled device with a screen, such as another Fire TV Cube, Echo Show, or the Alexa app on a phone or tablet.
In October, the e-commerce giant announced that they expanded their hands-free capabilities for controlling Fire TV with Alexa-enabled devices. Customers can not only sift through their programming by uttering commands to Alexa, but they can also perform everyday tasks such as checking the calendar, weather, or various smart home cameras—hands-free.