- Locast offers local channels airing conference playoff football games Sunday
- Nonprofit is only service to stream all local TV channels – for free – over internet
ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Locast, America’s only nonprofit, free, local broadcast TV digital translator streaming service, is delivering more than 70 local TV channels via the internet – for free – to more than 4 million residents living in the greater Orlando TV market in central Florida, starting today. It’s the fourth Florida market for Locast, joining Miami, Tampa Bay, and West Palm Beach.
For the first time, residents in Orlando and the surrounding cities and suburbs, including Daytona Beach and Melbourne, will be able to watch all of their local TV stations via the Internet on their phones, tablets, laptops, or streaming media devices. Locast provides a public service by giving access to important local news, storm coverage, emergency information, health and safety updates, election coverage, sports, and entertainment programming to internet-connected devices. Through its local TV channel service, Locast offers this Sunday’s pro-football conference playoff games.
So-called “cord cutters,” who cancel their increasingly expensive pay-TV subscriptions, and “cord-nevers,” who have never subscribed to pay-TV services, represent a significant proportion of Locast users. For those who cannot afford pay-TV or cannot receive an over-the-air signal, Locast is often their only link to local broadcast news, emergency information, weather, sports, and entertainment. As a nonprofit, Locast performs a critical public service by increasing access to local broadcast channels – on the go, over the internet, on any device.
Locast delivers more than 70 local TV channels in the Orlando designated market area (DMA), including WESH NBC 2, WOFL FOX 35, WFTV ABC 9, WKMG CBS 6, PBS and PBS Kids as well as The Florida Channel, CourtTV, AntennaTV, Telemundo, Univision, Azteca America, Estrella TV, The CW, BOUNCE, Movies!, My Network TV, LAFF, Mystery, GRIT, ION, CometTV, True Crime, Charge!, and more.
Locast is accessible to viewers in nine counties in the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne DMA including Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia.
Locast was started by consumer advocate David Goodfriend, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who founded the nonprofit advocacy organization, Sports Fans Coalition, in 2009 and fought the NFL and large media companies by petitioning the FCC to end the 40-year-old, anti-fan Sports Blackout Rule. Sports Fans Coalition won in 2014 when the FCC voted unanimously to end the practice, giving fans greater access to watch their local football team. Goodfriend founded Locast in 2018.
Locast has more than 2.3 million registered users nationwide in 28 markets – large and small – reaching nearly half of the U.S. population. In 2020, Locast added more than 1 million users, making it one of the fastest-growing live TV streaming services and was named 2020’s most improved streaming service by TechHive. Compared to most streaming services, which charge fees, Locast is free.
Locast operates under the Copyright Act of 1976 that allows nonprofit translator services to rebroadcast local stations without receiving a copyright license from the broadcaster. The federal statute (17 U.S.C. 111(a)(5)) states that a nonprofit organization may retransmit a local broadcast signal and collect a fee to cover the cost of operations. Locast asks viewers to donate as little as $5 per month to help cover operating costs. The donation is voluntary and not required.
Locast is available for streaming at www.locast.org, app stores, TiVo, streaming service providers Google Play, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon, and ROKU, and on DISH Hopper/Wally receivers or select DIRECTV receivers. Locast also offers Spanish-language access to the Locast app’s user-interface, log-in screens, and program guide. Complete local TV guides are available at www.locast.org.
About Locast
Locast.org was founded by Sports Fans Coalition NY (SFCNY), a New York-based nonprofit, fan-advocacy group formed in 2017. Locast launched in 2018 and is available in 28 DMAs. SFCNY is the first local chapter of Sports Fans Coalition, Inc., which led the successful campaign to end the FCC’s Sports Blackout Rule and continues to advocate for fans. TechHive named Locast the most-improved streaming service of 2020. As a nonprofit, Locast is supported by user donations and is available at www.locast.org. Follow Locast on Facebook and Twitter @LocastOrg.
Locast press contact:
PR@locast.org
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cd1933e7-244e-445e-bc50-f4d4340920fd