ATLANTA—Allen Media Group’s Local Now free streaming service has inked a new deal with PBS to offer live streams of PBS’s local stations and its Kids channel.
The agreement means that Local Now’s audience will have access to PBS’s award-winning content from locally-produced shows, high-quality educational series, and such PBS favorites as "PBS NewsHour" and "Frontline".
The streams from PBS stations reaching audiences in more than 300 markets and cities across the country will become available on Local Now over the next few months, with the full launch completed in 2023.
The partnership is part of PBS’s ongoing commitment to make its quality and award-winning content accessible to all Americans on as many digital platforms as possible.
The agreement also builds on a partnership announced earlier this year when the Allen Media Group launched the new PBS Digital Studios FAST channel on Local Now. The FAST channel offers original series and short-form content that explore science, arts, culture and more.
“This is a historic agreement – we are thrilled that Local Now is the first non-PBS owned and operated streaming platform to offer PBS’s award-winning programming from stations serving more than 300 U.S. cities and markets. The addition of local PBS stations is a major achievement for Local Now and cements our position as the leader of free-streaming local news and entertainment in America,” said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group, parent company of Local Now. “Viewers of all ages know and love PBS and soon they will be able to stream this amazing content for free, anytime on our free-streaming service Local Now.”
“This exciting partnership helps us continue to meet viewers everywhere they are with the quality content they expect from PBS,” said PBS chief digital and marketing officer, Ira Rubenstein. “By providing an accessible platform through Local Now, PBS stations will be empowered to expand their digital footprint and engage new audiences with locally-produced and distributed programming. It’s all part of supporting and boosting the presence of our PBS stations in the communities we serve.”
Local Now provides localized news, weather, sports, traffic, and entertainment, produced by various leading news organizations, in more than 225 markets across the U.S. It offers more than 450 free-streaming channels, including a Local Now channel in every DMA in the country, as well as more than 18,000 movies, TV shows, and documentaries.
