NEW YORK—Locast has added TiVo to the list of platforms for which there is already a Locast app for that. Those include Apple iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, Amazon Firestick, Hopper, DirecTV and "multiple web browser platforms.”
Locast is the over-the-top (OTT) service that streams TV stations without having to negotiate with the station for carriage or pay a license fee. It uses a provision of copyright law that allows nonprofits to re-broadcast local stations.
“Access to local broadcast TV is important,” said David Goodfriend, chairman of the Sports Fans Coalition of New York, the nonprofit running Locast. “As proven by the local weather and emergency information disseminated during Hurricane Dorian, Americans rely on their local broadcast TV stations and their mobile wireless devices to receive valuable safety and public information. With Locast, critical information on broadcast TV is available anytime, anywhere to the public on numerous platforms, now including TiVo.”
Locast launched on Jan. 11, 2018. It is currently delivering most local TV stations to online viewers in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Boston, Washington, D.C., Denver, Baltimore, Sioux Falls, S.D, and Rapid City, S.D.
After remaining relatively quiet about the service, the Big Four broadcast nets filed suit against Locast in July, saying it was a commercial service in noncom's clothing.
