MIAMI—Locast has announced that viewers in South Florida are now being given free local TV access over the internet through its TV streaming service. Locast will be available in the Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Fla., TV markets, which has 6.8 million TV viewers, per Locast.
Through the Locast service, local viewers can tune into local TV channels on their mobile and streaming devices to stay informed of local news, emergency information, election coverage, sports and entertainment.
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale DMA viewers will have access to more than 40 local channels. West Palm Beach viewers will have 28 channels. English and Spanish-language channels will be available.
Locast is a nonprofit that provides free access to local TV channels, while asking for donations to maintain operations. To date, it serves 21 U.S. markets and has more than 1.4 million users, it reports.
Locast says that it is able to provide these channels for free under the Copyright Act of 1976, which allows nonprofit translators to rebroadcast local TV stations without a copyright license. However, this stance is being challenged in court by the major broadcasters, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
For more information, visit www.locast.org.
