Locast TV Service

[Mleeja]

For all the Locast users, bad news.

Locast Nation

As a non-profit, Locast was designed from the very beginning to operate in accordance with the strict letter of the law, but in response to the court’s recent rulings, with which we respectfully disagree, we are hereby suspending operations, effective immediately.


Thank you.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

I personally am glad , if everyone gets tv for free , who pays for programs and from all the talk on here you got what you paid for which seemed to be a lot of aggravation , call me stupid but at this age and having a few bucks to spend I just want to turn on my tv and watch it without banging a lot of buttons or buying things from flea markets that get closed down by police

[retiredguy123]

Locast called themselves a "non-profit" but what did they do with the "donations" that you had to pay to avoid the very annoying commercial interruptions to their programs?

[graciegirl]

What are y'all talkin' about?

What is/was Locast TV?

Was it local?

Who, what, why, when, how?

I found this. Apparently started in New York. Was it here?
Locast
Locast
Locast was an American non-profit streaming television service that allowed users to view live streams of over-the-air television stations. These signals are sourced from antennas in each market it served. Founded by attorney David Goodfriend under the banner of the Sports Fans Coalition, Locast first launched in New York City in January 2018.

[retiredguy123]

What are y'all talkin' about?

What is/was Locast TV?

Was it local?

Who, what, why, when, how?

I found this. Apparently started in New York. Was it here?
Locast
Locast
Locast was an American non-profit streaming television service that allowed users to view live streams of over-the-air television stations. These signals are sourced from antennas in each market it served. Founded by attorney David Goodfriend under the banner of the Sports Fans Coalition, Locast first launched in New York City in January 2018.
Apparently, they transferred free over-the-air television channels, and put them on the internet. You could access it for free, but every 15 seconds or so they bugged you to "donate" about 5 dollars per month to stop the requests for money. So, while they claimed the service was free, it really wasn't. Not a good service, and not really a non-profit. My opinion.

[Bill14564]

I personally am glad , if everyone gets tv for free , who pays for programs and from all the talk on here you got what you paid for which seemed to be a lot of aggravation , call me stupid but at this age and having a few bucks to spend I just want to turn on my tv and watch it without banging a lot of buttons or buying things from flea markets that get closed down by police

Did locast provide any channels that are not normally free? I thought their purpose was to provide over the internet what should already be available over the air.

Some people are not able to receive channels over the air that were available to them before the digital broadcast update a few years ago. Others are in valleys or other obstructions that prevent them from receiving the channels in their area. Locast provided a way for these people to receive the channels from their market without having to pay exorbitant prices for cable PLUS any local channel access fee. Essentially, they replaced your antenna with the internet to provide you with the free channels in your local area.

If they provided pay channels for free then I can see the problem. I have no sympathy at all for the local broadcasters if they are complaining because households in their area are receiving Locast for free rather than paying for they channels through local channel access fees to the cable company.

[retiredguy123]

I don't know if they provided any pay channels, but the problem I have is that they were charging people for the free channels. They claimed to be a non-profit, but then they extorted money from people by making it almost impossible to watch the free stuff without making bogus donations. Sounds like a scam to me.

[Carla B]

Well, I guess we're back to going without local news and weather. It was nice as long as it lasted.

[LuvtheVillages]

Apparently, they transferred free over-the-air television channels, and put them on the internet. You could access it for free, but every 15 seconds or so they bugged you to "donate" about 5 dollars per month to stop the requests for money. So, while they claimed the service was free, it really wasn't. Not a good service, and not really a non-profit. My opinion.

Like most non-profits, I'm sure they needed to purchase equipment, pay utilities, have insurance, and hire employees. The $5 donation allows them to pay these normal operating expenses. Whether the donations were sufficient to generate a surplus, or if there was a deficit, we don't know.

Even a non-profit organization needs operating cash.

[retiredguy123]

Like most non-profits, I'm sure they needed to purchase equipment, pay utilities, have insurance, and hire employees. The $5 donation allows them to pay these normal operating expenses. Whether the donations were sufficient to generate a surplus, or if there was a deficit, we don't know.

Even a non-profit organization needs operating cash.
I agree, but it appears that the only reason for becoming a non-profit was because it would be illegal to charge people to watch free over-the-air channels. They could be sued by the free networks. Many people who set up and operate non-profit companies pay almost all of the extra income to themselves as a salary. Also, there are many streaming services that provide pay channels for about the same cost as the donations that Locast asked for.

[Regor]

They only put up Local stations that you could get with an antenna and around here a booster. All the channels were free. The small $5.50 a month was well worth it. I have a small (non business) web site. The site and with the cost of the domain name, costs me more than $60 a year. Not sure how much a large, web presence and staff to run it would cost, but I don't think they made a lot of profit.

[retiredguy123]

They only put up Local stations that you could get with an antenna and around here a booster. All the channels were free. The small $5.50 a month was well worth it. I have a small (non business) web site. The site and with the cost of the domain name, costs me more than $60 a year. Not sure how much a large, web presence and staff to run it would cost, but I don't think they made a lot of profit.
I don't know how much profit they made. But, as a example, you can get more than 20 channels, including Hallmark, The Weather Channel, and other pay channels from "frndly" for $5.99 per month. But, the point is that they were skirting the law by charging people for free content, pretending to be a non-profit company, and avoiding taxes. I think it was appropriate to shut them down.

[Bill14564]

I agree, but it appears that the only reason for becoming a non-profit was because it would be illegal to charge people to watch free over-the-air channels. They could be sued by the free networks. Many people who set up and operate non-profit companies pay almost all of the extra income to themselves as a salary. Also, there are many streaming services that provide pay channels for about the same cost as the donations that Locast asked for.

Could you list a couple of streaming services that provide live local tv for a price similar to Locast? Hulu and YouTube each charge about ten times what Locast was requesting. (I believe Roku is in the same range but I can't confirm that)

[retiredguy123]

Could you list a couple of streaming services that provide live local tv for a price similar to Locast? Hulu and YouTube each charge about ten times what Locast was requesting. (I believe Roku is in the same range but I can't confirm that)
I don't think there are any. The best source to compare streaming services and match up the channels you want is a website called "suppose.tv". Using that site, and listing the 4 local channels, the lowest price is Xfinity for $43.15 per month.

[wlasowicz]

If any of you look at your cable bill for tv the local broadcaster charge you $15 This is not dictated by the cable company but by the local broadcaster for the right of cable companies to broadcast their stations , guess I'll have to invest in a antenna

[Carla B]

There are no streaming services but none broadcasting local "live" TV. One streaming service is "NewsOn." Yes, you can pick up select faraway stations, as well as Orlando stations, but the news is not news, it is streamed from early in the day or the night before. Useless.

ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. sell access to their content to Comcast and the like, probably for a high price. Comcast then sells the content to their subscribers and unless the customer pays extra for High Def, they get an inferior transmission to that by antenna which is in high def. At least that's the way it was when we had Comcast for TV. Maybe the courts ought to look into the practice of broadcasters selling "free" content, period.

[retiredguy123]

There are no streaming services but none broadcasting local "live" TV. One streaming service is "NewsOn." Yes, you can pick up select faraway stations, as well as Orlando stations, but the news is not news, it is streamed from early in the day or the night before. Useless.

ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. sell access to their content to Comcast and the like, probably for a high price. Comcast then sells the content to their subscribers and unless the customer pays extra for High Def, they get an inferior transmission to that by antenna which is in high def. At least that's the way it was when we had Comcast for TV. Maybe the courts ought to look into the practice of broadcasters selling "free" content, period.
Please explain. Why shouldn't ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox be able to sell their copyrighted content to Comcast for resale to Comcast customers? Why should the courts get involved?

[Carla B]

Well, just wishful thinking, I guess, no explanation.

[MSchad]

I had the service and enjoyed it. Watched Orlando Wesh 2 and Fox 35 news. Could also get it via a web browser so could watch from anywhere.

[Jhnidy]

I don't know if they provided any pay channels, but the problem I have is that they were charging people for the free channels. They claimed to be a non-profit, but then they extorted money from people by making it almost impossible to watch the free stuff without making bogus donations. Sounds like a scam to me.

By coincidence, if you recorded locast programing like with stremium the donation requests did not appear. I did pay the 5.50 but it was not required.

[Heyitsrick]

There are no streaming services but none broadcasting local "live" TV. One streaming service is "NewsOn." Yes, you can pick up select faraway stations, as well as Orlando stations, but the news is not news, it is streamed from early in the day or the night before. Useless.

This is incorrect. You can see "live" news when the station is actually broadcasting live news. Otherwise, you will get a choice of various repeats of full newscasts or clips.

Example: As I write this, it's 6:26am (eastern) on Friday. I went to the Newson website and selected "Florida" from the master list. From there, I selected WKMG from the available stations menu. They are airing live news at this time, and newson is showing it live. Here's a screen shot of the access page for watching WKMG at this time I'm writing:

https://i.imgur.com/GxQQyL1.jpg

[Jhnidy]

I personally am glad , if everyone gets tv for free , who pays for programs and from all the talk on here you got what you paid for which seemed to be a lot of aggravation , call me stupid but at this age and having a few bucks to spend I just want to turn on my tv and watch it without banging a lot of buttons or buying things from flea markets that get closed down by police

Don't complain about my antenna. You have removed my other choice.

[ithos]

Please correct me if I am wrong but I believe that local stations charge cable and internet streaming companies fees to broadcast their networks. Therefore Locast reduces the incentive of viewers to pay a subscription for their television.

local broadcast stations have begun demanding significant fees to carry programming that they offer for free over-the-air and via the Internet. We don’t think it’s fair to make customers pay for programming that others receive for free.

How Do Television Programming Costs Work? | RCN (https://www.rcn.com/hub/about-rcn/programming-costs/#:~:text=That's%20right%20%E2%80%93%20TV%20provide rs%20pay,that%20household%20watches%20the%20networ k.&text=At%20the%20same%20time%2C%20local,air%20and%2 0via%20the%20Internet).

[kathysue]

I liked Locast just for the major networks. Does anyone know how to get NBC, CBS, ABC and most importantly to me ION? Don't care about other channels. Is an antenna the way to go? I refuse to pay for cable anymore. Maybe some of you can afford to pay the $43+ every month but I can't. I have a Firestick in living room and Roku in bedroom which are fine but would really like the 3 major channels and Ion back in my living room.

[Hiltongrizz11]

I don't know if they provided any pay channels, but the problem I have is that they were charging people for the free channels. They claimed to be a non-profit, but then they extorted money from people by making it almost impossible to watch the free stuff without making bogus donations. Sounds like a scam to me.

They didn't extort money! You better look up the word extort.

[Hiltongrizz11]

Don't presume you know the reasons why they started it and why they were shut down. Your entire comments are complete speculation and you act just like the media does; you are putting your own personal bias and opinions in there.

[airstreamingypsy]

I don't know if they provided any pay channels, but the problem I have is that they were charging people for the free channels. They claimed to be a non-profit, but then they extorted money from people by making it almost impossible to watch the free stuff without making bogus donations. Sounds like a scam to me.

It wasn't a scam. It allowed people who can't get locals, to stream them. They didn't extort money from anyone, you had the choice not to pay the whole big 5.00 a month. Good grief.

[retiredguy123]

They didn't extort money! You better look up the word extort.
I did. Extort means to:

"obtain (something) by force, threats, or other unfair means."

It's true that Locast didn't force you to pay money, but I think it is unfair to make the viewing so difficult by interrupting the program so often that you could not enjoy it. It was also unfair to call the payments a "donation". Donations should be completely voluntary. But, my main issue with Locast was that they essentially violated the legal copyrights of the broadcasters, which I think is why the court ruled against them.

[Carla B]

This is incorrect. You can see "live" news when the station is actually broadcasting live news. Otherwise, you will get a choice of various repeats of full newscasts or clips.

Example: As I write this, it's 6:26am (eastern) on Friday. I went to the Newson website and selected "Florida" from the master list. From there, I selected WKMG from the available stations menu. They are airing live news at this time, and newson is showing it live. Here's a screen shot of the access page for watching WKMG at this time I'm writing:

https://i.imgur.com/GxQQyL1.jpg

Thank you. I will try that on NewsOn tonight at 6 pm for the Orlando stations.

[Queenie504]

There are none. Paramount+ is $9.99 month and gives you CBS live. Free Peacock gives you NBC shows a day late. I'm really sad and mad and will probably install a huge antenna ( as the little inside ones dont work at my house)

[Boston1945]

I personally am glad , if everyone gets tv for free , who pays for programs and from all the talk on here you got what you paid for which seemed to be a lot of aggravation , call me stupid but at this age and having a few bucks to spend I just want to turn on my tv and watch it without banging a lot of buttons or buying things from flea markets that get closed down by police

Think about this for one second. Thank God you don't live over in Ireland. You must purchase a license to watch TV. Back in 1962 licenses were introduced for TV viewing. When you purchase the TV at the store you will pay right on the spot. The current fee is 160 pounds (us dollars $221.70) That is for one year.
If you have a TV, or equipment capable of receiving a television signal (using an aerial, satellite dish, cable or other means), you must have a TV licence. This applies even if the TV is broken, as it is considered capable of being repaired.

You only need one TV licence per household, regardless of how many TVs you have in your home.

If you are living in an apartment or flat and have a TV, you need your own TV licence. A separate licence is required for each separate flat, apartment or other dwelling in a building.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Please explain. Why shouldn't ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox be able to sell their copyrighted content to Comcast for resale to Comcast customers? Why should the courts get involved?

I think many of you forget about the days of UHF and VHF TV, when content was paid for by...

advertisers.

Now, content is paid for by advertisers AND subscribers. They get paid double for the same content, from two different sources.

If you're watching ABC news, you're watching commercial TV. You pay for the privilege of seeing advertisements, which you might or might not want to see, and which the advertisers are also paying to present to you.

This was the #1 drawback to pay-tv, back in the day when cable first showed up. It was why ad-free TV was such a huge deal, even if you had to pay extra for it.

Now though, it doesn't matter what you watch. If you don't have an antenna and are watching TV shows on stations that you could normally see with an antenna for free, you are paying to watch advertisements.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Don't complain about my antenna. You have removed my other choice.
In all 6 neighborhoods I’ve lived in here , maybe that’s
Why I’m so happy . FYI I’m also happy with my direct tv and I love my NFL ticket and can’t wait till next week

[BlackhawksFan]

Apparently TiVo hasn't caught up yet at 1230 et USA network just ran a TiVo ad featuring Locast app for your local channels.

[Sparky25]

IMHO Locast is the best free tv service since over the air channels became available and that started before I was born. You got all your local tv channels that you would normally get with a tv antenna if we were closer to Orlando. They do interrupt the show every 15 minutes to ask for a $5 donation.If you send them a donation they use that money to expand their service to new markets where they have not served yet and then they don't ask again and then they don't interrupt you programming anymore with their plea for donations. If you can't afford the $5 and can live with a few more commercials it is free.

Locast is just a great service for those who don't need HBO or other add on services.

If you subscribe to Comcast / Xfinity they charge you an extra $8 a month for local channels that you will not use when you go away for extended periods of time.There should be a law against this type of theft.

The major cable companies with all their money are very happy that they are winning the battle against the small guys and the consumer.

[Doro22]

I personally am glad , if everyone gets tv for free , who pays for programs and from all the talk on here you got what you paid for which seemed to be a lot of aggravation , call me stupid but at this age and having a few bucks to spend I just want to turn on my tv and watch it without banging a lot of buttons or buying things from flea markets that get closed down by police

Yes I totally agree.

[nmanis]

I remember as a kid in the early 1960s at a family picnic a discussion of some news article of this idea called pay television. The idea was laughed off as who would pay for television when we can get it for free by antenna or rabbit ears.

[Mleeja]

It wasn't a scam. It allowed people who can't get locals, to stream them. They didn't extort money from anyone, you had the choice not to pay the whole big 5.00 a month. Good grief.

I did. Extort means to:

"obtain (something) by force, threats, or other unfair means."



It's true that Locast didn't force you to pay money, but I think it is unfair to make the viewing so difficult by interrupting the program so often that you could not enjoy it. It was also unfair to call the payments a "donation". Donations should be completely voluntary. But, my main issue with Locast was that they essentially violated the legal copyrights of the broadcasters, which I think is why the court ruled against them.

If you were a subscriber and payed attention, Locast was/is a not-for-profit organization. There was a notice at the bottom of the home page that donations were/are tax deductible.

[Carla B]

Heyitsrick, was able to watch the local news live per your suggestion on NewsOn. Now, do you have any suggestion to bring in the National News at 6:30 pm? Loaded streaming channels ABC, CBS, and NBC "Live.". The only one that comes close to national news is NBC but I don't think they are the regular hosts. At least, Lester Holt wasn't there last night.

Locast sent an email yesterday that the recurring autopay subscriptions have been cancelled.. One less thing for some of us to worry about.

[Ben Franklin]

Please explain. Why shouldn't ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox be able to sell their copyrighted content to Comcast for resale to Comcast customers? Why should the courts get involved?

It was the three major networks that sued Lowcast for copywrite infringement. I believe they sued because Lowcast wasn't paying them a copywrite fee. The presiding judge was appointed by Reagan.