[T-325]

Locast is now operational in the greater Orlando area. Go to locast.org. You will need to make a $60.5 a year donation to eliminate pop up ads. Fills the gap for local tv when your antenna doesn’t provide enough coverage.
There is an Amazon fire app and iPad app for locast.
Enjoy

[jerseyvillager]

There is also an app for Roku. Search Channels for locast.org.

The service works with Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku streaming platforms, among others.This is what cord cutters have been waiting for. No need for antennas. This will provide most local stations, at least the ones you'll need. Great picture quality and sound.

My suggestion is to subscribe to CBS All-Access and Hulu Plus. This will give you CBS, NBC, ABC, CW and many others for less that $25 a month (next day viewing). Not really necessary as that programming will come via Locast but this pretty much eliminates the need for a VCR/Recorder. Also eliminates commercials. You can go cheaper with the versions that include advertising but who wants to watch commercials.

This will not provide Cable News stations like Fox News, CNBC, CNN, Golf Channel, etc.

Good Luck! This is like Xmas for Cord Cutters.

[Carla B]

Thanks, you all. After six years, our attic antenna is failing to do the job, so I'll check into Locast right away for the local channels. If it works, that's all we need, along with Roku.

[Mleeja]

Hummmm? Are you limited to Orlando or can a person receive channels from any of the 48 cities listed?

[T-325]

You are limited to the Orlando market by the geopositioning feature on your device. That's why we are just now able to use locast. So if you travel to Boston you should be able to watch The Boston stations. However... just maybe with a VPN or a web browser extension like "Location Guard" you may have some success watching the programing from another Locast market.

From the FAQ of the chrome extension "Location guard"....

The privacy level can be set to "Use fixed location". In this case Location Guard always reports to the website a predefined fixed location that never changes (instead of generating a fake location by adding noise to the real one). This offers the highest privacy, since the reported location is completely independent from the real one, at the cost of very low accuracy.

You can modify the fixed location from the Fixed Location tab.

When using a fixed Location, the browser's geolocation is not performed at all. This offers better privacy, since the list of WIFI access points is not transmitted to Google's servers. However, it has the side effect that the permission dialog is not displayed at all. This behavior is usually acceptable when the fixed location is dummy, but it can be modified if you wish.

[Regor]

If you use Android it is very easy to "Fake" the GPS on your phone. Then you can watch any of the markets where Locast is.

[PoolBrews]

I tried using this for a while - paid the fee to suppress ads. Any time a big event is going on (i.e. football game, popular movie, etc), locast freezes and gets garbled. They don't have enough bandwidth to service everyone that used the service.

It was far too much hit and miss (mostly miss) for me. If you're OK with saving a few $$ to get poor quality feeds, have at it.

[Aloha1]

If this is tied to Google, count me out.

[jerseyvillager]

Let's watch the playoff games on Sunday and see what kind of service we get.

[Carla B]

I read some reviews of the service. You absolutely need to subscribe to get programming free from interruption by the station pleading for donations every few minutes. I wonder how hard it is to unsubscribe and discontinue payment.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by Mleeja

Hummmm? Are you limited to Orlando or can a person receive channels from any of the 48 cities listed?

If you have a VPN and know how to use it, you can switch to watching locals from another city. For example, I have used Locast to watch Bears games on the Chicago Fox channel.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by Carla B

I read some reviews of the service. You absolutely need to subscribe to get programming free from interruption by the station pleading for donations every few minutes. I wonder how hard it is to unsubscribe and discontinue payment.

You simply pay monthly.

[Indy-Guy]

C;ark Howard review of Locast

4 Things to Know Before You Sign Up for Locast - Clark Howard

[Battlebasset]

I literally just remembered this today from reading about it a few months ago and gave it a try. Didn't realize they just added Orlando so this is perfect. I only have internet down here, but I am able to authenticate individual apps on Roku with my full cable package up north, but there aren't apps for most of the OTA stations. However, when that expires at the end of the year, it will be goodbye cable TV. This has the potential to save people alot of money. Don't be cheap, donate the minimum $5 per month to keep this going!

[Mleeja]

Do you have to donate before the app works? I have loaded on my Android TV box, have the program guide, but cannot get to the actual program. I have no problem donating, but I want to make sure it works first!

UPDATE: I answered my own question. My VPN is connected to Miami. I can get the Miami stations, but not Orlando. Just to confirm my this, I changed my VPN connection to Dallas. Yep, I got the Dallas stations. My VPN service does not have a server located in Orlando. I will need to use Locast without a VPN or watch the local stations in other cities.