Locast is now live in Orlando, Florida. The confirmation of the latest supported area arrived on the same day that Locast went live in Charlotte, North Carolina. These two expansions in different states being announced on the same day is unusual for Locast, and could suggest the service is starting to expand more quickly in the U.S.
Locast began streaming in 2018. Although at the time, the service’s availability was extremely limited. Since then, the service has been expanding to new locations, albeit quite slowly. For example, Charlotte’s support today now represents the 28th market to gain access to Locast.
Following the latest expansion, Locast is now available to residents in nine counties in the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne designated market area (DMA). The counties now supported are: Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia.
According to the announcement, residents in any of these areas can now stream more than 70 local TV channels. These include WESH NBC 2, WOFL FOX 35, WFTV ABC 9, WKMG CBS 6, and PBS, among others.
Another option for those struggling with local live TV
Streaming local live TV channels has become somewhat of a pain point for consumers, due to some of the major live TV streaming services opting to drop support for local channels in some areas. A result of carriage disputes with channel owners, this has meant consumers have even fewer streaming options than ever before. However, Locast might prove to be a viable solution for any consumers affected by the lack of access to local sports, news and weather.
Locast is free to access, but users report the best and uninterrupted experience requires a donation. The smallest contribution that can be made is $5 and this is expected to be a regular contribution. In other words, any consumers who do opt to donate to Locast should expect to pay the same donation each month.
Locast explains these donations not only help the service to continue to operate and provide access to local live TV channels, but also to help it continue to expand to new areas. Those currently living in a non-supported area can also donate to Locate in the hope it will go live in their location. However, donating does not guarantee or even improve the chances of Locast arriving in any specific area any sooner.
Source: Locast
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