How Does Amazon Fire Stick Show Local TV Channels?

[DallasSteve]

A few years ago I subscribed to Locast to get my local TV channels free. The poor TV companies sued to shut them down and won so Locast is gone. A friend of mine was showing me that they can get local channels from many different cities using their Amazon Fire Stick. How does that work? Is it legal for them? Is it legal for me? Is it free? It looks like it's free.

[jcpainter]

Dennis Henderson wrote:

DallasSteve wrote:
Is it legal for them? Is it legal for me? Is it free? It looks like it's free.

As you saw by watching your friend's demonstration, you can get local live news through your Firestick.

No need to subscribe to any other service.

When you are on the home page, there is a tile marked "News" which will take you to another menu where you can choose "Local News."

Below is a tile that allows you to "Choose your favorite local channels."

We get live local Tampa news stations and live local Philadelphia news stations. No charge.

I cannot answer the questions about legality.

Hope this helps.

Dennis and Cindy Henderson
currently at the SKP Resort in Wauchula, FL

Thanks for this info!

[bob_nestor]

You can get your local channels with the DishAnywhere app installed on your Firestick BUT you need to have Dish at home. However it needs a Sling adapter installed on the home receiver and an internet connection. I have this setup on my old/discontinued Dish VIP222K (works with a VIP722 as well) and it works just fine. Actually it not only allows you to get your local channels but also any other Dish channel you're subscribed to.

I don't know what equipment is required to do this with the current generation of Dish equipment, i.e. the Hopper though.

Obviously you need to have a Dish receiver at home with the Sling adapter or equivalent, have it connected to the Internet and on. In your RV you'll need a way for the Firestick to access the Internet via WiFi. With all that in place you should be all set.

I've used this setup to watch all my local channels and Dish channels in my RV while camped in a friend's backyard in Alaska.

[Tom_M1]

Most TV stations stream their local news shows. The key word here is "local". They can not stream any network programming or any programming that they do not produce themselves. It is legal to watch a station's local news.

[Dennis_Henderso]

DallasSteve wrote:
Is it legal for them? Is it legal for me? Is it free? It looks like it's free.

As you saw by watching your friend's demonstration, you can get local live news through your Firestick.

No need to subscribe to any other service.

When you are on the home page, there is a tile marked "News" which will take you to another menu where you can choose "Local News."

Below is a tile that allows you to "Choose your favorite local channels."

We get live local Tampa news stations and live local Philadelphia news stations. No charge.

I cannot answer the questions about legality.

Hope this helps.

Dennis and Cindy Henderson
currently at the SKP Resort in Wauchula, FL

[Second_Chance]

The FireStick itself doesn't. You have to subscribe to one of the streaming services that offer live TV such as YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, etc.

Rob

[jcpainter]

They most likely have another app installed on their firestick that provides local channels. And that app is most likely is not free.