New app this morning (locast beta)

[mwdxer1]

I would like to see this as a means of delivering all of the local subchannels to our receivers, and also as a possible work-around during local channel disputes. I won't know for sure what this actually does until it becomes available here in the Cleveland market. Two of our channels are now off Dish (WKYC - NBC, and WQHS - Univision) so it would be nice to have a streaming option.

I would LOVE to have a complete list of stations in the market with sub channels out here on the coast. We have a few translators, but some stations do not have translators. I have been hoping to get more OTA streaming. Comet streams on the Roku, Charge! streams on the computer, Stadium streams on the Roku. I am waiting for more of that!

 

[mwdxer1]

Okay, so now we are back down to just one missing channel. (Dish and Tegna reached a deal, so WKYC is back.) It would still be cool to have the streaming option, though.

When Dish dropped Tegna, I did not have access to NBC's programming app. NBC News, yes, but nothing else. Now it is back.

 

[pattykay]

Good morning hopper 3 DVR folks not in the apps section on your 52.0 remote press apps you will see a featured section scroll all way to your right to the locast app the app is still in beta so they are working on it and it's a start so far.

Yes, the Apps button works for a 52.0 or 50.0 remote. On a 40.0 remote, press the blue button. For a 54.0 remote, customize the function of one of the diamond buttons to go to the Apps bar.

 

[Howard Simmons]

Where do you find this app on the Hopper?


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It's in the apps at the end of the "Featured" portion of the apps. I have a Hopper2/Sling so I don't know on the Hopper3.

 

[Howard Simmons]

Pretty Cool. Got it on everything. Works great.

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What does it have on it? It's not available in my area yet.

 

[Foxbat]

It's not available in my area yet.

Same here, I assume that's because we're outside of the seven DMAs listed in Post #10.

 

[NYDutch]

There are no stations available in my current area, so I'll just add that the app is also available on the Hopper w/Sling...

 

[DishSubLA]

I have thought that this is pretty cool - Chicago had this option back in the early fall. But will this company get shut down like the Aereo did? Just seems like this is too good to be true to be able to get the locals without an antenna.

They are using the non-profit loophole to "translate" OTA signals and stream them via the internet only the OTA channels within the viewers DMA. It is quite legal and nothing the broadcasters can do about it (provided Locast is following the law to the letter, if you will) unless they--as in NAB--get their paid-for politicians to change the law, and NAB may actually attempt to amend the law if Locast gets too popular. Keep in mind that AFAIK, this is a live stream of OTA channels and there is no trick play nor DVR functionality with this service. Everybody I know views no trick play and no DVR functionality as a DEAL BREAKER, but it is something for those who can't get an OTA signal within their DMA.

FWIW, Amazon Fire TV Recast, while it does depend upon an antenna for OTA reception, seems to be the best solution to an affordable OTA DVR. It is much, much, much cheaper than TiVo, and it has a LOCAL storage solution, so one can DVR to heart's content and that content can never be taken away from you, and it can reside on your HDD for as long as you wish--or the HDD lives. The best model has 4 tuners, but only 2 active streams at one time (it re-encodes on the fly). I plan to wait on the Recast next generation hoping for improvements. All this for NO EXTRA FEES. You buy the Fire Recast TV and that is ALL YOU EVER PAY for the Recast to function (you will need to connect it to an OTA antenna). While not a perfect device, the cost is the main draw for me, and I already have Fire TV's throughout the house. I have heard that it re-encods to 720p, but cheapskate cord cutters aren't going to find any fault with that: they just want to see their OTA content well enough to enjoy it. I can live with it, too, if I were trying to save money in regards to my TV watching, and I really LOVE that I only have to pay the purchase price and everything works; no additional fees. Perhaps, not everyone's solution, but I suspect Amazon will sell quite a bit of these Recasts.

 

[pattykay]

They are using the non-profit loophole to "translate" OTA signals and stream them via the internet only the OTA channels within the viewers DMA. It is quite legal and nothing the broadcasters can do about it (provided Locast is following the law to the letter, if you will) unless they--as in NAB--get their paid-for politicians to change the law, and NAB may actually attempt to amend the law if Locast gets too popular.

Then, two things have to happen. First, Locast needs to quickly roll out this service to as many markets as possible. Then, we all need to let Congress know how important this service is to us, so that they will grandfather all existing Locast customers, just like they did with the distant networks during that big fight back in 1999.

Keep in mind that AFAIK, this is a live stream of OTA channels and there is no trick play nor DVR functionality with this service.

Yes, that is correct.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

It would not surprise me to see DISH help seed this project so that it speeds up deployment. This ultimately would be a HUGE cost savings to DISH. They would be able to provide locals to people yet would no longer have to pay for them.

 

[pattykay]

It would not surprise me to see DISH help seed this project so that it speeds up deployment. This ultimately would be a HUGE cost savings to DISH. They would be able to provide locals to people yet would no longer have to pay for them.

...and they could use this to provide all of the local channels in the market (including subchannels) which would finally allow them to better compete against the cable providers.

 

[bluegras]

v

It would not surprise me to see DISH help seed this project so that it speeds up deployment. This ultimately would be a HUGE cost savings to DISH. They would be able to provide locals to people yet would no longer have to pay for them.

very good point scott so far there are 6 or 7 cities on their twitter account they need more money to grow to other DMA in the country

 

[dweber]

It would not surprise me to see DISH help seed this project so that it speeds up deployment. This ultimately would be a HUGE cost savings to DISH. They would be able to provide locals to people yet would no longer have to pay for them.

The huge negative would be the fact that you can not DVR local stations. I hardly ever watch “live TV” anymore. Even sports I watch delayed so that I can skip through the commercials. It saves a lot of time. In fact I will always keep my Dish locals even though I can receive both Dayton and Columbus OTA signals. I enjoy watching with auto-hop while walking on my treadmill. I don’t need to use a remote.


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[Juan]

Anybody know what people are behind locast?

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[pattykay]

very good point scott so far there are 6 or 7 cities on their twitter account they need more money to grow to other DMA in the country

Maybe Satelliteguys could set up a fund that we could donate to, in order to help them out. Maybe some kind of a bundle deal, where a donation to Locast would be included in the cost of a Pub Membership, if we choose that option.

 

[Juan]

Anybody know what people are behind locast?

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Its interesting to see who started the service

Free streaming TV service launches in New York. But is it legal?

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[comfortably_numb]

Expect station ownership groups to fight this viciously.

 

[Juan]

Its interesting to see who started the service

Free streaming TV service launches in New York. But is it legal?

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Even better.......

But Sports Fans Coalition founder David Goodfriend, a former lawyer for Dish Network and Air America Radio, said the key difference is his group is not doing this for profit.

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[pattykay]

Expect station ownership groups to fight this viciously.

I think they already are. It is probably not a coincidence that the Tegna take-down occurred at around the same time that this app became available on Dish receivers.

 

[Bobby]

I think they already are. It is probably not a coincidence that the Tegna take-down occurred at around the same time that this app became available on Dish receivers.

Do you mean that the end of the contract date had little to do with it? Keep in mind that Locast is an app that has been available via the internet for a while. It has been available on Roku and AppleTV for that same while. I seriously doubt that Hopper availability has anything to do with the Tegna negotiations.