Locast gives you access to a whole range of broadcast television stations over the internet. It streams its signals online in select American cities and allows you to watch dozens of local channels on an array of streaming devices for free.
But if you are thinking of signing up for the streaming service so that you can stream local channels for free, you will first need to determine whether Locast is available in your city.
So, is Locast available in your area? Locast is available in 25 cities across the United States. They are:
New York, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Puerto Rico, Rapid City, San Francisco, Scranton, Seattle, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Tampa Bay, Washington DC, West Palm Beach.
How can I watch Locast on my TV?
The first thing you need to do before watching Locast is to sign up for the service. After creating an account with your email and password, the next step is to activate Locast on your streaming device. Here is how:
- Download the Locast app to watch live local TV. The application is available on a variety of devices, including Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV or Android TV. You can get them from respective app stores.
- Open the app to view the activation screen.
- Go to locast.org.
- Click Activate at the top of the webpage.
- Enter the activation code and click on Submit.
Your screen will refresh to display your Live TV Guide.
We have created a complete Locast activation guide that helps you install and activate the streaming platform on different devices.
Make sure to check it out if you are experiencing issues when activating Locast or accessing its channels.
Note that you do not need to activate Locast if you are accessing the service via a web browser. All you need is to log in to your account and go to Live TV Guide to start watching local content.
How does Locast determine your location?
Locast uses geolocation to determine a user’s physical location. Once it finds your area, it matches that data to what it refers to as Designated Market Areas.
If you are within the zones where it provides its services, you will access the channels available.
Locast will prompt you to allow it to access your geolocation when you launch the app or access the website on your computer or mobile device.
Ensure you have enabled location services on your streaming device to avoid being denied access.
Although Locast uses geolocation to figure out where you are streaming from, sometimes it may show you are in a different area from where you live currently.
In most cases, Locast shows the wrong location to users on devices such as Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, and Fire TV. The main reason is these devices do not have in-built GPS/location services.
If you are getting a location error while using any of the named devices, here is what you should do:
- Log out of Locast.
- Open the app on your Smart TV to display the activation code.
- Re-activate the service by visiting locast.org/activate.
- Enter the activation code and submit.
Once your screen refreshes, Locast will detect your location anew.
Can Locast work with a VPN?
A VPN can protect your online privacy and spoof your online location. Because of Locast geolocation, you cannot access the service if you are outside of the USA or if you live in a city where the broadcast is not available.
While a VPN allows you to stream live channels from any location, ensure that you are not infringing any laws. Locast is nowadays strict on this issue and may detect that you are using a VPN.
Using different servers might provide a short-term solution. However, you can only get a seamless streaming experience when you stream what you are allowed to watch legally.
How to change your location
You cannot change your location on Locast. The local TV streaming service uses geo-fencing technology to ensure that if you are outside of a Designated Market Area or boundary, you cannot receive the programming stream.
However, you can change your location by using a VPN or tweaking some settings on your browser. Here is how:
How to change your location on Firefox to view Locast
You can mask your location in Firefox using the methods below:
- Open a new tab in your browser and type about:config.
- Accept the warning displayed if you want to proceed to the next steps.
- Scroll through to locate the setting labeled enabled.
- Turn the value of the column from “true” to “false”. Ensure to double-click to change the setting.
At this point, Firefox will not track your location. You can set a new one by doing the following:
- Scroll through the same page to locate wifi.uri or geo.provider.network.url, depending on your browser version.
- Change the location to the one you want to access Locast content.
- In this case, you will have to enter a specific longitude and latitude value.
Ideally, your code should be as:
– data:application/json, {“location”:{“latitude”:X,”longitude”:Y,”accuracy”:10}}, where X is the area’s latitude and Y is the longitude value.
How to change your location on Chrome to view Locast
If you are using Chrome, do the following:
- Open a browser window.
- Press CTRL+SHIFT+I for Windows or CMD+OPTION+I for Mac.
- The Chrome Developer Tools will open.
- Press ESC on your keyboard, then click the Console menu.
- Select Sensors.
- Change the Geolocation dropdown to Custom Location.
Enter the latitude and longitude values that you want. Once done, log out of Locast and sign in again to see whether it works.
Is Locast legal?
Locast is a non-profit entity that retransmits broadcast signals under the Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. 111(a)(5)). The federal act allows Locast to operate by rebroadcasting local stations without obtaining a copyright license.
That means it does not need to get rights from a broadcaster to bring you its content and it can collect fees from the viewers to cover its operating costs.
But in 2019, several broadcasters in the United States, including CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC sued Locast. The Locast lawsuit claims that the non-profit organization infringed on the broadcasters’ rights under the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq.).
Their primary complaint is that, unlike licensed cable, streaming services, and satellite, Locast neither obtains their permission nor pays for the rebroadcasting.
Since then, Locast filed a countersuit and the broadcasters filed another motion to dismiss its claims. The legal challenge is ongoing at the time of this writing.
Conclusion
You can stream all your local channels for free using Locast. But for that to happen, the service must be within your area. Currently, there are only 25 cities where Locast is available as of now.