It’s a well-known fact that people from Michigan (where Solid Signal is based) don’t always jibe with people from Ohio. But hey, I’m not like that. Ohio or Michigan, it doesn’t matter to me as long as you are a big supporter of over-the-air television. A lot of folks are lucky enough to get over-the-air TV using an antenna. Many of them have bought those antennas from us. But, for those who can’t or won’t put up an antenna, there’s Locast.
Spreading fast across the US
Locast has been aggressively moving to serve more and more of the country, and they’ve opened up their 30th market in Cleveland. This includes Akron, Ashland, Ashtabula, Canton, Mansfield and Sandusky. If you live in one of those cities, you can get 70 local channels in the Cleveland market, including WKYC NBC 3, WEWS ABC 5, WJW FOX 8, WOIO CBS 19, PBS and PBS Kids, as well as DABL, Univision, Azteca America, CourtTV, Mystery, MeTV, TrueCrime, QUBO, Circle, The CW, BOUNCE, Movies!, LAFF, COMET, cheddar, ION, GRIT, Charge!, and more.
I’m impressed by Locast
I recently had the opportunity to talk to David Goodfriend, founder and chair of Locast. While a lot of what was said was “not for publication,” I have to say I was impressed. I know that there are people who don’t understand why Locast does what it does. There are those who claim there’s some nefarious purpose there. The truth couldn’t be further from that accusation. Locast sure seems to be exactly what they say they are. They’re a non-profit that’s dedicated to helping people get their local channels when antenna TV isn’t an option.
In that way they help local broadcasters by showing their ads, and keep local news reporting alive at a time when it’s vitally needed.
Is Locast an option for you?
According to their web site, Locast now serves over 50% of the population of the country by providing local channels in larger cities. You’ll find them in:
- Atlanta
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Charlotte
- Chicago
- Cleveland
- Dallas
- Denver
- Detroit
- Houston
- Indianapolis
- Los Angeles
- Madison
- Miami
- Minneapolis
- New York
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- Phoenix
- Puerto Rico
- Rapid City
- Sacramento
- San Francisco
- Scranton
- Seattle
- Sioux City
- Sioux Falls
- Tampa Bay
- Washington DC
- West Palm Beach
And you’ll be able to use Locast on all these devices:
That covers pretty much all standalone devices as well as some smart TVs. Not so bad!
Of course antenna TV is better but…
Honestly if you have the opportunity you should get an antenna and get free live TV. But this isn’t an option for everyone, and if it’s not an option for you, I can highly recommend Locast.
