AT&T to Donate $500,000 to Locast Operator Sports

Fans Coalition NY

AT&T is donating $500,000 to non-profit advocacy group Sports Fans Coalition NY (SFCNY), which operates the Locast public service app that offers users access to local broadcast TV stations via the Internet. This donation will support SFCNY’s mission to make free broadcast content available to consumers and offer them more choice.

Locast retransmits ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and other local over-the-air broadcast signals licensed to serve their communities streamed live via the Internet. Locast is now available to more than 32 million users in 13 cities – New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington, Houston, Boston, Denver, Baltimore and Rapid City and Sioux Falls SD – representing nearly a third of all U.S. TV homes. AT&T added the Locast interactive app to its DIRECTV and U-verse receivers on May 30. AT&T also continues to offer its complimentary Local Channel Connector service when a local station is otherwise unavailable. The Local Channel Connector provides stations’ over-the-air digital signals via a free digital broadcast antenna and enables customers to select channels using the program guide.

Sports Fans Coalition NY (SFCNY) is a New York-based non-profit, fan-advocacy group formed in 2017. It launched the Locast service in New York City on Jan. 11, 2018, and has been expanding coverage by one city every other month over the past year and a half. Locast added two more cities two weeks ago with new service in Rapid City and Sioux Falls, SD. Most recently, last week, Locast added Los Angeles and San Francisco. Locast has stated it intends to expand service to cover the entire nation as quickly as possible through private donations and other support.