In the increasingly crowded market for video streaming, Locast.org stands out because it's being offered for free by the non-profit Sports Fan Coalition New York and is operating without the permission of the broadcast networks.
Locast.org, which is only available in the New York City area, receives over-the-air broadcasts and retransmits them online as a continuous high-definition live stream signal. The service is seeking donations from viewers to fund its operations and timed its launch for this weekend’s NFL playoffs. Eventually, the service plans to expand to other markets. It went live Thursday at Noon.
“Broadcasters use licenses worth billions of dollars and got those licenses for free from the American public," said David Goodfriend, Chairman of SFCNY and Founder of Locast.org, in a press release. “Some people can’t receive their local broadcaster’s over-the-air signal, either because they live too far from the transmitter or in a household where broadcast signals won’t reach, like a basement apartment. Locast.org provides a solution where viewers can watch local broadcast stations online without paying an arm and a leg for it.”
Broadcasters, not surprisingly, aren’t rolling out the red carpet for Locast.org, which is targeting the top U.S. media market where the networks -- Walt Disney’s (DIS) ABC, Comcast's (CMCSA) NBC, CBS (CBS) and 21st Century Fox’s (FOXA) Fox -- each own local television stations. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the industry’s main trade group, argues that Locast.org is illegal.
“Over the years, numerous services from Aereo to FilmOn have tried to find creative ways to skirt the communications and copyright laws that protect local broadcasters and our tens of millions of viewers,” according to the NAB. “Without more details, this effort by the Sports Fan Coalition sounds like the latest such effort. We are deeply skeptical that this service will survive legal scrutiny where its predecessors have failed.”
Broadcasters shell out billions annually for the rights to carry sports, one of the few genres of programming that most viewers watch live. They also earn billions in fees from cable and satellite providers who carry their content. Sports leagues including the NFL, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and the National Basketball League, also won’t be thrilled with Locast.org since it might jeopardize the video streaming services they have marketed to fans in recent years.
Officials with the leagues didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.
According to the Coalition, non-profit operators of television services are exempted from the Copyright Act and may retransmit local broadcast signal and even charge a fee to cover their costs. It argues Locast.org operates similarly to non-profit “translator” stations that retransmit over-the-air broadcast signals to boost their strength. These devices have helped ensure public access to broadcast programming for decades.
Not surprisingly, Goodfriend expects the Locast.org to be challenged.
"We're going to give it a shot and we're going to get sued," he told Broadcasting & Cable, a trade publication.
The Coalition, though, is no stranger to battling sports leagues and broadcasters.
In 2014, the FCC decided to abandon its support for the NFL's controversial Blackout Rule at the organization's behest. The League has subsequently suspended the policy, which doesn't allow broadcasters to show games in markets that aren't sold out though it has yet to heed the organization's call to scrap the rule outright.
