Local News
With the Fox blackout dragging on, Local TV+ became the go-to workaround for fans two weekends in a row.
When Verizon Fios customers across Massachusetts scrambled for a way to watch the Patriots–Jets game during the ongoing Fox blackout, an unlikely hero kept popping up on Reddit threads: a free local TV app called Local TV+.
Fans praised the app for giving them access to the broadcast — no trials, no contracts, no strings attached.
Local TV+, a nonprofit, streams local news stations to iOS and Android users in beta in the Boston metro area.
The app allows users to watch local news, network shows, live sports, and educational programming without a traditional cable subscription. The app also enables AirPlay to TVs.
“What we’re seeing is people come for sports, and they stick around for the nightly news, which is what our goal was,” said Michael Israel, one of the founders.
In late 2023, three founders, Israel, Anu Pokharel, and Alex Yaegle, teamed up to start Mass Local TV Inc., a nonprofit to help underserved communities by providing free and equitable access to broadcast TV.
Pokharel provides engineering services, Yaegle design, and Israel supports the business side.
It is an all-volunteer organization, with all donations directed to equipment and operational costs, including servers and bandwidth.
The idea began when the founders considered “people, once upon a time, had (free) access to television,” said Israel. “It was a basic right, and they should have that again. Everyone should have access to local news, local sports, local everything.”
And they asked themselves, “What can we do to help?”
Given their expertise, they began with the iOS app and are still beta-testing the Android app.
As a nonprofit, they are allowed to rebroadcast the transmission. They have an antenna up, and they receive the transmission. It passes through their server, then they rebroadcast it via their apps. They do not change or modify the signal in any way. It’s simply a retransmission.
The FCC requires that over-the-air broadcasts through antennas must remain free for consumers to access, as they are a public service using shared airwaves. Israel said the nonprofit is helping users access this right.
Game day
The nonprofit had been running quietly and steadily, working out bugs with help from Reddit users and slowly building an audience.
Then came Sunday, Dec. 28 — and everything changed.
Unbeknownst to the Local TV+ team, a contract dispute between Verizon Fios and Cox Media Group had left thousands of sports fans in the dark, unable to watch the Patriots game.
Suddenly, the modest app jumped from a few thousand users to roughly 30,000 concurrent viewers.
A week later, on Sunday, Jan. 4, when the Patriots faced the Dolphins, the surge continued: the nonprofit added 9,000 new users in a single day and had 24,000 people streaming. Before the blackout, Israel said even a spike of 800 users “was considered significant.”
“It was massive growth for us,” he said.
Israel emphasized that Local TV+ is independent and has no stake in any broadcast negotiations.
However, the spike in users also led to exponential cost increases tied to concurrent users.
The nonprofit relies entirely on donations. Israel said they received enough contributions to cover Sunday’s game, but more support is needed — especially with the Patriots heading into the playoffs. An average $20 donation, he noted, “more than covers someone’s usage for a month or two.”
“People come for these big events, and then they stick around because it’s helpful,” Israel said. “Any donation helps, honestly.”
Beyond sports, Israel said the app helps people access trustworthy local news. They even saw a smaller spike in usage following the recent MIT professor and Brown University shootings.
On Sunday, Local TV+ broke into the top 100 apps on the App Store for the first time.
The team hopes to expand next, including bringing the service to New York, where Israel is based. They’re also seeking donations, technically minded volunteers, and support in securing grants.
“It’s a group of people that want to help out,” Israel said. “I know it’s rare to see that nowadays.”
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