Allen Media Group's Local Now Starts Streaming PBS Stations

By Jon Lafayette
( Broadcasting & Cable )
last updated

PBS's Kids 24/7 channel also carried on Local Now

Local Now and PBS logos
(Image credit: Allen Media Group/PBS)

Allen Media Group’s free streaming service Local Now said it made a deal with PBS to carry live streams of PBS’s local stations.

Local Now will also stream PBS’s Kids 24/7 channel.

“This exciting partnership helps us continue to meet viewers everywhere they are with the quality content they expect from PBS,” said PBS Chief Digital and Marketing Officer Ira Rubenstein. “By providing an accessible platform through Local Now, PBS stations will be empowered to expand their digital footprint and engage new audiences with locally-produced and distributed programming. It’s all part of supporting and boosting the presence of our PBS stations in the communities we serve.”

PBS has made earlier deals to have its stations streamed with YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream. Unlike those subscription services, Local Now is available free.

“The addition of local PBS stations is a major achievement for Local Now and cements our position as the leader of free-streaming local news and entertainment in America,” said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group, parent company of Local Now. “Viewers of all ages know and love PBS and soon they will be able to stream this amazing content for free, anytime on our free-streaming service Local Now.”

Participating PBS stations reaching audiences in more than 300 markets and cities across the country will become available on Local Now over the next few months, with the full launch completed in 2023.

Local Now viewers will be able to watch locally produced shows, educational series, PBS favorites including PBS NewsHour, Frontline and Antiques Roadshow.

Earlier this year, Allen Media Group launched the PBS Digital Studios FAST channel on Local Now. The FAST channel offers original series and short-form content that explore science, arts, culture and more.

Local Now provides localized news, weather, sports, traffic, and entertainment, produced by various news organizations in more than 225 markets across the U.S. It offers more than 450 free-streaming channels, including a Local Now channel in every DMA in the country. ■

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.