Locast, the free streaming provider of local TV stations which is facing a legal challenge from the broadcast networks, has added stations in the Madison market.
The provider announced Friday morning that Madison channels should be available in Columbia, Dane, Grant, Green, Iowa, Juneau, Lafayette, Marquette, Richland, Rock, and Sauk counties.
The non-profit service calls itself a “digital translator,” saying that a provision in the 1976 Copyright Act allowing TV translators to rebroadcast programming without consent, or compensation, also applies to its service. The broadcast networks do not agree and filed a lawsuit in 2019 saying Locast is nothing like what was intended by the 1976 provision. While broadcast TV translators are limited to small geographic areas, Locast makes its service available across entire markets as designated by Nielsen Media.
In an email announcing the addition of Madison, Locast Founder and Chairman David Goodfriend said he grew up in Madison.
“I volunteered at the local Madison NBC and PBS affiliates as a teenager. So launching Locast in my hometown means a lot to me personally,” Goodfriend wrote.
Locast is available in 25 other markets, including Chicago, Minneapolis, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and Denver.