Locast, a free streaming app offering access to local broadcast television, is now offering a dozen local TV channels via the internet across Puerto Rico. The nonprofit said the timing of the launch should help the U.S. territory keep its citizens informed during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and the incoming summer hurricane season.
The free TV station signal streaming service says it will be streaming a dozen local TV channels in Puerto Rico later this year.
Free Press has issued a damning report on the FCC’s response to communications outages in Puerto Rico after the September 2017 one-two punch of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. “It’s deeply troubling how little interest the FCC has shown in analyzing what went wrong and using this information to shape its policies on communication rights and public safety,” the group said.
Liberty Puerto Rico and NBCUniversal Media said they reached an agreement that ends a weekend blackout of the local Telemundo station and 13 cable channels. The two companies said they were able to reach “a reasonable commercial agreement” that will return the NBCU content to Liberty customers on the island.
NBCUniversal’s Telemundo station and cable networks have been blacked out to Liberty Cablevision’s Puerto Rico subscribers in a carriage fee dispute. The agreement was set to expire at the end of 2019, but the pact included an opt-out clause, effective March 31. A deal appeared to be close, but fell through, NBCU said.
NBCUniversal has begun warning viewers in Puerto Rico that subscribers of Liberty Cablevision might lose access to the local Telemundo station and NBC’s cable networks at 6 p.m. ET Thursday.
Exclusives
A year after Hurricane Maria, many outlets in Puerto Rico have resumed their operations, but had to make cuts on their content. At least two TV stations remain off air. While the media outlets have somewhat recovered, the individuals who lost their jobs in the process still struggle to regain their footing.
Chairman Ajit Pai steps up the FCC’s efforts to help the island territories repair and expand wireless and broadband networks devastated by last year’s hurricanes.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai: “The commission has made it a top priority to assist with the recovery from last year’s devastating hurricanes. Today, we’re taking another important step to expedite the restoration of vital communications services.
Reporters from outside Puerto Rico have done important work to portray the storm’s devastating effects. Their coverage, however, doesn’t convey the long-term tasks awaiting local reporters who are left to document the storm’s toll on the island while also grappling with the same aftermath in their personal lives.
Broadcasters tell the FCC that in light of the devastation from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, “there is good cause to accelerate transition of the stations to post-auction channel assignments in order to avoid wasteful duplicative construction and to enable stations to utilize approved TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund reimbursements to subsidize restoration of broadcast television service to the people of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
Public broadcasters are sending equipment and engineers to the hurricane-ravaged island this week, while nonprofits and foundations are organizing to combat government corruption amid the disaster.
The National Association of Broadcasters announced today it will be sending 10,000 battery-operated radios to Puerto Rico for distribution to residents affected by Hurricane Maria. NAB, the National Alliance of […]
Yesterday’s Simpsons season premiere was a Game of Thrones parody, but the episode ended not in Westeros, but back in Springfield, where everyone in your favorite small town banded together in support of Puerto Rico.
The Univision station in Puerto Rico, WLII Caguas, laid off 99 employees in its news, production and promotion departments today. In doing so, the station nixed its morning, noon and […]
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — No one is safe from the crosshairs of La Comay. This five-foot-tall character with a foam head painted with outrageous red lips, a shrill […]
Nielsen’s TV measurement service in Puerto Rico has received accreditation by the Media Rating Council following its April 2010 launch. Nielsen said the three principal stations in the U.S. territory and some agencies solicited it to launch a ratings service two years ago.
