Amazon’s news app on Fire TV will begin rolling out live and on-demand local news to 88 U.S. cities.
The local stations, which begin launching today, come from distributors including ABC Owned Television Stations, CBSN, Tegna, Cox, The E.W. Scripps Company and Altice USA. New markets include Detroit, Phoenix, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, and Orlando. It follows an initial 12-city launch last year in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle.
The local news channels are in addition to the other national news channels already available on Amazon’s news app — ABC News Live, CBS News, Reuters, Cheddar, Entertainment Weekly and Black News Channel.
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“Local news helps our customers stay connected to important issues and updates within their communities,” said Charlotte Maines, director of Amazon Fire TV, in a statement. “In the last year especially, local news has been incredibly helpful in an uncertain environment and our viewers continue to ask for more news options. This expansion will bring a truly local experience to both Fire TV and the streaming industry.”
Users can access local news for their city using the “Local News” tab within the Fire TV news app. Fire TV will automatically detect the closest metro area and add the local news station (or stations) within the tab.
Amazon’s expanding local news streaming app is up against similar initiatives from companies like Tubi, an ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox. Earlier this year, the “News on Tubi” offering in the U.S. added nearly 80 live local news feeds from partners including Cox Media Group, Hearst Television, Scripps and Tegna.