
PBS has made free livestreaming available to
viewers of 85 of its local stations through connected devices, with more stations expected to be added in the future.
PBS added free livestreaming via YouTube TV last December.
Now,
livestreaming is also accessible through major browsers including Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, and through the PBS Video channel on Roku devices.
To date, PBS has not secured agreements
for livestreaming through Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV devices, although the network says it continues to “explore” those options.
To use the new capability, viewers click into the
livestreaming area on PBS’s site, which detects their locations and allows streaming only within their specific broadcast areas.
Livestreaming has become more important for PBS, like other networks, as traditional pay-TV cord cutting has accelerated.
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When it made the YouTube TV deal, PBS confirmed that it was also
continuing talks with other vMVPD services that carry locals, such as Hulu Live, FuboTV and AT&T Now, reported The Streamable.
An obstacle has been that most streaming services want
a national feed, but PBS wanted “to be treated like a local network affiliate where member channels can also show their local content,” says the report.
The YouTube deal gave local
channels the option to join, but with significant infrastructure costs involved. Expanding distribution to more streamers would in theory help local channels defray those costs.