Cord cutters love Locast, a non-profit service that allows free streaming of local channels including ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Not surprisingly, these four networks (plus parent companies Disney, NBCUniversal, and Universal) jointly sued Locast on Thursday (September 2) and shut down the service.

Locast said in a statement on its site, "As a non-profit organization, Locast was designed from the beginning to operate in accordance with the strict letter of the law, but in light of the court's recent ruling, we respectfully disagree and we hereby cease operations immediately."

This is annoying to all those who did not want to pay more for cable, especially Sling TV customers who can only watch Fox and NBC on Sling Blue; Sling had been offering and promoting free Locast integration until earlier this week.

One of the best HD antennas will help you pull in a decent stream, but your mileage may vary. As some TG staff have noted, not all homes have good access to the signal.

Sling continues to offer another way, with AirTV 2 (connected to an HD antenna) to stream local channels, or AirTV Anywhere (which also requires an antenna) to record local broadcast networks Sling offers a variety of options for both AirTV devices and package deal starting at $49 for both RCA HD antennas, with three months of Sling's fees paid in advance.

Locast, which debuted in 2019, tried to succeed where network rebroadcaster Aereo failed. The trick? It thought that being a nonprofit would shield it. The service would then withdraw Wikipedia, often suspending the stream and asking for a $5 donation to keep things going.

The reason is that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the network, saying that the donations were not merely used to support operating expenses. The ruling stated that "because a portion of the subscriber payments were used to expand Locust's operations, the charges exceeded the only exemption allowed under Section 111(a)(5), 'necessary to cover the actual and reasonable costs of maintaining and operating secondary transmission service.'"

As detailed in an official document provided by Eriq Gardner of The Hollywood Reporter.

The ruling was issued on Monday, August 31, two days before Locust suspended services.