Amazon’s free news app on Fire TV now features local stations
You can watch coverage from 12 cities to start, with more to come in 2021.
Amazon is adding local coverage to its Fire TV news app. Starting today, Fire TV users can access live and on-demand news from local channels based in 12 cities across the US — New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Boston, San Francisco and of course Seattle.
Amazon’s news app comes pre-installed on all Fire TV streaming devices and smart TVs sold in the US. With today’s rollout, you can add two cities to your list of favorites, and then you’ll get a mix of coverage from those places. Some of the channels you’ll find through the app include BSN Chicago and KIRO7 Seattle. You can watch those alongside all the national news networks Amazons already offers through the Fire TV news app. Amazon says today’s rollout is just the start of its commitment to making local news more accessible. Throughout 2021, it plans to add support for 90 cities across the US.
We’ve seen similar initiatives from other tech companies in recent months. Most notably, Flipboard added a dedicated local news section at the start of the year. While Amazon is likely well-meaning in its support for local news outlets, it faces the same issue that Flipboard did. The 12 cities included in today’s rollout are some of the most populous metropolitan areas in the US; access to local news isn’t an issue in those places. It’s the people in communities that are much smaller than those 12 cities that need support. Still, if you’re looking for a way to catch up on the news in your city and have access to a Fire TV device, this is a handy addition.
