By way of CordCuttersNews we learn that Locast has launched a TiVo app. Well, sort of. It turns out the Locast “app” is actually buried within another app (Vewd né Opera TV), entirely isolated from TiVo’s recommendation and recording capabilities. I can imagine the app eventually breaking out into the main interface, if and when it actually works well. But, right now, the Locast TiVo experience is either incomplete or just buggy, and I wasn’t impressed. It’s entirely too inefficient to navigate from the main TiVo interface into the the Locast content and then I ended up trapped within a NBC live stream. Not to mention a large portion of our TiVo hardware investment funds physical television tuners, versus something like a Roku. So, basically, Locast doesn’t currently make much sense on TiVo. However, should the companies collectively get serious about integrating Locast into TiVo+, it could become an interesting and possibly even compelling sales pitch for TiVo’s upcoming Android TV streaming stick.
Then again, Locast is currently under assault (as we had predicted) and may suffer the same fate as poor Aereo. They claim their non-profit status protects them and, hey, Locast local television streaming is entirely free to use (wink wink, nevermind the incessant solicitations for donations that supposedly go away when you pay up).