If you follow our blog we seem to always be suggesting HD antennas. Why you ask? Because they offer all of your local channels in HD free for life! If you want to read why we hold HD antennas in such high regard and Why HD Antennas are the best value in TV Watching click on the link.

Besides an HD antenna being able to offer you HD Sports, large events, 96% of the most watched shows and much more, One of the main reasons people buy HD antennas are to watch local news. The four major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, & FOX) all show local news in the morning and evening.

In a move that surprises us a little bit, a company called Gray Television Group which controls the rights to 93 of the countries local news stations has released individual apps for 56 of their 93 local stations.

All of these apps look and operate in the same way, the only difference is the station and content. You do not get anything else besides the news broadcasts and articles. While these apps do live stream the news for that station, they do not live stream anything else besides the news. So if you install the app for your local news broadcast that normally airs on ABC, you can live stream the new broadcast but not anything else on that ABC channel. The easiest way to explain it is that you only get news, nothing else.

We tested a few of the new apps on our Skystream TWO Streaming Media Player and they seem to work very well. The only caveat is that these apps were designed with touch input only, so they do not work very well with the stock remote. However if you have one of our Airmouse Remote Controls or a USB keyboard trackpad combo you can use these app with no issues.

While these new news apps are a great step in the right direction and can be very useful for local news, they do not replace an HD Antenna in any way. Being able to stream your local news is fantastic, but you will not get to watch the Superbowl, Grammies, World Series, NBA Finals or any of the most watched shows in the world in crystal clear HD.

One really nice feature of these apps is that they don't seem to be what is called Geo locked. This means that you can be in Alaska and watch a local news station in Florida. Great for people that have moved that want to see some of their home states local news

Here is a list of the 56 local news stations that now have apps in the Google Play store that you can download and use for free.

KEVN FOX - Rapid City, South Dakota

KFYR 5 NBC - North Dakota

KGWN 5 CBS - Cheyenne, Wyoming

KBTX 3 CBS - College Station, Texas

KWCH 12 CBS - Wichita, Kansas

WCTV CBS - Tallahassee, Florida

WIBW 13 - Topeka, Kansas

WDBJ 7 CBS - Roanoke, Virginia

WTOK 11 ABC - Meridian, Mississippi

WILX 10 NBC - Lansing, Michigan

WVLT 8 CBS - Knoxville, Tennessee 

WRDW 12 CBS - Augusta, Georgia

KY3 - Springfield, Missouri

WTVG 13 ABC - Toledo, Ohio

WITN NBC - Greenville, North Carolina

WOWT 6 NBC - Omaha, Nebraska

WAGM 8 - Fox CBS - Presque Isle, Maine

CBS7 CBS - West Texas

KTVF 11 NBC - Fairbanks, Alaska

KOLO 8 ABC - Northern Nevada

NEWSPLEX 19 CBS - Charlottesville, Virgina

WYMT CBS - Eastern Kentucky

VNL NBC & CBS - Fargo, North Dakota

TV6 6 NBC - Negaunee, Michigan

KKTV 11 CBS - Colorado Springs, Colorado

TNC - Parkersburg, West Virginia

WJHG 7 NBC - Panama City, Florida

KMTV 11 CBS - Omaha, Nebraska

WIFR 23 CBS - Rockford, Illinois

WBKO 13 ABC - Bowling Green, Kentucky

KKCO 11 NBC - Grand Junction Colorado

KGNS 8 NBC - Laredo, Texas

WNDU 16 NBC - South Bend, Indiana

KNOE 8 CBS - Monroe, Louisiana

WTVY 4 CBS - Dothan, Alabama

WMTV 15 NBC - Madison, Wisconsin

KOTA TERRITORY NEWS ABC - Rapid City, South Dakota

KCRG 9 ABC - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

1011 NEWS - Lincoln, Nebraska

KWQC 6 NBC - Davenport, Iowa

KSNB NBC - Hastings, Nebraska

KSFY ABC - Sioux Falls, Nebraska

KSPR 33 ABC - Springfield, Missouri

WSAW 7 CBS - Wausau, Wisconsin

WDTV 5 CBS  - Bridgeport, West Virginia

WHSV 3 ABC - Harrisonburg, Virginia

KNOP 2 NBC - North Platte, Nebraska

WKYT CBS - Lexington, Kentucky

KWTX 10 CBS - Central Texas

WBAY 2 ABC - Green Bay, Wisconsin

WEAU 13 NBC - Eau Claire, Wisconsin

WSAZ 3 NBC - West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky

KXII 12 CBS - Sherman, Texas

KJCT 8 ABC - Grand Junction, Colorado

WJRT 12 ABC - Flint, Michigan

KTUU 2 NBC - Anchorage, Alaska