Amazon’s Fire TV is one of the best streaming devices on the market. It’s perfect with Netflix and other streaming video on demand (SVOD) services, but that’s not all it can do. It’s also a great tool for watching live TV, including local channels. Thanks to an increasing number of live TV streaming options, several ways to use over-the-air antennas with Fire TV, and a few stand-alone apps, it has never been easier to watch local news, local sports, and other local programming on Amazon Fire TV. Below, we’ll show you everything you need to know about how to watch local channels on Fire TV devices.
How to Watch Local Channels on Fire TV
The major reason you can watch local TV on streaming devices such as Fire TV is the increasing number and capabilities of skinny bundles. Skinny bundles are pay TV services that, in some ways, are a lot like cable or satellite: They bundle channels and offer live feeds of familiar networks such as AMC and ESPN. They’re still cord-cutting solutions, though, since they don’t use traditional methods to deliver their content. The live feeds from a skinny bundle come over the internet (“over the top,” or OTT, in industry lingo), which means you can watch them anywhere you can get internet access.
Want to watch local channels on your Fire TV? No problem! Here are all the ways you can watch local channels on Fire TV:
Watch Local Channels on All Your Devices
We have even more to tell you about watching local channels without cable — check out the pages below to learn more!
I’m old enough to have used a telephone with a crank to get the operator. This article went completely over my head. We have faulty reception on our local stations. They fuzz out when it’s windy… or if a microwave is on downstairs. We received an Amazon Fire TV Stick as a gift and the gift giver thought it would fix that problem. Just go to an app and then watch any of our local stations and forget about our outdoor antenna we put up in 1954 for our old Arvin TV. Is there something that I can plug into the fire stick?
Yes, just get an HD antenna from Amazon or your local tech store, it is priced around $20 for one that gets signals from local channels with their towers broadcasting within 35 miles. Also one for 50 miles $5 more. Pin it to a wall near a window by the TV and now you can see all your local channels as they are airing live (live as opposed to “on demand”, i.e., watch a show that played earlier).
ALL antennas are HD, you can nake a home made antenna from a paper clip and it’s going to be HD. His old rooftop antenna will provide all the coverage he can get. His reception is dependent on a line of sight issue. Anything that disturbs that line of sight is going to cause reception issues, including leaves from trees. Technically, the best place for an antenna IS outside in the highest spot you can find, not indoors. What can help is a better ATSC 3.0 tuner, if the tv he has is older, then buying a set top tuner like recast may help, which can clean up the broadcast signal. Hopefully, that tuner will help, if not, your going to have to deal with the cable companies, or internet broadband to get TV. Watching OTA with a guide requires a tuner that can put a guide for the programing it is getting. Not all TV’s can do it.
Also he can buy a cheap amplifier from walmart for his antenna. did that with mine and I went from 3 to 85 channels crystal clear.
ATSC 3.0 tuners are not available to the public yet. They are scheduled to be available to purchase later in the 4th quarter of 2020, and when they do become available, there will only be a small percentage of channels available throughout the entire United States, depending on what viewing market the stations are offered in. The current tuner that is available in all manufactured TV’s and set top boxes, is the ATSC 1.0 which started being manufactured back in 1996 after the analog channels were phased out to be replaced with digital channels that we have today. So, unless he has an ancient analog tv, and even then he would have to have a digital ATSC1.0 set top boxnto get his current channels, I’m assuming that he has a Tv with a ATSC 1.0 tuner. His only hope would be to hook up some type of interference filter and/or amplifier/booster.
ATSC 3.0 tuners are not available to the public yet. They are scheduled to be available to purchase later in the 4th quarter of 2020, and when they do become available, there will only be a small percentage of broadcasters/channels available throughout the entire United States, depending on what viewing market the stations are offered in. The current tuner that is available in all manufactured TV’s and set top boxes, is the ATSC 1.0 which started being manufactured back in 1996 after the analog channels were phased out to be replaced with digital channels that we have today. So, unless he has an ancient analog tv, and even then he would have to have a digital ATSC1.0 set top box to get his current channels, I’m assuming that he has a Tv with a ATSC 1.0 tuner. His only hope would be to hook up some type of interference filter and/or amplifier/booster.
So we have an antenna and for some reason we dont get the local fox channel. We thought we would be able to get it if we bought a firestick. Can not figure it out
Did you get it figured out? If not, give me a call or text and I’ll try to walk you through it.
I currently have AT&T for Wi-Fi, TV, and land line for about $200-225/mo. Outrageous for a fixed income. I live in Bakersfield so choices are limited. Would a Fire Stick or Roku Stick work for two of my TVs so I can get rid of two boxes? Or is there a better idea? I really only watch NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox. I am not techie but will look for someone to pay to install if need be. I can install the Fire Stick. No I do not have Amazon Prime. Help… please.
YOU CAN GET THE FIRE STICK OR THE ROKU AND THEY WILL SAVE YOU TONS OF MONEY THE ONLY THING THAT YOU WILL NEED TO GET THEM TO WORK IS THE INTERNET. SO SWITCH ALL YOUR PACKAGES RETURN YOUR BOXES AND ENJOY ONE OR BOTH OF THEM. YOU NEED THE INTERNET FOR EITHER ONE OF THEM TO WORK. NOT CABLE OR THE BOX. JUST THE INTERNET
Dumbest thing i ever read. Local channel which are usually free with antenna / coax arent free wih firestick / roku. You are required to have a tv provider in order to even use those apps. Talk about irony
I agree
I agree as well. However, since the time this thread started, you can now subscribe to each major network via their apps for a fraction of the cost. I have CBS (Paramount Plus) and NBC (peacock) for less than $20. Of course it still gets out of hand once you add in netflix, prime, hulu/disney+, hbo max, etc. But if you keep it simple, HD local channels are affordable and you get the bonus of thousands of catalog titles to stream.
Hi! Help!!! We just got rid of cable, not Wi-Fi. We bought 3 Fire Sticks, and we cannot figure out how to get local stations and the channels we want. We thought it would be be fairly easy. It’s not. ? Can anyone help us?!
Fire TV will not get you live local channels unless you subscribe to a service like Hulu, Sling, etc.
https://youtu.be/caIFNg_JRL4
More than likely the local stations are not your local stations, they are just that local stations somewhere else. Go to youtube and go through the tutorial you will not believe how much you can learn. That is the greatest help I can give you on this topic.
Bought a $7 antennae and am able to pick up between 20 and 30 local channels. Tried a more expensive antennae and it didn’t make any difference. Try it.
I finally figured it out for my tv. From the Home Screen scrolling across the top all the way to Settings. Go to LIVE TV. Channel scan to get your local channels. While still in LIVE TV go to the bottom SYNC SOURCES. I picked Pluto. Then sync to Pluto TV. It then added all my local tv to the Pluto list of channels.
I’ve got a FireTV, no cable just internet. I tried doing this but I’m still not seeing my local channels. It shows It found 6 channels in the scan. when I got manage channels it says I don’t have any channels. so, I went to sync channels and could pick from a list like Pluto. Nothing new shows up. If I click on antenna tv, it just takes me back to scanning… ugh!!
Help! We got two Fire TV HD since we already have Amazon Prime. We chose Hulu as our provider. Cannot get local stations to run live except for sports and cable news shows. We also got one HD antenna. Will that help, or should we choose another provider?
Using Amazon Prime you can download channels using the app selection from the menu.
I’m not sure how you’re suggesting doing this.. all the major network affiliate channels are now requiring a TV subscription.. I didn’t prime as an option
Air tv app with a one time paid to own air tv box..with wifi free local channels yesss freee
I currently have DirecTV. I pay around $100 a month. I enjoy all the local channels, but they are further away than 50 miles. We like Hallmark’s channels, Lifetime’s channels, AMC, FX, History, ID, Freeform, and a few others. All I want to know how much monthly I would pay to have this. I have 4 TVs in my home, so how much after I bought the 4 Fire Sticks and an annual subscription to Amazon Prime? How much for the above channels that I want? Currently I do not have Wi-Fi. I have DirecTV, so my total is $100. I don’t care about Wi-Fi, so I’m just trying to determine if getting Wi-Fi and the Fire Stick alone with above channels will be cheaper.
You could unlock your Fire Stick, everything would be free.
I have an unlocked fire stick and it is loaded with a lot of apps, however, I cannot figure out how to get live local channels. I only want one channel and it is my local news & weather. I saw that NewsOn was a good app but it will not work with fire tv, only Roku. Any suggestions?
Get Sling about 40 per month
Get Sling about 40 per month
Sling doesn’t carry all local channels!
Philo 25.00 no subscription 60 channels all you wanted there but no locals just great selection
Check it out 7 day free trial. I love it!
I’m on disability. I only make so much a month. My spectrum bill is about $133 a month. I understand it’s going up more. Tell me Fire Stick better for me.
Same here, Mike. I’m on disability, too, and have Spectrum. I’m thinking of getting an antenna for local channels and streaming everything else. I’ve got to get my cable bill down, too, and the cable boxes use so much power.
Hi folks! Order a HD antenna from Amazon. Read the reviews and buy one. That will cover your local TV needs.
As for movies, etc., look at Hulu, Amazon Prime, Sling TV, Netflix and see which one best suits your needs. You can always get one, watch the heck out of it and rotate to another in a month or so.
Folks, it looks like this article caused some confusion. Fire TV is NOT a solution to get local TV. It’s just a way to run the apps that can provide local TV, as listed above. Any of these “solutions” is something that can be set up without Fire TV using just about any other smart TV operating system (Roku, LG, Samsung, etc). Fire TV by itself won’t get you local TV.
Local TV can possibly be available using one of the streaming services (YouTube Red, Sling TV, Vue, etc), but check if it’s supported in your area. Locations that have independent local affiliates for Fox, ABC, NBC, etc, aren’t typically supported by these products, so be sure to find out before ordering.
For the over-the-air (OTA) solutions like Plex, you need an antenna, and you could just as easily hook the antenna right into your TV so long as it has a tuner in it (if not, you’d need an external HDTV tuner, which you can find on Amazon). The nice thing about a Plex setup is everything is then inside of Fire TV, Roku, etc, so you don’t need to ever change Inputs on your TV. If you have a bad signal, it might be worthwhile to look into local antenna installers. For a one-time fee, they’ll visit you, figure out which antenna you need for the local signals you want, and install it exactly where it needs to be. Might be a bit more money up-front but your TV watching experience will be a lot better later.
Just some ideas and clarifications. Have fun and happy watching!
I cut the cord with my cable provider and have had a Fire Stick before and did the jail break to get Kodi. I did know how to use the Fire Stick now and have Wi-Fi at home. I want to use the Sling Orange only but some of these articles make it sound awful. I live in a 3 story apartment, I have an antenna in the window and it brings in 16 channels. I understand what channels are free and some aren’t, but how is Netflix? I know very little about it. I want to get some local channels, Food Network, TBN, Hallmark and football channels.
I just hooked up Fire TV, went to ABC, “Live TV”, fired it up and was able to watch local news – live in Philadelphia area – got Action News live – don’t even have no other package except out of the box Fire TV – I’m an Amazon Prime user.
News On not showing up in Apps
I have Direct TV Now ,why can’t I get Perry Mason on here ?? If I cancel who do I call?? I can ‘t get any of the old shows .
Been Magic Stick antenna on the roof connected to my old cable network inhouse. Have wifi, fire, sling and the like…like local option…Wind is my enemy and some of my neighbors trees. Receive about 60 percent of local feeds, have t shaped stick as well for particular watching of another fox tower…all good, cut dish saved 100 bucks and then some….when i retire only need a magic stick…
i live in a small town right out of Tacoma,WA. my apt has lots of trees and iam confused. what is the difrents between the fire stick and the firebox ? can you change them like the fire stick Do they work with alexa ? one more ? went you change the fire stick does that mess with alexa. i sound dum but.. Help please i need to know which one to buy
Can I receive
MSNBC with a
Firestick
You can! Check out our piece on watching MSNBC without cable: https://cordcutting.com/how-to-watch-msnbc-without-cable/ You’ll find options there that are compatible with your Fire TV Stick.
I tried using all sorts of antennas for my tvs and the signal is awful. It’s always hit or miss as to whether I can access a channel or have it clear from fuzziness, etc. The only way that I could fix the problem is by subscribing to basic cable via Verizon. I know everyone wants to direct ppl to using the antenna – but they truly suck.
I didn’t see any mention of PHILO . That is my favorite streaming service. I only pay $20 per month for most of the channels I used to watch when I paid $120 per month for cable. I can save my favorites and watch when I want (for 30 days)and most channels allow fast forwarding through ads!
I use a firestick and AT&T internet. I get 300 mps for $40 plus I pay an additional $20 for the basic bundle (so that I get unlimited data). The bundle comes with local channels but I don’t use a cable-box anymore so I use the FOXNOW , ABC and NBC apps. I can’t use CBS All Access but it may be because AT&T U-verse wasn’t on their provider list.
Philo is great, and we recommend it! However, it doesn’t have local channels, which is why we didn’t list it in this particular post. Thanks for reading!
Locast
Only works if you’re in one of those markets
ATSC 3.0 tuners are not available to the public yet. They are scheduled to be available to purchase later in the 4th quarter of 2020, and when they do become available, there will only be a small percentage of channels available throughout the entire United States, depending on what viewing market the stations are offered in. The current tuner that is available in all manufactured TV’s and set top boxes, is the ATSC 1.0 which started being manufactured back in 1996 after the analog channels were phased out to be replaced with digital channels that we have today. So, unless he has an ancient analog tv, and even then he would have to have a digital ATSC1.0 set top boxnto get his current channels, I’m assuming that he has a Tv with a ATSC 1.0 tuner. His only hope would be to hook up some type of interference filter and/or amplifier/booster.
I have an Amazon Fire TV. I have a sling account. I have ATT wireless internet.When I went to local TV and scanned for channels it didn’t find any. What am I supposed to do. I am absolutely clueless. I did get an AirTV Mini with my sling subscription and thought that was a way to get local channels but When I try to pair it with my android it doesn’t even find it. I have no concept of any of this. Any help would be appreciated.
You didn’t mention whether or not you had an antenna. Do you? Scanning for channels won’t do you much good unless you have an over-the-air antenna first. Here’s a good place to start if you’re new to OTA TV. If you do have an antenna set up already, then you could try moving it to a different spot and trying it higher up on the wall. You could also double-check resources like antennaweb to make sure that the local channels you’re trying to pick up are within range of your antenna. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for this article!!!😃🙏🏻 NewsON worked perfectly for me, I’m able to get news from three different local channels on that app!!
Thanks for reading!
Yea thank x’s I’ve been trying to figure out local i know channel is start but nothing and they want to charge me for the shows I want to watch i think you’ve saved me some time. I was curious about the digital antenna app what exactly. Does it help with