How To Watch WCAX Channel 3 & WYCI
Options to watch every kind of content are moving forward at a breakneck pace – devices which didn’t exist only 10 or 15 years ago now are ubiquitous and, for many, inextricable from daily life. WCAX Channel 3 has built new ways to watch that cross into every one of those new technologies, so no matter where you are on the planet, you likely have at least one way to watch our station.
This page is intended to help you find options that may work so that watching TV and staying informed by WCAX is as easy as possible, and in many cases, the options presented might save you money.
Watch WCAX Channel 3 News Free by Live Streaming Over the Internet
WCAX makes all locally-produced newscasts and TV shows available for streaming via our website and apps for free. Note that this does not include CBS or other syndicated programming from the TV station, because copyright laws prevent those shows from being streamed by WCAX. However, this allows anyone in the world with an internet connection access to WCAX Channel 3 News on any web-enabled device.
We stream the newscasts live as they air on Zeam, and instead of looping the shows we are now offering our news on-demand, in a play-when-you-are-ready interface so you can simply click to start when you are ready to watch.
The link is here, and it will autoplay the most-recent newscast!
This is available on:
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Gaming Systems with a web browser
- PCs/laptops
Depending upon your connection speed, the picture will be in HD.
Other free streaming options include the WCAX app for devices using Android and iOS operating systems, like an iPhone or iPad, Samsung Galaxy, or certain Amazon Kindle products. We also have custom apps for Roku, AppleTV, AndroidTV, and Amazon Fire. Each can be found by searching “WCAX” in the app store on those devices.
WCAX has also built an exclusive 24/7 weather and news channel called 3 News Now which is available in HD for free as a livestream on WCAX.com, in all WCAX apps for all devices, and broadcast live from Mount Mansfield for northern Vermont and from Boardman Hill in Rutland on channel 3.6.
Another news option is Local News Live. This aggregates local news streams from TV stations across the country (including WCAX’s) in between our broadcasts.
All of these methods for viewing WCAX are available wherever the user is in the world, and require only an active internet connection. Both WCAX and Zeam can be downloaded as apps or channels on major streaming devices like Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Fire. They are also both available as webpages, WCAX at WCAX.com/livestream and Zeam is available at Zeam.com. Our news is available 24/7 in HD using these apps and webpages.
Watch Free by Live Streaming Over the Air
The most obvious option to watch is where TV began, streaming our signal live, over-the-air, for free. A lot has happened since WCAX signed on in 1954, and we have built the latest-generation technology into our transmitter on Mt. Mansfield to cover the most homes with free HD service ever.
From north of Montreal, Canada, to south of Rutland, VT, more than two million people can pick up the WCAX signal easily. The real limit to over-the-air TV is geography. Each TV station serves a different portion of the United States, and WCAX serves Vermont, the North Country of New York and northwestern New Hampshire, as well as north into Canada, past Montreal. When you physically leave that area, you will not be able to receive WCAX over the air.
The key ingredients to over-the-air reception are:
1) A TV with a digital tuner (almost all TVs manufactured since 2007).
2) An appropriate antenna based on the distance from the transmitter.
3) There is no #3, it’s really that simple!
First, the TV: if you have a flat-panel TV or even a CRT TV (manufactured after 2007), you likely have a digital tuner built in. In other words, most TVs already have the technology to “see” the signal from the transmitter installed and ready for your use. For users with an older TV, a digital converter box can be purchased to provide the ability to tune in WCAX and other local TV station signals.
Second, the antenna: depending on your distance from the WCAX transmitter on Mt. Mansfield (or our repeater station in Rutland, VT), a variety of antennae could work to “catch” the signal from the air and connect it to the tuner in your TV. Here are some helpful links to figure out your distance and then gauge what antenna you will need.
- Check the reception at your street address on TV Fool.com
- You don’t have to give up a DVR! OTA DVR options
- I just need a digital converter box
For over-the-air viewing, it is occasionally necessary to “rescan” your tuner so it knows what channels to remember, and which to skip over. If you already have a digital TV and antenna, but need help rescanning, use this information we built to help get you set up quickly. Rescan Help Page
WCAX isn’t just just the region’s original TV station, biggest newsroom and most local news, weather and sports on the most devices and social media - over the air, WCAX offers additional free TV channels.
See the WCAX TV Programming schedule here >>
WCAX TV broadcasts over the air from Vermont’s mightiest mountain, Mount Mansfield, and is the only station with a free over the air repeater signal built to serve Rutland, from Boardman Hill. WCAX also uses the latest technology to embed “multicast” channels in the over the air signal so antenna viewers get six additional free TV stations from WCAX:
3.1 - WCAX CBS
3.2 - Movies!
3.3 - Heroes & Icons
3.4 - StartTV
3.5 - Ion TV
3.6 - 3 News Now - 24x7 local weather and news with live weather radar and always-on First Alert forecasts
3.7 - Shop LC shopping network
Watch with Alternative Streaming Options (Fees Apply)
For many, a little additional convenience can be worth a small fee, and WCAX is available on most fee-based programming providers as well. This can become somewhat complex, because the device creating the stream and putting it on your screen might be any of a number of devices. For TV-connected devices, the most popular are Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast and Amazon Fire, as well as the built-in Smart TV options that may be included with current internet-enabled TVs.
Services available across these devices which also charge a fee to see local programming are:
- Paramount Plus
- CBS App (works with your cable or satellite subscription log in)
- YouTube TV
- FuboTV
- Hulu Plus Live TV
- AT&T TV Now
Prices and service options vary by provider, but these services are generally available on Smart TVs, smart TV-connected devices (like Apple TV), and mobile devices. These services are geographically limited for these applications as well, with WCAX only appearing when the user is in the physical geographic market area, and changing to show other CBS affiliates based on the user’s geographic location, should they have traveled to another TV market.
How to watch WYCI TV and the most live, local sports
WYCI TV became part of the WCAX family of stations in February, 2020, and since that time WYCI has grown to add great classic TV programming with sitcoms like Seinfeld and prime time hits like Chicago Fire. More recently, WYCI has become home to live, local sports in high definition, providing the first televised home games ever of the Vermont Lake Monsters and Vermont Green FC soccer. WYCI also brings major league baseball to viewers with 25 New York Mets games each season, and college football and basketball featuring the HBCUGo package of games that can’t be seen anywhere else.
WYCI is available over the air from a transmitter in Saranac Lake, NY, and a repeater in Claremont, NH. WYCI is also carried on satellite and cable systems on these channels:
See the live TV schedule on WYCI on the TV Guide here >>
WYCI over the air also includes multiple “multicast” channels, where WYCI’s primary feed is available along with six other channels, for you, all for free:
40.1/26.1 - WYCI TV (My Network)
40.2/26.2 - Outlaw Western
40.3/26.3 - Catchy Comedy
40.4/26.4 - DEFY
40.5/26.5 - Oxygen
40.6/26.6 - 365BLK
40.7/26.7 - MeTV Toons Classic Cartoons
In the Saranac Lake area, WYCI is available on channel 40, and in Claremont, NH, WYCI is on channel 26.