WRAL News added to expanded Amazon News app offering

Amazon on Tuesday added WRAL to its offering of local news stations available in its News app for Fire TV devices, allowing users to watch clips from recent WRAL newscasts and other digital-exclusive videos.

The addition comes as Amazon dramatically expanded its investment in the local news space, adding more than 130 stations on Tuesday to its free, ad-supported News app.

The News app comes pre-installed on Amazon Fire TV devices, and allows users to customize their experience by setting preferred national news sources – including Bloomberg, HuffPost, Yahoo, Cheddar and Entertainment Weekly, among others – as well as local news stations.

"We've heard from our customers how important it is to stay informed on what's happening in their communities, and we're proud that Amazon's news app on Fire TV now covers over 90% of U.S. TV households," said Charlotte Maines, director of Amazon Fire TV. "With this expansion, Fire TV customers now have access to more stations across the U.S., and we continue to invest in our local news coverage with 50 metros now offering more than one local news source."

Adding WRAL as a "favorite" channel is as easy as opening the News app and selecting WRAL as your preferred news source. When you first open the app, it will detect the closest metro region and provide a list of news sources that are available in the area. If you ever want or need to change your news preferences, simply select "Preferences" from the app menu and then "Channels."

Up to two preferred local news sources can be set at a time.

Once preferences have been saved, you can use the device's included Alexa Voice Remote to say, "Alexa, play the news," which will cycle through and play a custom news playlist automatically.

"It's exciting to be a part of this space," said Jake Seaton, digital product manager for WRAL Digital. "We've seen explosive growth in connected TV viewership, and it just made sense to make our local news content available to Amazon News app users."

In addition to on-demand clips through Amazon's News app, WRAL offers a free app for Fire TV devices. The WRAL streaming app offers access to live and on-demand newscasts, a network of live cameras across central and eastern North Carolina, and a rich library of clips and documentaries from the last 20 years. Search WRAL on your Fire TV device to download the free app.