08-04-2022, 12:05 AM
Newsroom post_id=77765 time= user_id=1342 Wrote:thegeek post_id=77762 time= user_id=1372 Wrote:I'm not sure I've ever had the luxury of live TV on a flight. A 12-hour old recording of BBC World News with a dodgy frontcap and a weird gradient over the ticker/flipper, on the other hand...
In the mid-2000s, World News would do a 15 minute programme especially for the Heathrow Express, which I believe would be recorded to tape and couriered down to Paddington.
EK 777's had it. Delta, Jet Blue, AA all had it. When Virgin Atlantic launched their 787-9 they also carried it - but it was switched off within 6 months with no explanation.
Interesting, I was unaware that some airlines had it on widebody aircraft. United and JetBlue have DirecTV with 100+ channels, though as far as news goes, you won't find any of the international news channels – just the crummy domestic ones. DirecTV also only works in the continental U.S. Southwest has live TV available via personal device entertainment wifi, though the selection of channels is much smaller, and the signal much more spotty. I think American might have something similar. It seems like personal device streaming or the Panasonic seatback TVs (which are basically just tablets connected to an onboard server) are becoming a lot more common than the older live TV options.
I've never come across seatback TVs on shorthaul flights in Europe. I don't think any European airline does that other than maybe Turkish? I always appreciate the complimentary newspaper selection on Air France at least.
News and aviation....I could talk for hours....