Viasat, a global communications company, and streaming service fuboTV have teamed up with a partnership that will change the way content can be delivered on planes. This partnership will use innovative technology standards from the Streaming Video Alliance and apply them to in-flight connectivity for the first time.
The fuboTV and Viasat partnership will allow airlines to sign up for the service and seamlessly make fubo Sports Network live streaming available to all passengers at no charge. News, sports, and entertainment would be available on all US flights equipped with Viasat satellite internet.
“We’re focused on delivering the best live TV and sports streaming service to our customers—anywhere, and now that includes at 35,000 feet,” said Cristina Arango, director of strategic partnerships, fuboTV. “Streaming live television is complex, and fuboTV prides itself on our internally-built tech stack that allows us to bring a stable experience to our subscribers. That’s why it was critical for us to work with a proven technology partner like Viasat to enable fuboTV to be one of the first live streaming services to expand distribution to the U.S. aviation market. We are excited to offer both fuboTV and fubo Sports Network without the need to purchase an in-flight Wi-Fi package, to millions of passengers every month—which is an untapped environment for us.”
Participating airlines would be able to give passengers, whether fuboTV subscribers or not, free access to fubo Sports Network. Current fuboTV subscribers, and passengers that sign-up for a free seven day trial of fuboTV when in-flight, will be able to enjoy live and VOD content for the duration of their flight, including streaming of fuboTV’s 100+ live channels and on demand library of 30,000+ titles.
“We aim to lead the way in creating differentiated in-flight, online entertainment experiences and digital OTT provides the features, convenience and choice that passengers love when they’re on the ground,” said Don Buchman, vice president and general manager, Commercial Aviation, Viasat. “We’re working with airlines to explore and develop new and innovative technology tools and business models that align with their brand and their interest in engaging more passengers with in-flight Wi-Fi at the lowest cost. Our partnership with fuboTV uses state-of-the-art technology to leverage our bandwidth advantage even further to offer reliable, high quality OTT, live or on-demand, as efficiently as possible.”
Jason Thibeault, executive director, Streaming Video Alliance commented, “It is exciting to see two innovators, like Viasat and fuboTV, build an offering using next-generation streaming technologies like our Open Caching specifications to improve the video experience for passengers in-flight. Viasat has contributed significantly to the Alliance’s work in Open Caching and other working groups, which has furthered the Alliance’s progress in helping the streaming industry to improve scalability, delivery consistency and reliability of OTT services.”
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