Brazil's Azul says EMS to supply antenna for live television

UPDATED to include comment from LiveTV

EMS is supplying the antenna to support Brazilian start-up Azul's plan for offering live television on its Embraer 190/195s.

Azul, which launched operations yesterday, has an agreement in place with JetBlue subsidiary LiveTV to bring live television to every seat. But in a statement yesterday the airline said the system will not go live until the end of 2009 .

So what's the holdup?

EMS also produced the antenna on JetBlue's aircraft (as well as Frontier, WestJet and Australia's Virgin Blue). "Unfortunately, an entirely different design is required to function here in Brazil. They are developing one that will work here," explains an Azul spokesman.

LiveTV VP of marketing and sales Mike Moeller adds: "Every region has a different DBS (direct broadcast satellite) provider with different satellite gains, frequencies, receiver cards, polarizations, look angles, etc. This forces the hardware provider to design the correct antenna that delivers the optimum performance in a region. Unfortunately, it is not a one size fits all approach."