Continental Airlines has quietly started offering passengers LiveTV's newest live television service LTV3 on a single Boeing 737. So why didn't the airline do a big press splash? Other than obvious competitive reasons (I mean, come on, this is going to be the most kick-ass live TV offering in the skies), I'm not quite certain.
If I had to hazard a guess, however, I'd say it is because Continental is not yet offering the 80-plus channels that LTV3 is capable of supporting.
However, LiveTV assures me that 80-plus channels are coming "very soon".
Also, there has been no free trial. "All services are paid access," says LiveTV, adding: "The system is performing very well."
Continental intends to outfit with LTV3 every seat on its Boeing 737 new generation aircraft and Boeing 757-300s.
Speaking of TV, did you know that AirTran passengers are chomping at the bit for HDTV? Don't believe me?
Check out the carrier's new EveryFlight web site, which polls passengers about what they want to see onboard the carrier's aircraft. HDTV is pacing at number one right now, followed by Foosball!?! and Wi-Fi, of course.
on April 20, 2009 7:44 PM | Reply
Hm...I didn't realize that they were charging for it right off the bat. I thought they were only going to charge for movies. Interesting. On another note, is HDTV even available on aircraft? I thought there wasn't a system that could handle it (Lumexis was close, but somewhere I read it was going to take some more development).
on April 20, 2009 8:45 PM | Reply
In addition to the limited functionality on their first plane in production, Continental is also suffering in that the installations are not really going all that quickly. The last bird they had go in to the shop when the one live system came out actually spent 10 days in Orlando and came back into the flight rotation without getting the LiveTV system installed.
It would seem that the LTV3 systems are buggier than they thought even after they finally got the one up and sortof running.
on April 21, 2009 7:49 PM | Reply
Now that HDTV is available... all that's needed is a full network of X-box 360s and Halo3. Imagine a massive airborne Halo battle...
on April 22, 2009 8:17 AM | Reply
Are they using the same KVH Industries (KVHI) antennas for LiveTV as John Madden had on his NFL RV and I've seen available on Cadillac Escalades?
on April 22, 2009 9:49 AM | Reply
RWG is right about one thing....LTV doens't have the 80 channels out and about to show. But, could those LiveTV folks are feeling the credit crunch. Maybe. Just maybe?
Then again, who isn't these days?
on April 23, 2009 4:13 PM | Reply
From LiveTV about the new LTV3 product not being HDTV: "No, it is full VGA and at standard seat pitch, you cannot tell a difference. Therefore, the high cost to go High Def and increased power consumption is not worth it."
on April 24, 2009 8:31 AM | Reply
Hey George,
Chris Quilty of Raymond James doesn't mention Continental Airlines in his latest assessment of KVI's aeronautical strides, only JetBlue.
Key par: "Aeronautical – JetBlue subsidiary LiveTV awarded KVH a $20 million contract in February 2008 to supply stabilized antennas for its in-flight TV system. Up to this point, we have not included any aeronautical revenues in our model, but with production now beginning to ramp, we are factoring in a ~$6 million contribution in 2009 and a $10 million contribution in 2010."