United Airlines and DIRECTV team up to stream live TV, including live sports | News
United Airlines and DIRECTV are teaming up to allow passengers to watch live streaming TV on United’s Starlink seatback screens through July 20, allowing football fans to catch all the action from the summer’s biggest sports tournament through the final game on as many as 150 Starlink-enabled aircraft, thanks to the world’s fastest, most reliable inflight Wi-Fi service.
Through DIRECTV and BBC, United customers on these planes will have free access to more than a dozen live TV channels, including FOX, Fox Sports 1, Apple F1, ABC, ESPN, TNT, CNN, CBS, NBC, TBS and BBC News, featuring live football, sports, news, weather, business and entertainment.
In 2024, United set a new standard for inflight connectivity by signing the largest agreement of its kind with SpaceX to bring Starlink’s fast, reliable Wi-Fi service to the airline’s mainline and regional aircraft fleet at no cost to MileagePlus® members. Today, Starlink operates on more than 400 United Mainline and United Express® aircraft, and the airline expects to equip its entire fleet before the end of 2027.
“United is adding Starlink to more aircraft than any other airline in the world, and partnering with DIRECTV is a way for us to give customers a glimpse into the future of inflight entertainment with live sports at one of the world’s most popular sporting events,” said Andrew Nocella, United’s Chief Commercial Officer. “Our journey started almost a decade ago with the decision to install screens in every seat. We already have more than 160,000 screens in our fleet, with plans to double that number soon through new deliveries and retrofits. But just having static screens with On Demand content was never our end goal. The real customer benefit comes when those screens are dynamic and provide real-time streaming content, just like your phone. That’s where the combination of Starlink’s reliable and fast connectivity and DIRECTV IN FLIGHT live TV is a game changer.”
This initiative uses the web applications “Viasat Live TV” and “Thales 360” to tap into live TV content and present it on the screens of the passengers in the seats; streamed to the aircraft via Starlink connectivity.
