LiveTV was a major provider of airline

in-flight entertainment In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship ''LZ 129 Hindenburg, Hindenburg'' offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the ...

systems. Originally a joint venture of

Harris Corporation Harris Corporation was an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produced wireless equipment, tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision equipment and both terrestrial and spaceb ...

and

BE Aerospace B/E Aerospace, Inc. was a manufacturer of aircraft passenger cabin interior products for the commercial and business jet aircraft markets. B/E Aerospace had leading worldwide market shares in all of its major product lines and served virtually al ...

(BE Aerospace's interest subsequently sold to

Thales Group Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' ...

), it was a wholly owned subsidiary of JetBlue Airways Corporation from its acquisition in 2002 until its sale to Thales in 2014. It had its headquarters in

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando. As of th2020 Decennial Census there was a population of 84,678. The municipality is the second-largest in the county by both size and population. ...

. The company was one of the "big four" manufacturers of in-flight entertainment systems, along with

Panasonic Avionics Corporation Panasonic Avionics Corporation (PAC) designs, engineers, manufactures, sells and installs customized in-flight entertainment and communications devices to airlines worldwide. It is a subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the princi ...

, and

Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radio Comp ...

History

Live TV was initially introduced by In-Flight Phone Corporation in 1997. Dimitrios Lalos VP Engineering at In-Flight conceived the idea of Live Satellite broadcasting in 1995 using phased array antennas mounted on the top of the fuselage of the aircraft. Original designs were introduced in 1995 with an Atlanta based microwave company. After In-Flight Phone's bankruptcy, Harris bought the idea from In-Flight Phone for 4.5 million dollars. Live TV bought the business from Harris in 1998. In June 2006, Live TV won a 1 MHz wide block of frequencies in the 800 MHz air-ground telephone auction conducted by the U.S.

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC). This license will allow air-ground-air communications to take place. An affiliate of Aircell was the winner of the larger 3 MHz wide block of frequencies. Plans for utilizing these frequencies had not been announced by mid-2007. On June 9, 2008, JetBlue announced that it will buy Verizon's

Airfone Airfone was an air-ground radiotelephone service developed by MCI founder John D. Goeken, and operated under the names ''Airfone'', ''GTE Airfone'', and Verizon Airfone. Airfone allowed passengers to make telephone calls (later including data m ...

(Formerly: GTE Airfone, Formerly: Airfone) service.

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

began to add LiveTV to all of its

Boeing 737 Next Generation The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by Twinjet, two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of th ...

and

Boeing 757-300 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its maide ...

aircraft beginning in January 2009. In March 2011, LiveTV announced it would install on-board

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...

connectivity for over 200

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

aircraft, using the

ViaSat Viasat may refer to: *Viasat (American company) (founded 1986) * Viasat (Nordic television service) (founded 1991) * Danish 1st Division, officially Viasat Divisionen, second-highest football league in Denmark * Viasat Cup, 2006 Danish football to ...

Ka-band satellite service. United was the second airline to announce the rollout of this high speed internet service, since LiveTV's parent company, JetBlue, entered an MOU with ViaSat in September 2010 in order to equip 160 JetBlue aircraft. On March 13, 2014, Reuters reported that the division would be sold to Thales for $400 million. . The sale was completed in June 2014 for $399 Million in cash.

Operations

Headquarters

The LiveTV headquarters was in one building in the Airport Commercial Park along South Babcock Street in Melbourne, Florida.Contact us.
LiveTV. Retrieved on June 9, 2013.Blake, Scott.
LiveTV to hire more people in Melbourne, Orlando
" ''

Florida Today ''Florida Today'' is the major daily newspaper serving Brevard County, Florida. Al Neuharth of the Gannett corporation started the paper in 1966, and some of the things he did with this newspaper presaged what he would later do at USA Today. I ...

''. January 30, 2008. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.Where we are
" LiveTV. Retrieved on June 9, 2013. In 2008 the company was headquartered in a total of of space in a group of five buildings in the Gateway Business Center in Melbourne. During that year the company announced plans to move to the Airport Commercial Park. In 2008 the company threatened to move its headquarters to

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

if it did not receive tax breaks. The City of Melbourne,

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county seat is located in T ...

, and the State of Florida gave $164,000 in incentives, so the headquarters moved to a new facility in Melbourne. As of that year the Melbourne headquarters has engineering, finance, marketing and sales personnel.

Other facilities

In addition, LiveTV had a facility on the grounds of

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is a major public airport located 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2021, it handled 19,618,838 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and seventh busiest airport i ...

in Orlando. As of 2008 the facility has a hangar, office space, and a warehouse. Other offices include: *

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

Products

Its main product was in aircraft seat-back satellite television service,

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...

, and movie programming. The system also offers live flight trackers, for people to see where they are.

Satellite Television Providers

Depending on the region the airline operates in, different satellite television providers are utilized. *

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

Bell Satellite TV Bell Satellite TV (french: Bell Télé; formerly known as Bell ExpressVu, Dish Network Canada and ExpressVu Dish Network and not to be confused with Bell's IPTV Bell Fibe TV, Fibe TV service) is the division of BCE Inc. that provides satellite ...

SKY Brazil SKY Brasil is a company, owned by Vrio, which operates a subscription television service in Brazil. It produces TV content, and owns several TV channels. History SKY Mexico was founded on 25 July 1996, a joint venture between British Sky Broa ...

Airlines Used LiveTV Products

Currently

The following list of airlines currently have the LiveTV System on their Aircraft. *

JetBlue Airways JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York ...

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

Azul Brazilian Airlines Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S/A (''Azul Brazilian Airlines''; or simply Azul) is a Brazilian carrier based in Barueri, a suburb of São Paulo. The company's business model is to stimulate demand by providing frequent and affordable air serv ...

Formerly

The following list of airlines have since removed the LiveTV System from their aircraft. *

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue ...

References

External links

LiveTV website
{{Thales Group Television companies of the United States Companies based in Brevard County, Florida Melbourne, Florida Aviation mass media 2014 mergers and acquisitions Thales Group divisions and subsidiaries __FORCETOC__