fuboTV, the sports and news-focused live TV streaming service has signed a video streaming distribution and technology partnership with Viasat allowing airline passengers access to live sports, entertainment and news streaming-at-scale at no charge.
The partnership is the first to leverage innovative technology standards from the global technical association, the Streaming Video Alliance (the Alliance), and apply them to in-flight connectivity. These standards enable airlines that sign-up for the Viasat/fuboTV partnership to seamlessly make fuboTV’s live streaming premium over-the-top (OTT) and video on-demand (VOD) sports, entertainment and news programming available to all passengers on US flights equipped with Viasat satellite internet.
As the first to implement the open caching specifications of the Streaming Video Alliance in-flight, Viasat and fuboTV are using multicast techniques to deliver live OTT and VOD content at-scale. Specifically, the companies have implemented the Alliance specifications over Viasat’s capacity-rich network, to optimize video delivery of fuboTV’s live TV streaming service, including their free linear channel, fubo Sports Network. This technology optimisation provides for more reliable live and VOD streaming with faster web page downloads and enhanced video streaming image quality—on any personal device connected to the Viasat network.
Participating airlines that choose to take advantage of the Viasat/fuboTV technology partnership will be able to give their 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.
“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 US 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.”
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.”
