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United Airlines is expanding its inflight entertainment offering this summer through a new partnership with DIRECTV, bringing live television (including live sports) to seatback screens on Starlink-equipped aircraft.
Through July 20th, passengers traveling on as many as 150 Starlink-enabled United aircraft will be able to watch more than a dozen live channels free of charge directly from their seatback screens. The lineup includes major networks such as FOX, Fox Sports 1, ABC, ESPN, CBS, NBC, TNT, TBS, CNN, BBC News, and Apple F1, giving travelers access to live soccer matches, sports coverage, breaking news, weather updates, business programming, and entertainment content while in the air.
The initiative comes as United continues its rapid rollout of Starlink connectivity across its fleet. In 2024, the airline signed the aviation industry’s largest Starlink agreement with SpaceX, aiming to provide fast, reliable Wi-Fi free of charge to MileagePlus members. Today, more than 400 United mainline and United Express aircraft are equipped with Starlink and the airline expects to complete installation across its entire fleet by the end of 2027.
The live television service is powered by DIRECTV IN FLIGHT and delivered through a combination of Viasat Live TV and Thales 360 technology platforms, with content streamed to aircraft using Starlink’s high-speed satellite network. The timing is particularly appealing for sports fans, as the service will allow passengers to follow major summer sporting events live while traveling.
Anthony’s Take: As airlines increasingly compete on connectivity and onboard entertainment, United’s latest move further strengthens its position as one of the industry’s leaders in next-generation inflight technology.
(Image Credits: United Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
