NEW YORK and CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb.
6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:
VSAT), a global communications company, and fuboTV, a sports and
news-focused live TV streaming service, announced today a video
streaming distribution and technology partnership that advances how
content can be delivered and consumed in-flight. 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—at no charge—on U.S. flights equipped with Viasat
satellite internet.
Technology breakthrough drives higher quality in-flight
streaming
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 optimization 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.
Passengers benefit with access to premium content at
no charge
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, including:
- Streaming any of fuboTV's 100+ live channels, which includes
the world's most popular live sports coverage, plus entertainment
and news networks from NBCU, FOX, ViacomCBS, A&E Networks, AMC
Networks, beIN Sports, Crown Media, Discovery Communications, NBA
TV, NFL Network, SHOWTIME, Turner, Univision, select regional
sports networks, and more; and
- Accessing fuboTV's extensive video on demand library of 30,000+
TV shows and movies each month.
"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 U.S. 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."
"We aim to lead the way in creating differentiated in-flight,
online entertainment experiences and digital OTT provides the
features, convenience and choice that passengers love when they're
on the ground," said Don Buchman,
vice president and general manager, Commercial Aviation, Viasat.
"We're working with airlines to explore and develop new and
innovative technology tools and business models that align with
their brand and their interest in engaging more passengers with
in-flight Wi-Fi at the lowest cost. Our partnership with fuboTV
uses state-of-the-art technology to leverage our bandwidth
advantage even further to offer reliable, high quality OTT, live or
on-demand, as efficiently as possible."
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."
About fuboTV
fuboTV is the world's only sports and
news-focused live TV streaming service with top leagues and teams,
plus popular shows, movies and news for the entire household. Its
base package, fubo Standard, is available for $54.99 per month and features more than 100
channels, including a growing line-up of national channels, local
broadcast stations and regional sports networks (RSNs); personal
Cloud DVR storage; and two simultaneous streams – with no contract
or set top box required. Get fubo.tv on the web, on popular mobile
phones and tablets, and on connected and smart TVs.
Headquartered in New York City,
fuboTV has quickly evolved into the top independent virtual MVPD in
the U.S. and a sports-first cable replacement for the entire
family, after initially launching as a streaming soccer service in
January 2015. With the launch of
fuboTV España in 2018, it became the first U.S. virtual MVPD to
enter Europe. fubo Sports Network,
the live, free-to-consumer TV network for passionate sports fans,
launched in 2019 with event coverage, news, behind-the-scenes and
exclusive programming.
Named to Forbes' Next Billion Dollar Startup list in
2019, fuboTV has raised more than $250
million in funding to date. Investors include AMC Networks,
DCM Ventures, Discovery, Inc., Goldman Sachs, i2bf, LionTree
Partners, Luminari Capital, Microsoft, Northzone, The Walt Disney
Corporation, Viacom Inc., Waverley Capital, Edgar Bronfman, Jr. (former Chairman and CEO of
Warner Music Group) and Chris
Silbermann (founding partner, ICM Partners) among
others.
About Viasat
Viasat is a global
communications company that believes everyone and everything in the
world can be connected. For more than 30
years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses,
governments and militaries around the world communicate. Today, the
Company is developing the ultimate global communications network to
power high-quality, secure, affordable, fast connections to impact
people's lives anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at
sea. To learn more about Viasat, visit: www.viasat.com,
go to Viasat's Corporate Blog, or follow the Company on
social media
at: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
About The Streaming Video Alliance
Founded in 2014,
the Streaming Video Alliance is a global technical association of
organizations from across the video ecosystem that have come
together to collaborate on building solutions to address the
technical challenges facing the streaming video industry. Through
best practices, specifications, functional requirements,
proof-of-concepts, and other documents published by its working and
study groups, the Alliance strives to improve the end-user video
experience and promote increased adoption of streaming. For more
information, please visit www.streamingvideoalliance.org.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains
forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbors
created under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include statements
that refer to the overall agreement between Viasat and fuboTV; and
the offerings and benefits of the partnership, including the free
access, faster downloads and better image quality of the service.
Readers are cautioned that actual results could differ materially
and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking
statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
include: contractual problems, product defects, manufacturing
issues or delays, regulatory issues, technologies not being
developed according to anticipated schedules, or that do not
perform according to expectations, and increased competition and
other factors affecting the aviation sector generally. In addition,
please refer to the risk factors contained in Viasat's SEC filings
available at www.sec.gov, including Viasat's most recent
Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on
which they are made. Viasat undertakes no obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statements for any reason.
Copyright © 2020 Viasat, Inc. All rights reserved. Viasat,
the Viasat logo and the Viasat signal are registered trademarks of
Viasat, Inc. All other product or company names mentioned are used
for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their
respective owners.
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SOURCE Viasat, Inc.