Virgin America Bulks Up In-Flight Entertainment Offerings

SAN FRANCISCO: Virgin America has refreshed its live satellite TV lineup with new additions to its Red in-flight entertainment platform, which has 24 channels, more than 35 on-demand films and more.

Starting this month, Virgin America passengers will have a new live satellite TV channel lineup that features more live sports and news programming. This includes nationally televised baseball games on FOX and NHL games on NBC as well as all televised NFL games.

Red features 24 channels, including new additions such as TBS live, FOX News live and NBC-NY/WNBC live and FOX-NY/WNYW live. The new Red lineup also includes more than 35 on-demand films, including Limitless, Hall Pass, Rio, Kung Fu Panda 2, Rango, Cedar Rapids and Water for Elephants. From the web, a Red HOT destination series features travel to Virgin America destinations such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. This fall, the airline will also premiere a new Hulu series, A Day in the Life, from Morgan Spurlock.

The airlines new entertainment menu also features new-media content, including programming from the multimedia SHFT platform, founded by Adrian Grenier and Peter Glatzer. SHFT’s mission is to share stories about people from all walks of life who are forging a more environmentally sustainable approach to living. The Red system will feature SHFT content alongside its Make a Difference platform, which provides information on pro-social causes, allows fliers to donate directly via a credit card swipe and even offsets the carbon footprint of their flight.

"With the largest media library in the skies, Virgin America has become the airline of choice for entertainment and sports fans," said David Cush, the president and CEO of Virgin America.  "The Red platform provides a breadth and quality of content that is unrivalled, with a special focus on fresh television, film and music content that reflects our Virgin brand roots. We’re always listening to our flyers and expanding our lineup—and in addition to more eclectic content, our travelers have been asking for more live sports and news."  

"Peter and I are thrilled to have SHFT content featured on Virgin America. It’s not only the coolest way to fly, but it’s a responsible company in a sector where that’s a rarity—it’s a perfect fit for us," added Grenier.