• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, February 7, 2020

FuboTV has formed a distribution and technology partnership with global communications company Viasat Inc. to make the streaming service available free to airline passengers. 

Free, but not without an angle. Gaining in-flight access to FuboTV’s linear sports channel, 100-plus live channels, and VOD library of movies and TV series will not require paying for an inflight WiFi pass. But to view the service's full content, passengers must either be existing subscribers, or agree to a free, seven-day Fubo trial. 

FuboTV is not the first streaming service to distribute via the U.S. aviation market. But the two companies say that they’re pioneering the application of video streaming standards from the Streaming Video Alliance, a global technical association, to in-flight connectivity. 

Implementing those specifications over Viasat’s global network will enable faster, more reliable, better-image-quality live and VOD streaming on personal devices connected to that network, they say. 

Airlines that have U.S. flights equipped with Viasat satellite internet can opt to participate. No specific airline participants are named in the announcement.