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Forced in-flight DirecTV ads need to stop

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Old Jul 6, 2017, 6:29 pm
  #76  
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Originally Posted by fastair
Never heard this...would be a coup in negotiating w/ directtv to get them to provide it free
Contract is with Thales, previously LiveTV. And, yes, it would be a significant expense to the company to make it free for every flight.
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 6:53 pm
  #77  
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Originally Posted by enviroian
That would be correct. It takes a few moments but will black off screen.

that being said....IBTL!
few moments? Probably about 10 seconds, maybe 15. Though to be fair, you need to know how to do it, it's not self-evident.

Originally Posted by zeer0
Wasn't Munoz going to finally make it free?
huh? Where did you here this?

Originally Posted by sbm12
Contract is with Thales, previously LiveTV. And, yes, it would be a significant expense to the company to make it free for every flight.
Yes, definitely a big expense, since the deal was LiveTV (at least at the time) covered installation costs in return for a cut of the purchase revenue. But who knows, maybe the MileagePlus explorer card could expand their PDE sponsorship to include DTV? It should be theoretically possible to comp it since there are reports from the past of it being comped for flights with more than minor delays, and it is for F pax too.
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 7:00 pm
  #78  
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Originally Posted by emcampbe
It should be theoretically possible to comp it since there are reports from the past of it being comped for flights with more than minor delays, and it is for F pax too.
Absolutely possible. There's a "magic button" on the FA console to do precisely that.

Fun fact about the TV system on the 737s: The very first revenue service on which it operated was MCO-EWR and was sufficiently delayed such that they flipped the switch and made it free for everyone. Whoopsie.
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 7:12 pm
  #79  
 
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Originally Posted by sbm12
Absolutely possible. There's a "magic button" on the FA console to do precisely that.

Fun fact about the TV system on the 737s: The very first revenue service on which it operated was MCO-EWR and was sufficiently delayed such that they flipped the switch and made it free for everyone. Whoopsie.
Has UA made any progress on the streaming DTV solution?
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 7:22 pm
  #80  
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Originally Posted by johnwlynch
I recall there is no on/off button but if you hit the brightness button down as far as it will go, the lowest setting is OFF.
When the system goes to automated announcements, the screen will turn on by itself even if you turned it off.

I usually take the plastic sheet of emergency instructions and tuck it into the top-bottom edge of the screen.
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 7:29 pm
  #81  
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Originally Posted by boat9781
Has UA made any progress on the streaming DTV solution?
Issue there is on the Thales end, not United's. The STV product will roll out on Azul first (paid subscription required to read that w/more details but AFAIK I'm the only one with that report; sorry) and I'm not sure UA is a confirmed customer.
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 8:03 pm
  #82  
 
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Originally Posted by johnwlynch
I recall there is no on/off button but if you hit the brightness button down as far as it will go, the lowest setting is OFF.
On some planes, you use the volume control similarly to turn off the screen. I've done this several times on 737-800/900's.
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 8:10 pm
  #83  
 
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Originally Posted by othermike27
On some planes, you use the volume control similarly to turn off the screen. I've done this several times on 737-800/900's.
Did you mean brightness control buttons?
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 8:13 pm
  #84  
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Originally Posted by johnwlynch
I recall there is no on/off button but if you hit the brightness button down as far as it will go, the lowest setting is OFF.
You can, but it will periodically restore to half brightness to show you more ads.

See various prior threads on this:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...need-stop.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...rtainment.html
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 8:14 pm
  #85  
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And even when you make the screen go black the next ad turns it back on again. You are forced to have the commercials in your face. I do like the idea of cramming the safety card into the screen to block it.
Last edited by Baze; Jul 8, 2017 at 10:47 am
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Old Jul 6, 2017, 8:29 pm
  #86  
 
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If you want an image that isn't flickering or distracting, try the flight map! Much more relaxing and doesn't bother me as it changes while I am reading a book or magazine.
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Old Jul 8, 2017, 8:34 am
  #87  
 
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Originally Posted by gokeeper
Did you mean brightness control buttons?
No, I meant what I said - volume control. I only found out when I started pushing random buttons in frustrtation after seeing too many cycles of the same ad pitches to swipe my card and buy a movie.

Check that. I said volume but now that I look I can't find any pictures of the configuration I remember. OTOH, you can find explicit instruction on UA's website that mention the brightness control. So, unless/until I can find a picture of what I think I remember, I stand corrected.
Last edited by othermike27; Jul 8, 2017 at 3:13 pm
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Old Jul 8, 2017, 10:16 am
  #88  
 
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Originally Posted by ouzet
United Airlines takes passengers as slaves that have to be submitted entirely, like animals. We are constrain, imposed to swallow all these filths. This is totally disgusting and despicable.
Seriously? Even assuming English isn't OP's first language, this is over the top.
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Old Jul 8, 2017, 8:46 pm
  #89  
 
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Originally Posted by Flyingfox
Sounds like something that would happen on a low cost carrier.
...except that JetBlue and Southwest provide FREE DirecTV and no mid-flight adverts.
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Old Oct 2, 2017, 9:24 pm
  #90  
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Originally Posted by zeer0
Wasn't Munoz going to finally make it free?
Originally Posted by fastair
Never heard this...would be a coup in negotiating w/ directtv to get them to provide it free
Originally Posted by sbm12
Absolutely possible. There's a "magic button" on the FA console to do precisely that.

Fun fact about the TV system on the 737s: The very first revenue service on which it operated was MCO-EWR and was sufficiently delayed such that they flipped the switch and made it free for everyone. Whoopsie.
Just got off UA 2041 (EWR-DEN) flight delayed ~40 min. Free DTV throughout the cabin. No ads. I'm guessing someone pressed the "Magic Button". There was no announcement.

I'm usually not that interested, but was glad to be able to keep up with the developments in LAS.
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