Repeated Satellite TV Problems
 

I've got to be honest, the "Live Satellite TV" on RED has been a huuuuuge disappointment in my experience so far. :confused: I've been on half a dozen cross country flights between SFO and JFK over the past few months (and around a dozen VX flights overall) and not a single time has more than 4-6 of the channels come in at all during the flight. The rest all give nothing but the 'satellite lost' message the entire.

In addition...the few channels that were working...were definitely not anything approaching "live" they aren't even 'recent'. The channel labeled "Fox" appears to have nothing that runs on it other than the same Robert Ballard Titanic special that is has had since early November on a loop. One of the other channels (can't remember which...MTV? USA maybe?) just runs some reality show called 'Charm School' with Sharon Osborne...again on a loop...and again multiple months in a row. Heck, I'd be happy just watching food channel the entire flight if it was actually live programming instead of reruns of a previous season of 'Top Chef' on a loop.

What the heck is going on with the satellite TV? Am I alone in experiencing this? Are they aware of the issue? Working on it? Considering abandoning dish network and switching to directv if their the problem?

I want to love VX, I have been pleased with nearly all other aspects of my experiences with it. The employees are all wonderful...but the cross-country flights with no inflight entertainment to speak of are getting really brutal. I haven't had any of these problems on JetBlue and I'm tempted to switch back (despite the fact that I recently got the Virgin America eleVate Visa card!)

I'm not sure where to ask, or who to speak to about my concerns. If they're working on fixing it, I'll keep giving them chances...if they just ignore the problem and saying 'well...some flights are better than others..." I need to give up and move on. :(

Although I like the remaining options that Red has my experience has been exactly like yours when it comes to the satelite TV. I have to assume, as it seems you have, that it is a problem with the service, but then why would they offer it as part of the initial entertainmant package if it was substandard. I have heard no plans to address it , although it has been brought up before on this site and to the attention of their customer service. Good luck in the future!

There's a note in the FAQ to the contrary.

Thanks. articos also addressed it in a parallel thread. He stated that antenna/receiving equip. is in the process of being installed and that it does improve reception. I'll keep my eyes open for any improvement on future flights as I haven't seen any yet.

I can also vouch for the fact that when the equipment is replaced, the reception is excellent.

Great news! I assume the reception you are speaking of refers to the entire lineup of channels being watchable and not just the picture quality being better. I'll hope to see the improvements next flight. Thanks.

Yes, nearly all of the channels work when the new hardware is installed. It's more like JetBlue, where there may be outages during steep banks, etc.