From combined dispatches
AirTran Airways plans to offer satellite radio at each seat by the end of the year.
The no-frills carrier, which currently offers no onboard entertainment, was expected to announce a deal yesterday to be one of the first airlines to install XM Satellite Radio.
The two companies are showing off the aerial system at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
XM and its main competitor, Sirius Satellite Radio, meanwhile, are debuting systems that transmit video to automobiles using the same satellites, antennas and infrastructure as their audio networks’.
JetBlue Airways, a New York discount carrier known for its live TV at each seat, also has a deal in the works with XM, which is based in the District.
Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran, which has its hub in Atlanta, said the digital radio system will offer more than 100 channels of news, weather, music and other entertainment.
Kevin Healy, an AirTran vice president, said radio programming is better suited to the airline’s short flights than movies or other entertainment systems.
Customers also will be able to tune in from the moment they sit down, he said. Traditional in-flight entertainment systems usually can’t be turned on until about 25 minutes after planes leave the gate.
Mr. Healy said AirTran considered but rejected live TV.
AirTran will start installing the radio system this summer on its fleet of Boeing 717s and on new 737s as they are delivered.
He did not disclose the terms of the deal.
“This is an opportunity for them to demonstrate to more than 10 million AirTran customers what XM Radio is,” he said. “That’s built into the deal.”
Jim Collins, a spokesman for Sirius, said the company hopes to offer three or four video channels in autos within 18 months.
He said Sirius plans to put full-motion video on screens visible only from back seats, where it would not distract drivers.
XM also hopes to offer a video system for automobiles some day, but doesn’t believe it’s a viable business yet.
“We have to look at the investment, the market, the demand, and delivering a high-quality product,” XM spokes-man Chance Patterson said.
“Those are all factors that today suggest it could be viable down the line, but it’s not viable today.”
Another company, KVH Industries Inc., sells an antenna that receives live TV signals in automobiles. But with a price tag of $3,500, it has not been selling well.
Part of the problem with sending video over satellite radio systems is bandwidth restrictions. Now that consumers are accustomed to high-quality video from in-car DVD systems, choppy video from a satellite might not impress.
As a result, Sirius is focusing on cartoons, partly because in-car DVD systems have proven popular with children, but also because they transmit better on limited bandwidth.
The video and data services have the potential to bring in a lot of money for the companies, if the popularity of their radio services is any indication.
XM and Sirius announced big jumps in subscribers yesterday. XM is far out in front, with more than 1.3 million subscribers after adding a million customers in the past year. Sirius ended 2003 with 261,061 subscribers, more than eight times its 2002 figure.
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