Ant & Dec – Live to a Flight

You could always e-mail the producer via their website and ask Pembo. My money’s on an edit job definitely.

I saw the same programme but have my own thoughs on how it was “achieved”

Although they said they were in mid-flight i dont think they were. As I have not been on a A320 i dont know how silent the engines are, but I certainly didnt hear any engine noise, plus all the shutters on the windows were down, i know it was a night flight but some people would have the shutters open.

So i think they were sitting on a patch of tarmac at the orgin airport but i may be wrong.

Nikumba

Ren – you have the same initial thoughts as me which is why I posted this thread initially. I wonder if there is a way we could actually find out?:confused:

🙂

Yeah but it’s not just about beaming pictures to the plane, it’s also about beaming microwave signals to each of the cameras in both directions, talk back and cueing signals, time base, synchronisation, real time compression etc etc. If they did do it live, fair play to them but ask yourself how often you’ve ever seen anything else coming live from a plane in flight.

Air Force one can do it, but then even that would be a one way unilateral broadcast.

I still say it was mostly an edit job, I’d like to see it again and could probably prove it mind you. Of course who’s to say the plane was ever actually in the air at all.. ? har har I love a good conspiracy theory.

Ren ,

I’m not that sure. JetBlue’s TV is live. We experienced some transmission cuts due to weather interferences.
If you want to know more.

http://www.jetblue.com/havefun/directv/directv.html

Although Ant & Dec’s show is essentially live, it’s obvious to me that large chumks of it have been recorded in advance. This is quite normal practice with so called live shows and happens mainly for logistical reasons i.e a guest only being available the day before or an item being to complicated to do in real time etc.

When they cut to the shot of the in flight monitors dropping down on the plane I instantly though “edit job”. And indeed the pictures on the plane were probably from tape. Even with today’s best satellite broadcast equipment you just can’t make that live transition look so seamless.

It’s possible the entire item was recorded before the show went on air and edited for transmission perhaps leaving just the last bit when the guy won the money “live”

When I flew BA a while back from Orlando at around brekfast time they showed the BBC news…I can’t be sure if was live though generally the headlines seemed pretty up to date for the time…

Originally posted by Bhoy
Possibly. Certainly when I was working at Jet, I saw some pamphlets from Boeing, and their Sat looked a bit like a square patch, which, like that, was on top of the 767’s that Jet were equipping at the time.

As far as I know Boeing’s system is more sofisticated since it allows internet connections aswell.

JetBlue system (I forget the provider) is one way.

Dont know the ins and outs but it was a MyTravel Lite A320.

Possibly. Certainly when I was working at Jet, I saw some pamphlets from Boeing, and their Sat looked a bit like a square patch, which, like that, was on top of the 767’s that Jet were equipping at the time.

Yes it could well be. It’s not a standard aircraft antenna.

See this round white “plate” on the top of the body.
It might be the satellite antenna.

Well, I genuinely didn’t know you could do this.

Next time I fly, I can watch TV at the same time (and last year I flew during the World Cup Final – how I would have liked this facility then!)

Thanks guys. 🙂

That’s right. I flew with them from OAK to LGB and all JetBlue’s jets have live TV on PTV’s. (A dozen of channels if I remember well)
Amazing and …. lot of commercials !!!!

I’d say it was possible.

It’s like Connexions (Boeing) introducing internet access on flights like they have started with Lufthansa – live contact with the ground.

Am I just completely stupid or did someone say a few months ago that JetBlue screened live television from the ground?