[SatNews] ...will represent a step-change improvement over traditional DVD distribution methods, with the streamed content specifically licensed and selected for commercial ships
Visitors to Posidonia enjoyed the premiere of Fleet Media – Inmarsat’s forthcoming film and TV service for commercial vessels at sea.
Service partner NT Digital Partners performed live demonstrations at the leading maritime event in Athens, Greece on June 2-6, showing delegates how easy it will be to select content to watch on PCs, laptops and tablets.
Live demo: movies on demand with Fleet Media
A globally exclusive, five-year agreement covering the digital distribution of the latest Hollywood releases, as well as television programming and sports and news content, means Fleet Media will be available to vessels via any Inmarsat broadband package.
The service, which is due to launch in Q3 this year, will offer a selection of movie and television programming packages every month. This will be sent directly to participating vessels over the Inmarsat satellite network for off-line viewing.
Fleet Media will represent a step-change improvement over traditional DVD distribution methods, with the streamed content specifically licensed and selected for commercial ships.
It will be available to Inmarsat broadband service subscribers with the content securely downloaded and stored on the vessel’s Fleet Media server box.
Any ship owner subscribing to the new digital packages will be able to take their service with them when they upgrade from one Inmarsat service to another—for example, from FleetBroadband to XpressLink or XpressLink to Global Xpress.
The content packages will be created by NT Digital Partners and its co-owner Spafax, a WPP company. Spafax is a leader in inflight entertainment with customers including British Airways and Air Canada.
“Inmarsat is extremely excited by this agreement and the opportunities to bring more benefits to seafarers,” said Frank Coles, President, Inmarsat Maritime.
“This service continues our commitment to welfare at sea. We will be offering this service through our global distribution channel.”
Tim Swank, Chairman of NT Digital Partners, added: “Our unique and exclusive partnership with Inmarsat brings together the best of both worlds.
“Inmarsat and NT Digital Partners are able to leverage Inmarsat's state-of-the-art satellite distribution network with NT Digital Partners’ streaming technology and our exclusive relationships with the Hollywood studios for a product that will forever change the crew member experience."