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Thanks to Dish Network, you can now watch live TV on American Airlines flights

Kris Wouk
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As the last days of summer drift on by, TV fans are looking forward to the fall because it means new shows are about to premiere and their favorites are set to return. But what if you’re traveling and can’t be in your living room? Sure, you can DVR the latest episodes, but in this day and age, can you ensure you remain safe from spoilers? Now, thanks to a partnership between Dish Network and American Airlines, you can get your live TV fix while you’re 30,000 feet in the air.

While this is great news for TV fans, it remains fairly limited for the time being. At the start, only 12 channels are available: Bravo, CBS, CNBC, CNN, Disney Channel, ESPN, FOX, NBC, NFL Network, Telemundo, TNT, and USA. It might be a small number, but it beats the previous number of live TV channels you’d be able to watch on American Airlines flights: Aero.

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It’s also a fairly diverse lineup, meaning there’s something for the whole family. Disney is great for the kids, CNN for the avid news junkie, and ESPN and the NFL Network for sports fans. Networks like Fox, CBS, and NBC offer programming you’ll be able to watch with the whole family. Well, that is as long as you’re all in adjacent seats, which isn’t always a given these days.

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It’s not guaranteed that you’re going to be able to watch TV on every flight. At the start, the new Dish Network channel offerings are available on 100 aircraft in the American Airlines fleet. That’s not a huge number, but the Dish Network blog post announcing the partnership says that number will expand to more than 700 aircraft during 2019. This new deal applies to only to domestic flights; American Airlines already offers live TV on its international flights.

Of course, this isn’t your only entertainment option if you’re flying on a plane that doesn’t offer live TV in the air. You can always use a live TV streaming service like Dish’s Sling TV if your flight has Wi-Fi, or if you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can download a few movies or TV episodes to watch on your phone or tablet.

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Kris Wouk
Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
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