On BA BBC News is provided at various times on the multi-channel video experience in Business & first class. There's BBC News Week & the BBC News programme recorded (in my experience nearly 20 hours early!). I had difficulty reading the Beeb's astons though because they aren't solid colours & don't come out clearly on small LCD screens. BA also show Harry Enfield's Sky One Show (more people have probably seen it on BA then saw it on Sky when it was shown!). There's also 5 video channels (in my experience I started watching The Dish & then the video system was cut out because the plane was landing - thus missing the end of it!)
Other programmes include West Wing on the drama channel. Davina McCall's soap & Fraiser on the comedy channel & there's a sort of documentary channel also!
Certainly there's a lot of choice!
If you fly Virgin
(in my experience sooo much better than BA in all respects)
you get the full multi channel A/V experience in economy also. I can't remember exactly, but recall Virgin having 4 or 5 movie channels, 3 comedy channels, a couple of music channels, 2 kiddie channels, a couple of News/Information channels (BBC World, Wildlife on One kind of stuff) and a couple of mix & match channels, together with their GPS/Flightdeck info channel. These are shown on LCD screens placed in the headrest of the seat in front of you.
Heathrow Express have Plasma/LCD screens (can't tell as they're behind reinforced glass) in each carriage at all the exit doors facing into the carriage. On your trip to & from Heathrow, they play a couple of ads which are typical of the ones shown on BBC World, a five minute BBC World News Summary, a couple of more ads, a BBC World Weather report, then 'intermission' type material such as music videos until the train arrives. The train ride takes all of 15 minutes
The material on Heathrow Express is quite heavily compressed, so presume it is distributed on CD-ROM and put into the trains onboard computer.
One thing I did miss though on the Heathrow Express is the BAA music, you know the classical piece of music which calms your nerves as you use the shuttle train at Gatwick between the North & South terminals. I think it's from Carmen but not sure
(Edited by techy peep at 6:45 am on Aug. 7, 2001)
SN
SkyNews
One great thing I saw in a NY hotel lift - I don't think I've seen anywhere else - is CNN on a screen! It's just a service to the guests not just a way of making money by putting ads sold by the hotel onto the screen.
