Here's How Airlines Choose Which Movies To Play, And It Checks Out

Ever been stuck on a long-haul flight with nothing but an obscure ’90s movie or three non-consecutive sitcom episodes to watch? 

Speaking with co-host Marina Hyde, Richard Osman joked on the behind-the-scenes showbiz podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, “they’ve always got Curb Your Enthusiasm, but one episode, and The Big Bang Theory they’ve got 40 episodes, and they’ve got episode two of season one and episode five of season two.” 

As he says, “by and large, for an hour of content [shown in-flight]... you would get $1,300 per hour if you’re the producer.” But why do airlines pick one show or movie over another?

Part of it is down to cash 

Speaking to Lonely Planet, Catherine Brown from Bluebox (one of the companies behind in-flight movie setups) explained that “the airline will have final say, but they’ll work with partner companies — content service providers — who help with content curation, helping choose the latest movies item-by-item, or offering bundles from specific studios.” 

In other words, sometimes airlines will get a package deal that’s too good to turn down. 

But “they’ll also manage all the licensing with the studios that must be arranged in order to legally show that content to you on a plane. That’s a whole other complex topic,” Catherine explains. 

She also revealed her company found that 65% of viewers opted for big Hollywood movies in-flight, while those watching TV overwhelmingly chose comedy. 

Given the $1,300 an hour fee Richard Osman talked about earlier, it would make sense to pick media along those lines. 

There’s more to it than just money

Some airlines prefer not to show content that’s too risqué, Mark Horton, head of worldwide sales at airline movie distributor Cinesky, told Traveler.

“We always create what we call the ‘airline edit’ which is a version toned down to be suitable for family viewing. We will remove bad language and nudity, similar to broadcast TV,” he said. 

“Horror really doesn’t work in-flight, but besides that genre, the airlines are keen to play as much variety as they can to cater to the diverse audiences on their planes,” he added.

Mark also shared that shows and movies that depict plane crashes can be turned down by some airlines (makes sense, TBH). 

So, we need Hollywood hitters or sitcoms that are soothing enough to watch in-flight while staying compelling enough to survive the “airline edit,” which ideally come from a studio package deal, and which aren’t so long that their hours of screentime costs the airline loads. 

Perhaps that’s why a small film called Five Feet Apart (a romcom set in a hospital) overtook superhero movie offerings for Cinesky in 2019...