The Project
In-flight Audio Entertainment

The Client
Air 2000 / Sonoptics Productions

The Brief

The Solution

The first step was to establish and develop the concept of a radio network in the sky - offering listeners a broad range of rolling music, speech and special-interest programmes reflecting both the interests and tastes of the airline’s passenger profile.

As is common with in-flight audio production, the brief required many of the programme strands to remain on board the aircraft fleet for up to 6 months at a time - it was therefore crucial that these ‘timeless’ strands should always sound fresh and relevant to listeners throughout the given time period.  In addition, some channels were also required to operate on an endless ‘loop’ for technical reasons and consequently, these programmes had to be carefully designed and produced to have no perceptible start or finish.

Once a schedule of programming had been determined and approved, a generic sonic branding package was commissioned - consisting of both sung jingles and instrumental elements - that could be deployed across a range of programme genres, to aid continuity of output and reinforce brand identity.

A number of high-profile radio and TV personalities were then engaged as presenters and carefully briefed as to the particular requirements of in-flight audio production. Detailed programme research and scripting was undertaken and where necessary, specialist music content was sourced and procured.

Individual programme strands were then recorded and mixed at a number of different studio facilities, before post-production, mastering and duplication for the avionics playback system. Finally, detailed programme listings and other promotional materials were prepared for publication in the airline’s in-flight entertainment guide.