In-transport multi-channel media delivery

1. An in-transport media (ITM) delivery system, comprising:

an ITM distribution server disposed in a transport craft, the ITM distribution server comprising:

a channel distribution controller to distribute a plurality of media channel offerings to one or more ITM client disposed in the transport craft;

a request controller to monitor the one or more ITM client to determine a consumption condition for the plurality of media channel offerings that is at least in part based on a characteristic of the ITM client consuming a media channel offering of the plurality of media channel offerings; and

a communications controller to communicate, to a remote media server via a communications network, feedback regarding the consumption condition for the plurality of media channel offerings and to receive respective instances of at least some of the media channel offerings from the remote media server via the communications network in response to communicating the consumption condition, the respective instances being generated and transmitted by the remote media server in accordance with the consumption condition that is at least in part based on the characteristic of the ITM client.

2. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the ITM client comprises at least one of a device type or a display resolution.

3. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the consumption condition indicates the media channel offering as presently consumed based on the characteristic of the ITM client.

4. The ITM delivery system of claim 3 , wherein the media channel offering is indicated as presently consumed only when the characteristic of the ITM client indicates that the media channel offering is capable of being presented as a high-fidelity instance by the ITM client.

5. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the media channel offering is received at the communications controller as either a high-fidelity instance or a low-fidelity instance based on the characteristic of the ITM client.

6. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 ,

wherein the media channel offering is received at the communications controller as a highest-fidelity instance supported by the ITM client,

wherein the highest-fidelity instance is determined based on the characteristic of the ITM client.

7. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the request controller determines that one of the media channel offerings is presently being requested by detecting that the one or more ITM client has been tuned to the media channel offering for at least a predetermined threshold dwell duration.

8. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the request controller determines that one of the media channel offerings is presently not being requested by detecting that the one or more ITM client has not been tuned to the media channel offering for at least a predetermined threshold release duration.

9. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , wherein:

the request controller further monitors a plurality of ITM clients disposed in the transport craft to determine, for each of a requested media channel offerings, an associated highest fidelity supported by the plurality of ITM clients requesting the media channel offering based on the characteristic of each respective one of the plurality of ITM clients requesting the media channel offering;

the communications controller further communicates the feedback to indicated the associated highest fidelity for each of the requested media channel offerings based on the characteristics the plurality of ITM clients requesting the media channel offering; and

the communication controller further receives each the requested media Chanel offering according to it's the associated highest fidelity.

10. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of ITM distribution servers disposed in respective ones of a plurality of transport crafts and sharing a forward downlink signal; and

wherein the communications controllers of the plurality of ITM distribution servers receive at least one of the media channel offerings from the remote media server at a highest fidelity instance supported by any ITM client consuming at least one media channel offerings across all of the plurality of ITM distribution servers sharing the forward downlink signal.

11. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the feedback further comprises an indication of a present link quality of a communications link of which traffic is received by the communications controller; and

the communications controller further receives at least some of the requested media channel offerings at a fidelity corresponding to the present link quality.

12. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , wherein each of at least a portion of the media channel offerings comprises linear programming.

13. The ITM delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the transport craft is an airplane.

14. A method for distribution of media channel offerings in an in-transport communication system, the method comprising:

monitoring, by an in-transport media (ITM) server, one or more ITM clients disposed in a transport craft;

determining a consumption condition for the plurality of media channel offerings that is at least in part based on a characteristic of an ITM client consuming a media channel offering of the plurality of media channel offerings;

generating server feedback that is based on the consumption condition for the plurality of media channel offerings;

transmitting, from the ITM server to a remote media server via a communications network, the server feedback;

receiving, by the ITM server from the remote media server via the communications network, respective instances of at least one of the media channel offerings in response to communicating the server feedback, the respective instances generated and transmitted by the remote media server in accordance with the server feedback and at least in part based on the characteristic of the ITM client consuming the media channel offering; and

distributing the respective instance of the media channel offerings to the ITM client consuming the media channel offering.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the characteristic of the ITM client comprises at least one of a device type or a display resolution.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the consumption condition comprises determining the media channel offering as presently consumed based on the characteristic of the ITM client.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

indicating the media channel offering is presently consumed in the server feedback only when the characteristic of the ITM client indicates that the media channel offering is capable of being presented as a high-fidelity instance by the ITM client.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein receiving the media channel offering at the communications controller comprises either receiving a high-fidelity instance or a low-fidelity instance based on the characteristic of the ITM client.

19. The method of claim 14 ,

wherein receiving the media channel offering at the communications controller as a highest-fidelity instance supported by the ITM client,

wherein the highest-fidelity instance is determined based on the characteristic of the ITM client.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

the monitoring further comprises determining, for each of a requested media channel offerings, an associated highest fidelity supported by a plurality of ITM clients requesting the media channel offering based on the characteristic of each respective one of the plurality of ITM clients requesting the media channel offering;

the transmitting further indicates the associated highest fidelity for each of the requested media channel offerings; and

each requested media channel offering is received according to the highest associated fidelity for the requested media channel offering.