Thought of as the first wave of discount air carriers, Southwest Airlines has been breaking barriers and forging new ground in the highly competitive airline industry since its spike in growth in the mid 90s. Recently, the low-cost airline announced that they will be offering live, in-flight TV to passengers at a cost of $3-$8 in a test phase.

The program will offer air travelers the choice of watching seven sports and news channels on their own mobile devices. Those channels announced will be; NBC Sports Network, MLB, NFL Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, and Fox Business News.

Passengers will be able to access the channels via each plane’s wi-fi network on devices such as iPads, iPhones, Androids, other tablets, and laptops as well. Southwest adopted wi-fi on their aircraft back in 2010. However, this is the first time they’ve dabbled with live, in-flight television – and generating revenue from it.

Southwest hopes to roll out the service on 20 planes this month, and outfit nearly 70% of its 550-plane fleet nationwide by the end of 2013.

This is, obviously, a smart move for Southwest. Since the passengers access TV on their own devices, Southwest doesn’t have to pay for new screens or the maintenance associated with them.

But it could also be a big opportunity for national advertisers on these seven networks to have the full attention of a captive audience on airplanes everywhere across the country. This service also could become a big selling point for the networks involved.

Sounds like a pretty good deal for all parties involved. The kind of innovation that makes a discount brand able to fly as high as its full-price competitors.