In my last article, “Are you wasting money and losing guests with your HDTV?,” I described the minimum requirements you need for your in-room TV sets, both for today and in the future. In this article, we examine some new technologies that could potentially save you and your property a lot of money in infrastructure and legal video content fees, both real time, video on demand and streaming Internet content.

Many TV sets today, including LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Vizio, Sony and several others, but not Westinghouse, offer a large variety of “apps” built directly into their higher-end HDTV models, whether they be LED, LCD or plasma. These TV sets are now equipped with WiFi capabilities and also LAN (RJ45 inputs). This added functionality allows you to save huge amounts of money and in many cases, increase your pay-per-view revenues.

How Does It Work?
If you can currently receive OTA (over the air) TV programming via a regular TV antenna, you’ll find in more than 90 percent of the U.S., and many other countries, you can supply your guests with local TV stations on a free-to-guest basis. In most areas, local TV stations are broadcasting in 1080i format, and your cost for that content is $0.00, although in a few cases local license fees may apply.

Now for the most interesting part: The built-in apps in the HDTV with WiFi, and/or LAN-enabled, are all VOD content. An interesting free app is AP NewsTicker, a screen crawl positioned on the bottom of the screen, about one to two inches high, that feeds the latest breaking news on a variety of topics (sports, politics, stock market, weather alerts, world news etc.) The following is only a partial listing of available apps. Some are free, some are PPV, in which the hotelier can make extra commissions: NetFlix, Vudu, Yahoo, AccuWeather, Cinemania, Explore 3D, FaceBook, YouTube, Blockbuster, Google maps, Hulu Plus, Napster, Pandora, SPS TV and Texas Holdem.

Plus, a guest can go to the TV set’s main app menu and drill down to exactly what he or she wants to watch, i.e., sports, kids, games, news, etc. Additional content is constantly being added. There are several accounting systems that can charge the guest for extra bandwidth, or PPV content [This is still in beta testing as of this writing]. However, the choice is yours.

What Are the Pitfalls?
By now you are probably wondering what are the pitfalls. First and foremost, you will need a WiFi-enabled TV set. You also need additional Internet bandwidth, but there is a huge bright spot here. If you’re building a new property you don’t need to install a wired TV network; you can simply deploy a WiFi network. In the case of a retrofit, there is no need to start breaking walls for HSIA cables. There is no need for cable, but you’ll need more WiFi access points.

Is There More to Come?
You bet there is. Just keep on reading this series at www.LHOnline.com, or contact me, Les Spielman, at ceo@hacl.net.

Les Spielman is CEO and founder of Hospitality Automation Consultants Ltd., an independent consulting firm with more than 30 years of hands-on experience in the lodging industry. The firm has successfully completed more than 3,200 consulting projects throughout the world. He has served two consecutive terms on the board of directors of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants and is a member of HTNG. Reach him at ceo@hacl.net or 818-763-4449.