DirecTV is stepping up its competition with hospitality TV services leader LodgeNet Interactive, offering hotel operators a range of new features including HD DVRs and the ability to insert up to 50 local channels.
The DirecTV Residential Experience for Hotels is currently in 110 properties across the country, including several operated by Hilton Worldwide. The satellite TV operator said it has "soft launched" DVRs and local channels with two hotels but did not identify them, according to a spokeswoman.
The HD DVRs are designed to offer guests "a home-away-from-home video experience," DirecTV said. The operator offers hotel operators a lineup of more than 100 HD channels, an antimicrobial remote control and DirecTV's interactive programming guide. With the local content insertion, hotels can offer up to 50 of their own content integrated into the IPG. DirecTV also offers hospitality customers the option to co-brand the guide.
"Our guests tell us that they want a TV experience similar to or better than what they have at home," Hilton Worldwide vice president of brand and guest technology Josh Weiss said in a statement. "As we couple the DirecTV Residential Experience, which includes more than 100 HD channels and a user-friendly programming guide, with HDTVs now deployed across our portfolio, we continue to build an in-room experience that delights our guests."
DirecTV touts a single-dish solution for hotels and institutional customers, allowing properties to install one dish per rooftop. The satellite operator's business services group also has products tailored to bars and restaurants; college dorms; hospitals; offices; retail shops; and gyms.
Sioux Falls, S.D.-based LodgeNet, which targets hospitality and healthcare sectors, claims it supports 1.6 million hotel rooms and reaches more than 500 million travelers annually.
