Research reveals hotel media preferences

Chris Dinallo

Almost two thirds of millennials use their own devices to stream content while staying in hotels, and guests value hotel and local area information above interactive programme guides, access to OTT TV and VOD content from their hotel room TVs, according to research carried out by TV technology provider ADB.

According to the research, hoteliers generally place a higher value on services such as the programme guide, VOD and screencasting compared to guests.

The study found that 62% of Millennials, 52.2% of Gen X, and 17.2% of baby boomers use their own devices to stream media while staying at a hotel. Guests carry an average of 1.71 smartphones and 1.49 laptops per travelling party. However, Millennials carried an average of 2.48 phones and 2.22 laptops per travel party.

However, guests would prefer to watch streaming media via the hotel room TV if this is possible, with Millennials preferring this strongly. Some 37% of Millennials would prefer to enter a passcode into the TV; 23.9 % of Millennials would prefer to use Chromecast, Roku or a similar device; 26.2% would prefer to use an HDMI cable or the like; and 27.6% would prefer to stream their media wirelessly to the TV.

Regarding the in-room TV experience, guests prioritise in-room services differently according to age group, with 73% of Millennials considering the TV experience “very important” compared to 54% of older guests.

“ADB is pleased to present these in-room entertainment metrics,” said Chris Dinallo, SVP Business TV for ADB.

“This is a ground-breaking piece of research that provides direct and actionable intelligence from the two most important constituencies in hotels about what is most important to them in the in-room entertainment arena. Specifically, we wanted to learn how closely the hotel TV experience should mirror what guests have at home; whether they prefer to view their own content in the hotel [Bring Your Own Content or BYOC]; how guests prefer to watch BYOC – do they connect to the TV and how, or use their own device, BYOD; and what they expect to find in the guest room of tomorrow. We asked similar questions of hoteliers, and then compared the data. The findings from this study are very enlightening.”