Awful hotel cable report - Wingate by Wyndham in Indianapolis

[KML0224]

I went from the high of the awesome digital cable lineup on a 32" Sanyo LDC HDTV in Nashville last weekend...to this:

An LG 32" LCD HDTV model 32LC50C. While the TV in itself isn't so bad, it has the dreaded LodgeNet service and an ancient Nintendo 64 controller attached to it. It even has some type of Web TV-looking internet keyboard attached to it. I didn't dare use it! (Thanks wi-fi and trusty laptop!) This has got to be the worst lineup I've deal with so far...

0- LodgeNet Information
1- Pay-per-view movie promos
2- CNN
3- HLN
4- WTTV-TV (CW) channel 4 Bloomington [actually just a blank screen with the channel thing saying "WTTV-WB"]
5- TNT [with noticeable interference]
7- Cartoon Network
9- USA
10- The Weather Channel [national feed]
11- TBS
12- MSNBC (with noise and a picture that pulled towards the middle)
17- Lifetime
18- WTHR-TV (NBC) channel 13 Indianapolis
19- WISH-TV (CBS) channel 8 Indianapolis
20- WRTV-TV (ABC) channel 6 Indianapolis
21- WXIN-TV (FOX) channel 59 Indianapolis
22- HBO
23- History Channel
24- ESPN
25- ESPN 2
26- WGN America

Take note that WTTV-TV channel 4 was just a black screen with no audio. The red graphic on screen when you changed the channel said "WTTV-4 WB". No MY or PBS affiliate? The picture was crap on TNT and MSNBC is completely unwatchable. I doubt I'll be watching too much TV anyways, since I have the laptop and my AM/FM/CD player "Walkman" to keep me busy. I'll check titantv.com to see what the lineup should look like.

 

[w9wi]

I'll check titantv.com to see what the lineup should look like.

Going by the somewhat arbitrary formula of 10dB more than "city-of-license" signal, you should receive the following OTA stations at that location:
(virtual channel in parenthesis)

08 (17) WIIH-LD, Univision
09 (08) WISH-TV, CBS
13 (13) WTHR, NBC
17 (08) WISH-TV, CBS (second transmitter)
19 (19) WDNI-CD, Jewelry TV
20 (40) WHMB-TV, WHT religious
21 (20) WFYI, PBS
25 (06) WRTV, ABC
27 (63) WIPX-TV, ION
29 (29) WTTK, CW
32 (23) WNDY-TV, My
34 (34) WIPX-LP, ION (relay of channel 63)
42 (42) WCLJ-TV, TBN
44 (69) WDTI, Daystar religious
45 (59) WXIN, Fox
48 (04) WTTV, CW

and LP analogs:
46 WALV-CA, LWS weather
47 WBXI-CA, MTV2
51 WIPX-LP, ION

 

[tripinva]

WISH-LD 17 is not yet on the air, so far as I know. Nor is WIPX-LD 34. WIIH-LD 8 is the same weather you can find on WISH 8-2. And WDNI-CD should be airing music videos as far as I know.

- Trip

 

[fybush]

WISH-LD 17 is not yet on the air, so far as I know. Nor is WIPX-LD 34. WIIH-LD 8 is the same weather you can find on WISH 8-2. And WDNI-CD should be airing music videos as far as I know.

- Trip

Correct on all counts, at least based on my late-July visit to Indianapolis...though I didn't see WDNI at all.

 

[azumanga]

I went from the high of the awesome digital cable lineup on a 32" Sanyo LDC HDTV in Nashville last weekend...to this:

An LG 32" LCD HDTV model 32LC50C. While the TV in itself isn't so bad, it has the dreaded LodgeNet service...

All standard-def only, I take it. Since many places are now adopting HDTVs, why couldn't they provide HDTV feeds? It's like buying a BluRay player, just so you could watch VCDs.

...and an ancient Nintendo 64 controller attached to it.

Did they have games? If so, did they charge you for them? Amazing that they still offered N64 games, since they are now so far down the high-tech ladder.

It even has some type of Web TV-looking internet keyboard attached to it. I didn't dare use it!

I used something like that while staying in Tallahassee on business in 2005 (as far as I knew, the Wingate that I stayed while there carried the full Comcast line-up) -- useful, but does not do much, as it did not have the same bells and whistles as conventional computers had. Worse, I only used it once, as it was pricey (about $10 for the day).

 

[DToTheJ]

Here's a tip: If you aren't fully settled into a room, see if you could switch rooms; there is a possibility that the reception of some channels might be better (worse?). You might even find some channels that you didn't come across on the TV in the other room. I am assuming you manually selected all channels on the dial and left no stone unturned.

 

[KML0224]

I'm still in this room for one more day. I just turned the TV on with the dreaded LodgeNet remote, hit channel up and wrote down what I saw. I'm really only interested in what local stations are offered. As for the few cable stations this "cable" has, I may only watch one show on USA Network later and that comes in fine, in glorious 16:9 Stretch-o-Vision (not all menu options for the TV work without the remote). I'll probably do a scan of the local AM and FM band later. Thank goodness for the laptop and wi-fi!

 

[crainbebo]

That's a horrible lineup. Looks like a mid 80s lineup at least!

-crainbebo

 

[ShawnHill1]

I was back in Las Vegas over this past weekend visiting family, and I stayed at another Motel 6...this one in downtown L.V.'s eastside (Fremont Street, and I DO NOT recommend it). The previous one I stayed at (on the southeast end of the city) was much better, albeit not by much.

Other than the visit with my son, the visit there was very lackluster, and I've learned my lesson about visiting that part of town (pretty run-down). Anyway...the channel selections were equally as atrocious, with no HBO or ESPN channels provided (the motel's reasoning: they have to re-new their agreement with their service provider...whatever the hell that meant), and the picture quality was awful (they're still using '90s model RCA TVs).

The channels (outside of the locals, I can't remember the channel numbers of the cable networks):
3-KSNV (NBC), 5-KVVU (Fox), 8-KLAS (CBS), 10-KLVX (PBS), 13-KTNV (ABC), National Geographic Channel, TBS, TNT, USA, CNN, HLN, and The Weather Channel.

Outside of the local news, I didn't watch a lot of TV while I was there...I just went to a nearby tavern to watch the Wisconsin-UNLV football game on Saturday night.

 

[KML0224]

Damn Shawn! That sucks! So if you want a nice HDTV set in the hotel room, go to the Country Inn & Suites on Donelson Pike (TN Route 255) in Nashville by the airport! (LOL) I had a 32" Sanyo LCD HDTV, nearly identical to the 26" model I have here in CT, same remote and all. Since the TV's cable was wired directly, I did a digital cable rescan and fixed the aspect ratio. Got all of the locals and TBS in high definition. Even got the WTVF (CBS) news in HD. I hope the next person in that room enjoyed me leaving the TV on its digital tuner!