Hotel cable report: every channel was wrong

[TheRob]

Okay, I'm exaggerating. But I stayed for one night at the Super 8 by the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on my way home from vacation. At $46/night, I suppose you get what you pay for. The air conditioner didn't work too well. And the Zenith on top of the dresser had not been reprogrammed in some time. Without an actual lineup card in the room, I had to use the on-screen display, and much of it was wrong.

display actual channel
2 CBN WSB-TV (ABC)
3 ABC FOX Business
4 nothing
5 WB WAGA-TV (FOX)
6 FOX FOX News Channel
7 UPN WPCH (Ind.)
8 PBS WGTV (correct!)
9 CBS CNN
10 WTBS HLN
11 no display WXIA (NBC - I guess this counts as being correct)
12 NBC MSNBC
13 CNN Weather Channel
14 HBO NFL Network
And so on...

Later, I found ESPN2 listed twice, BET listed three times, and TNN still on the display. VH1 was Comedy Central and MTV was VH1.

WGCL (CBS) wasn't on the lineup at all, and neither was the local CW affiliate.

 

[landtuna]

Super 8 says it all.

 

[ShawnHill1]

A few of the Motel 6s I've lodged at where much the same...very limited channel selections, and outdated TVs with terrible reception.

 

[landtuna]

I remember when Motel 6 was actually $6 per night (plus 88 cents tax).

I don't remember them having TV's in those days.

 

[azumanga]

I remember when Motel 6 was actually $6 per night (plus 88 cents tax).

I don't remember them having TV's in those days.

I believe they had TVs, but they were black and white and you had to pay to watch them. I believe they had an ad in National Geographic in the 1970s, in which they actually boasted about having B&W's, as a way to save money.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

The Embassy suites hotel in Niagara falls has a TV card but it still lists ONtv, which has been off the air for over a dogs age.
The ironic part: It's their hometown Channel 11 these days!!! You'd think they'd be proud of their own hometown TV station!!!
(and yes, there were many other errors on that same card too!!)

 

[kc1ih]

I think the thing is that many of the lineups changed when analog OTA went away, but the hotels haven't changed the lineup cards. This is especially true if they are using the local cable system.

Just try explaining that to the people working at the hotel, that is if they speak English at all.

 

[Brother]

I have to say, when I spend money on a hotel or motel, the last thing I'm doing is watching television. I want fascinating stories to tell, and something like "I spent my time getting bitten by mosquitoes relaxing at the stagnant swamp the motel called a pool" may be more painful, but it's far more interesting than regaling my friends with tales of watching SportsCenter.

That said, if you're going to provide TV, you may as well do it properly. You never know when someone here is scanning your channels.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Super 8 says it all.

I stayed at a Super 8 that has the local standard cable lineup from the local cable provider, most cheap hotels have that, it's actually expensive hotels like Marriott that have the fewest channels

 

[nomadcowatbk]

A few of the Motel 6s I've lodged at where much the same...very limited channel selections, and outdated TVs with terrible reception.

I stayed at a Motel 6 that had the local standard cable lineup on its old abuse zenith tube set, but I don't think it may be considered a true Motel 6 since it had interior corridors

 

[nomadcowatbk]

I remember when Motel 6 was actually $6 per night (plus 88 cents tax).

I don't remember them having TV's in those days.

I believe they had TVs, but they were black and white and you had to pay to watch them. I believe they had an ad in National Geographic in the 1970s, in which they actually boasted about having B&W's, as a way to save money.

they don't current brag about having old zenith tube sets

 

[nomadcowatbk]

I think the thing is that many of the lineups changed when analog OTA went away, but the hotels haven't changed the lineup cards. This is especially true if they are using the local cable system.

Just try explaining that to the people working at the hotel, that is if they speak English at all.

Many hotel channel cards still list WB. If the local cable provider no longer has analog they just have little DTA on the back of the TV.

 

[boiseengineer]

High class Hotel ("old" but classy) in downtown San Francisco still had their own in-house system in 2004.
Only thing I remember is that the "NBC" channel was mostly snow.
Why? Because the NBC affiliate was (and still is) a San Jose station that was shadowed in downtown SF.
Why even bother to try to have it!

 

[Morgan Wick]

I have to say, when I spend money on a hotel or motel, the last thing I'm doing is watching television. I want fascinating stories to tell, and something like "I spent my time getting bitten by mosquitoes relaxing at the stagnant swamp the motel called a pool" may be more painful, but it's far more interesting than regaling my friends with tales of watching SportsCenter.

One, you may not tell your friends about it but you probably still want to keep up on your favorite shows. Two, my impression is that places like Motel 6 are for people who just want a cheap place to spend the night without all the frills and gimmicks like a pool or even breakfast.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

I have to say, when I spend money on a hotel or motel, the last thing I'm doing is watching television. I want fascinating stories to tell, and something like "I spent my time getting bitten by mosquitoes relaxing at the stagnant swamp the motel called a pool" may be more painful, but it's far more interesting than regaling my friends with tales of watching SportsCenter.

One, you may not tell your friends about it but you probably still want to keep up on your favorite shows. Two, my impression is that places like Motel 6 are for people who just want a cheap place to spend the night without all the frills and gimmicks like a pool or even breakfast.

Some Motel 6s have pools, some probably now have HDTVs since those old Zenith sets are probably dying

 

[kenglish]

Time to re-write their Channel Lineup card, and present it to the Manager when you leave.
Lyngsat Logo has all the logo images for download.
They could run it down to Insty-Prints, and have them printed and laminated.

 

[newsmark]

Hotel TV is such a weird thing. So many have an HDTV, but no HD signal. They're stretching the picture to fill the screen, making everyone on the screen look 25% heavier.

And some have cable that includes QAM. But it would take someone scanning every TV in every room, then going back and removing a bunch of channels (like PPV previews).

 

[boiseengineer]

They're stretching the picture to fill the screen, making everyone on the screen look 25% heavier.

And the adjustments are password protected.

Ah, the good old days when the right tools could access the hidden controls and fix a bad picture.

 

[KML0224]

It widely varies:

The hotel I stayed at in Nashville in 2010 (near I-40 and BNA) had a 32" Sanyo LCD HDTV with no converter. It was an exact match of the TV I had in my bedroom at the time except for the screen size (mine was 26"). Naturally, I set the picture to how I would have it, correct aspect ratios and all. The "-1" channels for the locals were all in HD as well (WKRN channel 2, WSMV channel 4, etc.). It was a good thing, since the analog equivalent the TV tuned was very poor, with some channels completely unwatchable.

A Super 8 motel I stayed in overnight in Brattleboro, VT (along US Route 5/VT Route 9) was nice for being in the north end of the town. The wi-fi in the room worked fine for my laptop. However, the TV's "cable" sucked. The TV itself was capable of HD and was an LCD flat screen, but couldn't do anything without its remote. I think the only stations it had were the big 4 from Boston and (maybe) WSBK-TV (MY) channel 38. No Vermont ETV (PBS) or New Hampshire stations at all.

 

[crainbebo]

I've gone from 30-channel DirecTV lineups with no ESPN AT ALL, just ESPN2 and ESPN U (if you were dying to watch sports that no one but 2,500 people watch...), to the awesome Hampton Inn Portland lineup with DTA DirecTV and dozens of HD channels as well as every local channel. But not a system where EVERY CHANNEL was wrong.

-crainbebo