• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Hotel Cable Report - Wilmington, DE (6/2/2012)

KML0224

KML0224

I had an overnight stay at the Sheraton Suites on Delaware Avenue in Wilmington, DE this past Saturday. Here was their "cable" lineup:

2- Hotel Info
3- WPVI-TV (ABC) channel 6 Philadelphia
4- KYW-TV (CBS) channel 3 Philadelphia
5- WTXF-TV (FOX) channel 29 Philadelphia
6- WCAU-TV (NBC) channel 10 Philadelphia
7- WHYY-TV (PBS) channel 12 Wilmington, DE *
8- WPHL-TV (MY) channel 17 Philadelphia
9-HLN
10- CNBC
11- Fox News Channel
12- The Weather Channel
13- ESPN
14- ESPN 2
15- Discovery
16- History
17- TLC
18- Food Network
19- HGTV
20- Nickelodeon
21- Cartoon Network
22- TV Land
23- Lifetime
24- TNT
25- TBS
26- USA
27- A&E
28- Travel Channel
29- Comedy Central
30- MTV
31- NFL Network
32- FX
33- Shotime HD
34- Animal Planet
35- CNN
74- Hotel Info
75- Pay-Per-View Information
77- Starwood Program Guide

* I assume this channel was WHYY-TV (PBS) channel 12 of Wilmington. The corner graphic said Mind or something like that.

The only channels in HD were KYW-TV, WPHL-TV and Shotime. ???
 
I'm surprised that they are not carrying WPSG. It carries 'Seinfeld', 'King of Queens', 'The Office', The CW and more programming. It probably would be more liked more than HLN or a few of the other cable networks on that list.
 
ding12 said:
I'm surprised that they are not carrying WPSG. It carries 'Seinfeld', 'King of Queens', 'The Office', The CW and more programming. It probably would be more liked more than HLN or a few of the other cable networks on that list.
Click to expand...

A lot of hotel cable systems lack netlet affiliates
 
I found it strange that WHYY-TV, which is a PBS station, licensed to Wilmington, was NOT on this lineup, but WYBE-TV channel 35 of Philadelphia was.
 
They've got NFL Network? Some major cable companies don't even carry NFL Network yet! I'm guessing when the NFLN crew travels to Philly to cover Eagles games, this is where they stay. :p
 
Pab Sungenis said:
WYBE isn't even PBS any more; it's essentially noncommercial pay-for-play.
Click to expand...

WYBE was never a PBS station. It was just an error on the Philadelphia Inquirer TV grid for many years to list PBS there. They also used to air many shows that NJN would air, and NJN was a PBS station. Also, some still get confused between 35 and 39 (WLVT-PBS) which are close in numbering.

KML-224 said:
I found it strange that WHYY-TV, which is a PBS station, licensed to Wilmington, was NOT on this lineup, but WYBE-TV channel 35 of Philadelphia was.
Click to expand...

That is strange. Hotel lineups aren't subject to must-carry. Perhaps whoever was deciding the channels had no clue really and may not really be local from the area or care about local channels to that detail.
 
@ DTOTHEJ: I doubt they'd want to stay in Wilmington, which is like a half hour south from South Philadelphia!

Another difference in cable channel lineups for hotels was in Portland, Maine. Their La Quinta hotel (close to Hadlock Field [baseball stadium]) only carried ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS (WMTW, WGME, WPFO, WCSH and WCBB, respectively). The nearby Clarion Suites (closer to the Concord Coach Lines bus/Amtrak Downeaster train terminal) carries all of those plus MY, CW and a second PBS as well (WPME, WPXT and WENH). As a side note, the wi-fi was also better at the Clarion. With that said, the Clarion isn't really any fancier than the La Quinta was. If you just need a stay for the ball park and don't care much for the TV, then the La Quinta is fine.

As for Wilmington, I can't speak for their other hotels, since this is the first time I've ever stayed overnight in Delaware.

Lastly, does anybody else find it strange that only three stations were in HD on my reported lineup? ???
 
I worked in hotels, almost my whole life and there are no real set rules for carrying.

I was the IT manager at the Westin in Chicago. We had 28 slots to fill. We had to carry certain channels because Westin had contract nationwide, like ESPN and CNN. Then we carried the networks 'cause guest expected it. And then we had three inhouse channels, broadcasting Westin, Starwood and inhouse fucntions.

Then what was left over was up to the GM. For instance, we (at the time) got the Cartoon Channel because the GM had a TV in his office and wanted it.

And the only reason we had 28 channels is that is what the system we had held and they didn't want to pay to increase the number of channels that could be carried physically.

You have to remember we're TV people, we wouldn't be reading this unless we were. But most guests in hotels don't care a heck of a lot about channel line up, other than the major networks and sports channels
 
Mark said:
I worked in hotels, almost my whole life and there are no real set rules for carrying.

I was the IT manager at the Westin in Chicago. We had 28 slots to fill. We had to carry certain channels because Westin had contract nationwide, like ESPN and CNN. Then we carried the networks 'cause guest expected it. And then we had three inhouse channels, broadcasting Westin, Starwood and inhouse fucntions.

Then what was left over was up to the GM. For instance, we (at the time) got the Cartoon Channel because the GM had a TV in his office and wanted it.

And the only reason we had 28 channels is that is what the system we had held and they didn't want to pay to increase the number of channels that could be carried physically.

You have to remember we're TV people, we wouldn't be reading this unless we were. But most guests in hotels don't care a heck of a lot about channel line up, other than the major networks and sports channels
Click to expand...

Have any guests ever complaining about the lack of CW or Mynetwork (or WB and UPN before them)? What channels did guests frequently complain about that were not on the lineup?
 
We did carry the WB and UPN. Being in Chicago, WGN is kind of a must. What we didn't carry was WCIU, WJYS, which were independent and WYIN and WYCC (PBS), nor PAX.

A few made suggestions, but there were never enough to warrant any serious consideration. TV channels never really came up at any hotels I ever worked at, except if there was a special fight on some certain network. Then people would call and ask. Boxing is always a big draw. I worked part time at a Days Inn and we would always carry major boxing promotions. And often people would rent the room and then leave when the fight ended.
 
KML-224 said:
I doubt [NFLN staffers would] want to stay in Wilmington, which is like a half hour south from South Philadelphia!
Click to expand...

I meant to say any Sheraton location in Philly... :p
 
KML-224 said:
@ DTOTHEJ: I doubt they'd want to stay in Wilmington, which is like a half hour south from South Philadelphia!

Another difference in cable channel lineups for hotels was in Portland, Maine. Their La Quinta hotel (close to Hadlock Field [baseball stadium]) only carried ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS (WMTW, WGME, WPFO, WCSH and WCBB, respectively). The nearby Clarion Suites (closer to the Concord Coach Lines bus/Amtrak Downeaster train terminal) carries all of those plus MY, CW and a second PBS as well (WPME, WPXT and WENH). As a side note, the wi-fi was also better at the Clarion. With that said, the Clarion isn't really any fancier than the La Quinta was. If you just need a stay for the ball park and don't care much for the TV, then the La Quinta is fine.

As for Wilmington, I can't speak for their other hotels, since this is the first time I've ever stayed overnight in Delaware.

Lastly, does anybody else find it strange that only three stations were in HD on my reported lineup? ???
Click to expand...

And you gave the Chemical Capital the honors? Not Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Indian River Inlet (where my uncle had a cottage), Bethany Beach (where my father had a condo [not on the ocean]), or Fenwick Island? All of my overnight stays in the Diamond, er, First State have been in the coastal zone. Then again Amtrak doesn't stop at the DE beaches.

Apparently you couldn't afford the Hotel duPont, where the HS my dad taught at (in Delaware County, PA) has its prom every spring.

ixnay
 
I live in central Connecticut, fairly close to Hartford. With that said:

1- I almost never get south of Philadelphia anymore. My last trip TO Delaware was in July of 2009. My last time in Delaware, in any fashion, was on November 19, 2010, while on a round trip Amtrak ride to Baltimore.

2- If I fly from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT, the next closest airport I may see is usually BWI in Linthicum, MD.

3- I've never been to Dover proper, Kent County or Sussex County. Only Wilmington, Newport (for going the wrong way on Saturday evening), New Castle (Delaware side of the Bridge), the Delaware Turnpike portion of I-95 and, as mentioned, the Amtrak run between the PA and MD borders.

We needed a place which wasn't too far out of the way, since we were there for Wilmington Blue Rocks baseball at Frawley Stadium. How else would I know it's close to Exit 6 from I-95 North? To get this back to TV, we went past the Wilmington Bureau of WPVI-TV on Martin Luther King Drive. :)

I'd like to visit other parts of the state. It's just a long enough drive from Connecticut as it is.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom