DirecTV Offering More Channels & Germ-Free Remotes

Hollywood Reporter: Satellite TV giant DirecTV is targeting hotels with a new Residential Experience for Hotels service, which includes what it calls the first anti-microbial remote control.

The company said Monday that the service "will transport the living room experience into the hotel room with more than 100 HD channels, an enhanced interactive program guide, the full residential programming lineup and the first anti-microbial remote designed by DirecTV specifically for the lodging and hospitality industry."

DirecTV has already offered TV service to hotels, but the clear branding, the germ-free remote, the expanded HD offer and programming and interactive programming guide are new. The new service puts a small receiver into hotel guest rooms rather than putting - as has been the case so far - a range of receivers into the hotel utility room with each tuned to a specific channel. That used to limit the number of available channels.

The service is currently being tested in select locations across the country and will launch later this summer.

"We understand consumers want the same programming diversity and ease-of-use they have at home while they're travelling, and DirecTV's Residential Experience for Hotels will deliver those same features and benefits right into the hotel room," said Rod Keller, vp of commercial sales for DirecTV. "With approximately 20 percent of hotels currently offering HD service to their guests, we expect this new service to significantly expand the HD offering in this market with the added benefit of a sanitized remote."