The Age of BYOD A study of personal content streaming vs. video-on-demand for the hospitality industry

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2 2 Introduction On July 29, 2009, USA Today published an article proclaiming the new age of streaming media. It was entitled Tech-savvy guests bring entertainment with them and it heralded the beginning of a new era of enlightened and empowered travelers decreeing that guests would be in control over the media. Much has evolved over the past five and a half years as device toting travelers have proven that prediction to be ultimately correct. Guests are no longer content with business centers, or even their own laptops. In-room entertainment has found its way to smartphones and tablets ipads, iphones and Androids are integral tools of the new working class. They carry multiple devices and expect hotel Wi-Fi to accommodate them. We conducted this study online encompassing 400 guests and 50 hoteliers. Initially, we questioned the guests regarding their traveling habits. We were able to then coordinate both guest and hotelier responses for the appropriate questions in order to compare the answers. In a recent issue of Luxury Hoteliers Magazine they emphatically stated that guests show a strong preference for accessing personal content through their own devices, rather than browsing through a library of outdated pay-per-view movies. This study was conducted with the idea of understanding the current desires of hotel guests and their preferences with regards to the content they wish to watch when staying in a hotel. We also wanted to understand their thoughts about being able to watch their own personal subscribed content on the hotel TV vs their mobile devices. We found that having the ability to watch their own content on the TV was highly important to them vs. watching a video-on-demand library. VOD, Video On Demand

3 3 Our first question inquired as to number and types of devices the guests we surveyed carried with them on their travels. Well over 50% carried three or more devices as can be seen below. Q1: Which devices do you normally carry with you when you travel? Which devices do you normally carry with you when you travel? Percent Smartphone 76.5% 293 Tablet 54.3% 208 Laptop 63.7% 244 Other (please specify) 4.7% 18

4 4 We then wanted to determine which platform was more pervasive, IOS or Android. It was pretty even. Q2: What type of phone do you use? Percent Android 47.0% 180 iphone 43.9% 168 Windows 5.2% 20 Other (please specify) 11.5% 44

5 5 Similarly we wanted to know about their tablets and discovered that here IOS was dominant. Q3: What type of tablet do you use? Percent Android 28.5% 109 ipad 43.6% 167 Windows 9.7% 37 I don't have a tablet 24.3% 93

6 6 When questioned about their business travel habits, it was all across the boards. Q4: How often do you travel for business? Percent Weekly 7.6% 29 Monthly 12.3% 47 6X a year 11.5% 44 4X a year 12.0% 46 2X a year 12.5% 48 Once a year 17.5% 67 Other (please specify) 26.6% 102

7 7 Travel for pleasure varied between twice and six times a year with the highest level at four times. Q5: How often do you travel for pleasure? Guest Percent Weekly 1.6% 6 Monthly 14.6% 56 6X a year 21.1% 81 4X a year 29.5% 113 2X a year 23.0% 88 Once a year 8.1% 31 Other (please specify) 2.1% 8

8 8 From this point forward the study results include both guest and hotelier so we can make comparisons. The charts are appropriately designated. Both groups appreciated being able to navigate the Internet on the room TV as important. Q6: How important is it for you to be able to easily navigate the Internet via the TV on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important? Guest Not interested Shrug Okay Important Rating Average How important is it for you to be able to easily navigate the Internet via the TV on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important? Hotelier Not interested Shrug Okay Important Rating Average

9 9 When asked if they preferred watching VOD or the ability to stream Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc. the answer was resoundingly in favor of streaming their own content. In fact hoteliers ranked this even higher than the guests (82.2% compared to 76.8%) Q7: If you had a choice to watch Video-On-Demand movies via the TV at the hotel or the ability to stream Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc., to the TV from your own account, which would you prefer? Guest Percent Hotel Video on Demand 18.0% 66 My own subscription (Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc.) 76.8% 281 Other (please specify) 5.2% 19 Hotelier Percent Hotel Video on Demand 11.1% 5 Their own subscription (Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc.) 82.2% 37 Other (please specify) 6.7% 3

10 Guest interaction is of utmost importance and empowering the user to access hotel amenities and services is of the highest priority. Here s how guests and hoteliers rank various functions that could be accessed through the room television. Checking out and billing rank very highly as does finding local businesses and attractions. Also topping the responses was Internet access, watching Netflix, Hulu, etc. and the electronic programming guide (the highest response). 10

11 11 Q8: Which of the following features on the Hotel TV would be most important to you on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being most important, please rate each one. Guest Not interested Shrug Okay Total Important % Important Ability to check out % 334 Ability to order in-room dining % 334 Setup a wake-up call % % % 333 Setup Spa appointment % 332 Order a taxi % 331 Order valet service % 331 Find local biz & attractions % 336 Order housekeeping services % 331 Surf the Internet % 333 Watch Netflix, HBO, Hulu, etc % 333 View your bill and purchases % 333 Electronic Program Guide to see what is playing on TV Ability for Hotel front desk to send you messages to the TV screen Ability to play games like Angry Birds on the TV Ability to listen to Pandora or Tunein Radio, etc. on the TV % 44% 17% 43%

12 12 Hotelier Not interested Shrug Okay Total Important % Important Ability to check out % 41 Ability to order in-room dining % 42 Setup a wake-up call % 42 Make dinner reservations % 41 Setup Spa appointment % 42 Order a taxi % 42 Order valet service % 42 Find local businesses and attractions Order housekeeping services % 41 Surf the Internet % 41 Watch Netflix, HBO, Hulu, etc % 41 View your bill and purchases % 42 Electronic Program Guide to see what is playing on TV Ability for Hotel front desk to send you messages to the TV screen Ability to play games like Angry Birds on the TV Ability to listen to Pandora or Tunein Radio, etc. on the TV % 71% 36% 14% 33%

13 We were curious as to app usage and Facebook, YouTube, Netflix and Pandora ranked the highest. 13

14 Q9: Of the following online streaming APPs, which do you utilize? Guest Of the following online streaming APPs, which do you utilize? 14 Percent Facebook 77.4% 250 YouTube 70.6% 228 Pandora 41.8% 135 Instagram 24.1% 78 ITunes Radio/iCloud 28.2% 91 Tunein Radio 7.4% 24 EBay 37.8% 122 Twitter 21.1% 68 Weather Channel 51.4% 166 Angry Birds 7.1% 23 Flixter 2.8% 9 Netflix 60.4% 195 OpenTable 13.0% 42 Rdio 3.7% 12 Yelp 21.1% 68 TripAdvisor 32.2% 104 Max go 6.2% 20 HBO go 24.1% 78 NBC sports 10.2% 33 Showtime 14.6% 47 Starz 10.2% 33 Cinemax 9.6% 31 Popcornflix 1.9% 6 ESPN 28.5% 92 Yahoo Sports 6.5% 21 Amazon Instant Video 25.1% 81 Golf Channel 6.5% 21 Pinterest 15.2% 49 Spotify 14.6% 47 SnapChat 7.7% 25 Vine 4.6% 15 LinkedIn 26.9% 87 CNN 24.1% 78 Other (please specify) 8.7% 28

15 15 Hotelier Percent Facebook 89.2% 33 YouTube 91.9% 34 Pandora 73.0% 27 Instagram 37.8% 14 itunes Radio/iCloud 48.6% 18 Tunein Radio 10.8% 4 ebay 24.3% 9 Twitter 51.4% 19 Weather Channel 67.6% 25 Angry Birds 10.8% 4 Flixter 8.1% 3 Netflix 86.5% 32 OpenTable 10.8% 4 Rdio 0.0% 0 Yelp 24.3% 9 TripAdvisor 37.8% 14 Max go 5.4% 2 HBO go 48.6% 18 NBC sports 40.5% 15 Showtime 35.1% 13 Starz 13.5% 5 Cinemax 27.0% 10 Popcornflix 2.7% 1 ESPN 45.9% 17 Yahoo Sports 13.5% 5 Amazon Instant Video 27.0% 10 Golf Channel 27.0% 10 Pinterest 24.3% 9 Spotify 18.9% 7 SnapChat 13.5% 5 Vine 10.8% 4 LinkedIn 29.7% 11 CNN 35.1% 13 Other (please specify) 5.4% 2

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17 17 Streaming personal content is very important to today s travelers. This includes music, videos, photos, etc., almost anything from their personal collection. It was considered to be important to both guests and hoteliers. Q10: How important would it be to you if you could easily stream your personal content (music, videos, pictures, etc.) from your mobile device or laptop to the TV on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important? Guest Not interested Shrug Okay Important Rating Average How important would it be to you if you could easily stream your personal content (music, videos, pictures, etc.) from your mobile device or laptop to the TV on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important?

18 18 Hotelier Not interested Shrug Okay Most important Rating Average

19 19 Both hoteliers and guests really like the idea of being able to control the television in the room with an app that could be downloaded. Q11: Would you download an APP that allowed you to control the hotel TV with your mobile device? Guest Answer Options Percent Yes 67.6% 202 No 26.4% 79 Other (please specify) 6.0% 18 Hotelier Answer Options Percent Yes 65.6% 21 No 25.0% 8 Other (please specify) 9.4% 3 Would they download an APP that allowed them to control the hotel TV with their mobile device? Yes No Other (please specify)

20 20 Here we asked both guests and hoteliers if they would like to be able to download and app on their smartphone or tablet that would give them access to the hotels various amenities and services. They loved the idea of being able to do just about anything. Q12: Which of the following would be most important to you in a hotel TV APP that you download. On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being most important? Guest Not interested Shrug Okay Important % Important Ability to check out % 326 Ability to order in-room dining % 325 Setup a wakeup call % 325 Make dinner reservations % 325 Setup Spa appointment % 323 Order a taxi % 322 Order valet service % 322 Find local biz and attractions % 323 Order housekeeping services % 325 View your bill and purchases % 322 Turn your mobile device into a TV remote control % 323

21 21 Hotelier Not interested Shrug Okay Important % Important Ability to check out % 35 Ability to order in-room dining % 35 Setup a wakeup call % 35 Make dinner reservations % 35 Setup Spa appointment % 35 Order a taxi % 35 Order valet service % 35 Find local biz and attractions % 35 Order housekeeping services % 35 View your bill and purchases % 34 Turn your mobile device into a TV remote control % 35

22 22 We asked two open-ended questions in order to solicit a more emotional response from both hoteliers and guests as to functionality and usage. We wanted to get a raw response from the marketplace as to what would draw them to downloading the application and what would be the advantages of using it. Convenience and accessibility were the highest responses when it came to what they would like about such an App. Q13: What would you like the most about such an App? (Open Ended) Guest Checkout/Billing: 15% Accessibility/Choice: 44% Convenient/Ease of Use/Control/Use Own Device: 36% Local Attractions/Business: 5% Hotelier Checkout/Billing: 20% Convenience/Ease of Use: 50% Improve Service: 30%

23 23 By definition an application has a specific function and purpose. There are some specific implied benefits and then there are the more subtle advantages of downloading and using such an app. When we asked guests and hoteliers what the advantage of having such an App would be once again they said convenience and accessibility. Interestingly, hoteliers felt that their customer service would be improved and that such an app would make guests happy. Q14: What would be the advantage of having such an App? Guest Convenient/Ease of Use/Control/Use Own Device: 71% Local Attractions/Business: 3% Checkout/Billing: 11% Accessibility: 7% Big Screen/Room TV: 8% Hotelier Convenient/Ease of Use/Control/Use Own Device: 50% Checkout/Billing: 15% Accessibility: 10% Improved Service: 25%

24 24 Here we wanted to know what guests and hoteliers would be willing to pay for streaming their personal content on a hotel TV should be. We found that 60% of guests would easily pay $3.99 to $6.99 per day for this service. Another 18% would be willing to pay upwards of $9.99 per day. Hoteliers similarly agreed with the pricing with 69% seeing the price being $3.99 to $5.99 and nearly 11% seeing $9.99 per day as a reasonable price to charge. Q15: What is the absolute highest amount you would pay for having full Internet surfing capability on the TV, ability to stream your own personal APPs such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc. on the TV, and the ability to stream your own music, and other personal content from your mobile, tablet or laptop to the TV for a 24-hour period? Guest Percent $ % 100 $ % 45 $ % 37 $ % 11 $ % 14 $ % 9 $ % 35 $ % 3 $ % 1 Other (please specify) 21.3% 69

25 25 Hotelier Percent $ % 9 $ % 8 $ % 5 $ % 0 $ % 0 $ % 0 $ % 3 $ % 0 $ % 2 Other (please specify) 15.6% 5

26 26 Summary In summary, we have found that hotel guests and hoteliers alike desire to have the ability to stream personal content and watch subscriber content on the hotel TV. That guests are willing to pay for a service where they have the choice to view what they want and gain access to the Internet via the hotel TV. This opens up lost revenue opportunities to the hoteliers from the days of video-on-demand and allows hotels to provide a home like experience for their guests at the same time. About BeyondTV is a product of Hotel Internet Services, a leading provider of secure wired and wireless Internet services, Video-on-demand, IPTV streaming media, unattended business centers, 24 7 support services and meeting & convention services for hotels, resorts, timeshares, casinos, multiple dwelling units (MDU) and other venues. Hotel Internet Services has successfully deployed hundreds of small to large-scale facility-wide wired, wireless and TV solutions across the U.S. and currently manages and maintains hundreds of properties with nearly 200,000 guestrooms. The BeyondTV Wireless Streaming Player is a new BeyondTV product offering. It represents a revolutionary breakthrough in the in-room entertainment category, marrying guest devices with the guest-room TV. BeyondTV provides the convenience of using one s own devices, subscriptions, memberships, etc. while accessing the facility s amenities and services all through the hotel s TV. Contact TOLL FREE: Ext: 701 Office Locations Hotel Internet Services East Address: 2138 Alternate 19 North, Suite A, Palm Harbor, FL Hotel Internet Services West Address: 4590 Ish Drive, Suite 120, Simi Valley, CA Web Sites BeyondTV. All Rights Reserved. The BeyondTV logo, and other trademarks are trademarks of Hotel Internet Services and may not be used without permission. The names of other companies, products and services are the property of their respective owners. BTVSURV215