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The hotel industry is sometimes slow to adapt to new technology , but AI and more are forcing it to evolve with the times .
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING The distinctive DirecTV satellite dishes endure but streaming , sans hardware , is undeniably the future . Many still prefer satellite delivery , especially businesses , because the WiFi isn ’ t taxed . Next year , DirecTV will make available a streaming option to commercial businesses , including hotels , something that up to now has been unavailable . “ Our business customers will have the option to stream it or beam it ,” Eichler said .
Today , DirecTV for Business offers commercial partners the Advanced Entertainment Platform ( AEP ), which integrates live TV , streaming apps and guest subscription access , giving hotel guests the similar convenience and choice they have at home . It was updated in summer 2024 .
Like any business , big or small , the rapport between seller and buyer carries weight . Without a strong bond and strong trust , there is no kinship . In the hotel business — a
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business built on relationships — hotel owners depend on vendors to deliver not only value , but the confidence that the underlying product works the way it ’ s intended .
Eichler in his earlier years with DirecTV fondly remembers the power of connection . In one instance , he met someone in the hotel space that he referred to as a “ grizzled veteran ,” some four decades with a brand . He greeted Eichler pleasantly , sat him down , and told him that he ’ d see him again in six months . “ I ’ ll take another meeting after that if you ’ re still around , then we ’ ll maybe buy something from you , because I buy from people that I know and I ’ ve worked with for years ,” Eichler recalled the man saying . The man was true to his word . He didn ’ t buy a single thing from DirecTV for another year . “ Relationships are everything ,” Eichler said .
The example was a teachable moment . “ We didn ’ t know what we didn ’ t know , so we had to
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get in and meet with hoteliers ,” Eichler said . In those earlier years , Eichler and his team would ask hoteliers what they were doing right and what they could improve on . One woman half-joked : “ Well , you cash our checks very well .”
Twice a year , DirecTV meets with its hotel advisory board , mostly comprised of hotel brands , to showcase its products and elicit feedback on how to improve . In its very first meeting , DirecTV presented a product road map . The consensus was clear : “ We ’ re not buying it ,” the board said . It was the exact type of constructive feedback DirecTV wanted . Eichler said they completely threw out the road map and started anew , developing it in conjunction with the hoteliers . “ Everyone realizes we ’ re doing things to benefit the industry together ,” he said .
DirecTV doesn ’ t share the actual number of hotels it works with but has several brand-level agreements in place with the likes of Hilton , Marriott International , Hyatt Hotels , BWH Hotels and other national chains , along with Aimbridge , the largest thirdparty management company in the world . In October , it entered into a multi-year agreement with the AHLA as a Gold Partner .
If there ’ s an ownership group involved , DirecTV also partners with them . And while these above-property master services agreements , which act like umbrella arrangements with the brands so that properties receive certain terms and conditions , are in place ,
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DirecTV also has agreements in place with each individual property : At the end of the day , the bill needs to be paid .
Eichler acknowledges consumer competition from the likes of YouTube TV and other streaming platforms , but those are reserved for homeuse only , not commercial . The one exception is Dish Network , long a competitor to DirecTV in the hotel space . That all appeared to change at the end of September when it was announced that DirecTV and EchoStar had entered into a definitive agreement under which DirecTV would acquire EchoStar ’ s video distribution business , including Dish TV and Sling TV , through a debt exchange transaction . In a statement at the time , DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said the combination would work to help realize the future of TV , “ which is to aggregate , curate and distribute content tailored to customers ’ interests and to be better positioned to realize operating efficiencies ...”
Just shy of two months later , the merger was scrapped , DirecTV walking away after Dish could not secure approval from its bondholders representing around $ 10.7 billion of debt in Dish and its DBS subsidiary . For the deal to have gone through , the bondholders had to agree to exchange their debt for new debt at a discounted rate , taking a haircut of more than $ 1.5 billion . “ We have terminated the transaction because the proposed exchange terms were necessary to protect DirecTV ’ s balance sheet and
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8 hotelsmag . com December 2024 |