DISH puts your Netflix queue on your hotel room TV

Watching Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) from a hotel room can be an irritating experience. First, you often have to pay extra for WiFi; then you may have to suffer from buffering delays and poor picture quality when watching on your laptop or tablet. There are of course workarounds, but most people won’t take their streaming device and cables on their trips – and even if they do, it might not work with the TV of their room.

NOW DISH Network (NASDAQ: FLAT) has a simpler solution. The satellite company has added access to the video streaming leader to the Evolve set-top box it sells to hotel operators.

Netflix is ​​coming to some hotel rooms soon. Image source: Netflix.

What does DISH do?

Evolve, which debuted about a year ago, combines live TV content, an interactive channel guide and AlphabetChromecast from with access to the Google Play Store. The 4K-capable set-top box is “designed to work with any hotel cabling scenario, as well as existing or upgraded network infrastructure,” DISH said in a press release.

Integrating Netflix onto the platform adds significant value, as it dramatically increases viewing choices for consumers and allows them to have a little piece of home in their hotel room: log in and your account appears, with your preferences and recorded shows, just like you were in your own living room. Hotel guests must have their own account with the streaming service, but for those who don’t, the platform makes it easy to subscribe. And Evolve automatically clears each guest’s login information from the system at checkout, preventing the next guest from receiving a free ride.

A good deal for consumers

While you can’t choose a hotel based on its in-room entertainment options, it’s usually nice to discover that the place you’re staying has a good selection. The DISH Evolve plan gives consumers more options, and while the addition of Netflix may cost hotels a bit of revenue as fewer guests opt for the higher-tier WiFi option, it should also produce levels of higher customer satisfaction.

This is a win for Netflix because it brings a great viewing experience to more subscribers in more places. This is also a win for DISH, as it makes Evolve a more attractive product for hotels considering it.

The big winners, however, are consumers who will be able to binge-watch videos away from home without paying extra, without the pain of watching on a small screen or having to manage streaming via a hotel WiFi system. overload. It’s a small convenience, but one that should be especially appreciated after a long day, when a weary traveler wants nothing more than to settle in and watch something in their queue.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Daniel B. Kline has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns and recommends shares of Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.