Hotel Smart TVs Are Becoming Standard. What Should Owners Measure Next?
Hotel smart TVs have reached the point where installation alone says little about their value. The 2026 J.D. Power North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study found that smart TVs with streaming capabilities were available to 74% of surveyed guests, while 62% used them. Each figure increased two percentage points from the previous year.
Together, these figures show that smart TV availability and guest use are increasing. For hotel owners, the next question is how well the technology works for guests who choose to use it.
Availability Does Not Measure the Full Experience
Some guests will never use the television during a stay. That makes a 100% usage target unrealistic. Still, availability data cannot show if guests tried to stream and stopped because pairing took too long or instructions were unclear.
Hotels need to examine what happens between turning on the TV and watching content. A screen may offer casting, streaming apps, and hotel information, yet those features have limited value when guests cannot access them easily.
A stronger review should consider:
How many guests start and complete device pairing
Which features receive the most use
How often guests request TV support
Which errors or connection problems occur repeatedly
How frequently staff reset or reconfigure TVs
Hotels may need platform reporting, support records, or guest feedback to gather this information. The goal is to identify patterns that availability figures miss.
Look for Friction Across the Entire Setup
A smart TV experience depends on the display, network, interface, and room setup working together. Weak Wi-Fi, older equipment, unclear on-screen instructions, or a clunky pairing process can all limit adoption even when the TV itself supports the right features.
Privacy is part of this too. Guests need a simple way to connect personal devices without leaving pairing information behind for the next guest. In Planning a Hotel TV Upgrade? LG’s New UJ Series Is Here, we covered QR-code pairing and the automatic removal of pairing information at checkout.
Test the full pairing process in a guestroom yourself before rolling the same setup out across the property. What looks fine on paper often isn't once you're standing in the room trying to cast from your own phone.
Measure the Effect on Hotel Operations
Guest use is only one part of performance. Hotel teams also live with the system after installation.
Track the time staff spend resolving connection issues, updating content, changing TV settings, and preparing rooms for new guests. Frequent manual fixes can signal a setup or infrastructure problem, even when guests do not report it directly.
Centralized tools can reduce that work. LG Pro:Centric Cloud supports in-room content management, room-status monitoring, guest requests, and operational data collection. The UJ Series also supports Google Cast, Apple AirPlay, Netflix through Pro:Centric solutions, and LG Channels.
Plan Around Adoption, Not Hardware Counts
The study does not prove that smart TVs caused the broader rise in hotel satisfaction. It does show that streaming-capable televisions continue to move toward standard guestroom availability and that usage is rising.
For owners, the next step is to measure access, reliability, support demand, and operational workload. If your property is reviewing its current setup or planning a replacement, contact Ameritech to discuss system compatibility, network requirements, and the right hospitality TV configuration for your guestrooms.