LodgeNet Reports Continued Strong Interactive Growth in 1999; Company Now Serving More Than 660,000 Guest Pay Rooms
100 Percent Have On-Demand Technology -- An Industry First; 95 Percent Feature Nintendo(R) Video Games; More Than 10,000 Internet Rooms
SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Jan. 10 / LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation LNET today announced that it is the first in its industry to equip 100 percent of its more than 660,000 installed guest pay interactive rooms with on-demand capability, which enables guests to watch in-room movies in an instant as opposed to waiting for a scheduled start time. The company also announced that more than 630,000 (95 percent) of its interactive Guest Pay rooms feature...
"As we begin the year 2000, we are extremely pleased to report that every LodgeNet-equipped guest pay room is fully interactive," said Scott C. Petersen, President and CEO for LodgeNet. "That interactive backbone, which we began installing in 1992, not only means that we can deliver movies on demand, but also an ever-increasing variety of interactive services, such as Nintendo video games, interactive hotel services and now high-speed Internet services."
"Interactive on-demand capability has proven to raise system usage by enabling guests to watch what they want, when they want it. Our 100 percent on-demand achievement represents a 'win-win-win' for LodgeNet, our hotel partners, and their guests," said Steven R. Pofahl, Vice President Technical Operations for LodgeNet. "By utilizing our nationwide field service network to upgrade our remaining scheduled systems during 1999, we have accomplished our goal of providing on-demand service to every LodgeNet guest pay room as we enter the new year."
With the room growth reported today, LodgeNet is the only interactive hotel system provider to increase its market share in each of the last five years, and delivers its services to more properties than any other company. LodgeNet is also the lodging industry's leading distributor of in-room video games, and is the only technology provider deploying both high-speed TV Internet service and high-speed laptop connectivity on a nationwide scale.
LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation (