LodgeNet joins DECE consortium, setting stage for TV Everywhere access in hotels

Cable subscribers who buy VoD movies from their pay TV provider and DVDs through retail outlets such as Best Buy may eventually be able to access those titles through TVs at hotels nationwide.

Hotel pay-per-view programming distributor LodgeNet Interactive said Thursday that it joined the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE). The consortium, which includes includes Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Cox Communications, CableLabs and 75 other media, entertainment and technology companies, has developed a digital rights locker called UltraViolet that is designed to allow consumers that buy movies to access the content on any platform and device.

LodgeNet said its entry into the DECE consortium lays the groundwork for the future sale of movies through its in-room video platform. Hotel guests may be able to buy a movie, and have the rights to watch it forever, but LodgeNet didn't say how it may price movies sold through the platform.

Hotels may eventually be able to allow guests to access titles that they have purchased and registered through the UltraViolet platform in their rooms.

UltraViolet is expected to debut next week. While the digital rights locker can potentially allow consumers to access movies and TV shows that they buy through retail or VOD systems on multiple devices, the DECE consortium will face some challenges in educating consumers about how the digital rights locker works.

Meanwhile, some pay TV providers are pursuing their own strategies to allow subscribers that buy movies to access them on multiple devices. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) offers its FiOS TV subscribers the ability to buy movies through its "Flex View" system, which lets subscribers access content on TVs, the Web and mobile devcies.

For more:
- see news release

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