Hotels ordered to upgrade TVs in rooms

To address complaints from guests about their difficulty in accessing the televisions in their hotel rooms, related authorities have required hotels to simplify the software on their TVs so guests can more easily access channels.

Three central departments including the National Radio and Television Administration, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the China Consumers Association recently held a video conference, on which they required hotels to streamline consumers' operation of getting access to live television programs, as reported by the Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday.

The TVs in many hotel rooms feature customized software and operating systems aimed at promoting the properties in-house services, rather than standard TV channels.

The departments said that hotels can continue to display their information on the TVs on the condition that they simplify their operation and make it easier to access television programs.

The departments also clarified at the video conference that they will further regulate hotels' television signal sources this year to secure safer and better signal transmission.

Hotels are encouraged to improve the televisions' picture quality and definition by updating the TV equipment or optimizing the signal transmission, to enable guests to have a better viewing experience during their stays.