You’ll Never Guess What People Are Watching In Hotel Rooms (Hint: It’s Not Porn)

It looks like hotel visitors are more apt to binge-watch than go the X-rated route. Culling data from Enseo, a company that sets up streaming services in hotels around the world, Variety found that more people are watching Netflix than pay-per-view porn on their in-room TVs. While only 1% of hotel TVs even order pay-per-view programming, new stats report that a staggering 90% of that used to come from adult fare alone. But as times change and things like high-speed internet are becoming more common in hotel rooms worldwide, big-name chains are starting to change the way guests stay entertained. App-enabled TVs are becoming standard and with them, Netflix. Enseo reports that 40% of hotel guests will use streaming services when they're available. Quartz reports that fewer and fewer people are opting for pay-per-view movies when they're at hotels, porn and non-porn included. For decades, that on-demand porn was a major source of revenue for hotels, but these days, many hotel chains — including Marriott, the biggest hotel chain in the world — are pulling the plug on it. In fact, many times, the late-night purchases would be contested at checkout and hotel guests would demand refunds (sneaky). Instead of losing cash on skin flicks, hotels are turning to services like Enseo to add Netflix and other apps to TVs. Guests are responding, too. Not only do viewers spend more time watching Netflix than the news or a sporting event (90 minutes of Stranger Things and The OA versus 14 minutes of Dateline and SportsCenter), guests don't have to spend any of their hard-earned cash when they tune it. All it takes is a Netflix account and just about everyone has access to one of those, whether it's their own or not. Hotels aren't raking in any cash when guests stream Netflix, but there's no doubt customers would consider a second stay if it means they can keep up with their favorite flicks.