Do you own or manage a marina? There are thousands of marinas throughout the country. Some are simple, no-frills affairs while others cater to the luxury yacht segment. No matter what kind of marina you have, you pride yourself on offering great service to the boats that dock there. After all, if you’re offering value, you can usually charge a little more for each slip. Choosing the right options for the marina takes some skill and imagination, though, and here’s something you might not have thought about.
Have you thought about offering live TV to the boats in your marina?
A couple of years ago, people started saying that live TV was dead. The internet, they said, created an on-demand society and no one would just sit back and watch whatever was on. They couldn’t be further from the truth. After years of decline, live TV ratings are bouncing back up! That means people are getting more interested in broadcast television, not less. And that opens up a great opportunity for you as the marina operator to offer something people really want.
It’s easy to offer live TV, but you’ll need to make some decisions. And, that means getting educated before you make expensive choices. Luckily, that’s what The Solid Signal Blog is here for.
Master Antenna TV: the budget option
Master Antenna TV means providing a way for everyone to get live TV without putting up their own TV antenna. Most boats today don’t have TV antennas. Since 2009, it’s been impossible to get TV reception in a vessel moving more than about 15mph. That’s put a lot of folks off the idea of wiring their boats for live TV. However, you can put up a large antenna and distribute that signal to people. You just need to make sure you’re using enough amplifiers to cover the wiring you’re putting down. Provide a coax connection to every slip, and then boat owners can run a line into the cabin. Scan for channels, and bingo they’ll get live TV without anything else to install or configure.
This option is great for the budget-conscious marina manager because there’s no cost to it once the installation is done. All you’re doing is distributing live TV which is perfectly free and legal. Most cities have a couple of dozen live channels including sports, nostalgia, and movie channels that most folks can’t get on cable.
Satellite headend: the easy choice
How’d you like to run your own cable TV operation? It sounds daunting, but it isn’t. A headend system from Solid Signal lets you choose which channels to offer to your customers. You can offer a mix of local channels and national ones. All of it gets put together in a compact package about the size of an office laser printer. Once it’s programmed, it’s pretty much set-and-forget. You’ll run one cable to each slip and then, just like the antenna option, people just have to connect it into the cabin, scan for channels, and they’re done. There’s practically no maintenance required.
This is a popular choice because the cost to get into it is fairly low. There are even specials that can drive that price even lower sometimes. However, there is a monthly charge for the service. Unlike home satellite, it’s truly a la carte. You pay a certain price for each channel you offer. But, you can decide exactly how many channels you want to offer, so you control the budget.
The luxury option: true satellite TV
You have the option of putting a satellite dish up on the roof of the office and distributing that signal throughout the marina. Boat owners would then choose to get their own satellite TV subscriptions and connect up using your dish. This is a popular option for luxury marinas where people really want to have the best of the best. Many of these folks have satellite systems on their boats and they just want a way to connect to the marina to get better signal.
A system like this requires six coax lines run to every slip. That makes it more expensive to put in. However, you’re relying on the boats themselves to have satellite service, so there isn’t a monthly fee to operate it. That’s something to consider.
There’s so much more to consider…
…it’s a good thing you have a friend in the business.
Call the experts at Signal Connect today! They’ll help you choose the right option for your marina. They can also help you offer Wi-Fi to each boat and better cell service in the clubhouse. If you’re ready to offer that true luxury experience, you can’t afford to be without the professionals at Signal Connect. They will build a custom package for you that gives you exactly what you need and nothing you don’t.
Call us! The number is 888-233-7563. We’re here during East Coast business hours. Once you get connected with an expert, they’ll give you their personal info and let you know when you can contact them. A lot of our staff take calls all hours of the day or night to serve their customers.
So, make the call. Or, if it’s after East Coast business hours, fill out the form below. An expert will get back to you, usually within one business day.
