NxTV has signed a five-year agreement with MGM Grand Detroit, the 400-room luxury hotel, scheduled to open in 4Q’07, to install the nation’s first 100% IP-based distribution system for in-room entertainment.  High Definition IP Video On Demand (HD IPVOD) and IPTV Free to Guest content as well as high-speed Internet access, VoIP telephony and mini-bar communication systems will all ride over one converged, Internet Protocol (IP) network for greater cost savings, reliability, improved applications integration and increased revenue.

The MGM Grand Detroit will be unique because it will have no coaxial infrastructure, making the hotel the first in the United States to have a 100% digital platform delivering both HD IPVOD and IPTV Free to Guest television over a secure and reliable converged IP network.  In addition, the property will be able to seamlessly integrate the NxTV system with other hotel applications, such as PMS, POS and reservation systems. Since NxTV was the first company to provide IPVOD to the hospitality market over seven years ago, the NxTV system is perfectly suited to the coax-free network environment at the MGM Grand Detroit.  NxTV provides premium IP services to the global luxury hotel market serving an installed base that includes many of the world’s most prestigious properties.

“We are excited to be selected and are looking forward to a long relationship with MGM Grand Detroit,” said Russell P. Reeder, president and COO of NxTV, Inc. “By going with an IP infrastructure from the start, MGM Grand Detroit made a decision that is future-proof to set themselves up for long term success.”  Reeder noted that IPTV, which has been deployed in Europe and Asia for many years, had its first U.S. implementations last year. 

Guests at the MGM Grand Detroit will see ultra crisp, digital on-screen images and enjoy the smooth navigational feel of true interactive television, not a ‘Web browser-like’ experience.  Reeder said NxTV’s picture quality excels in part because the system moves content over a secure and reliable IP Ethernet CAT-6 network and adheres to the highest security standards.  “Other providers must use analog coaxial cable in some part of the content and distribution system, which degrades picture quality.  Lower quality signals like analog or broadcast digital not only look worse on high definition displays because the imperfections are magnified, but also are not secure without an IP content delivery system.”
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