Why Atmosphere TV May Not Have Your Business’s Best Interests at Heart

As a business owner, creating a pleasant and engaging environment for your customers is paramount. Enter Atmosphere TV, a company that offers curated TV content designed to enhance customer experience in various settings like bars, restaurants, gyms, and waiting rooms. However, despite its appealing facade, Atmosphere TV’s business model reveals some underlying concerns that may not align with the best interests of hosting businesses.

The Business Model: “Free” TV

Atmosphere TV operates on a model that relies on advertising revenue. The service offers businesses free access to its content in exchange for displaying ads to their customers. Here’s a closer look at how this model works:

1. Free Content for Businesses

Atmosphere TV provides its service to businesses at no cost. This includes limited channels with content ranging from sports highlights to viral videos and lifestyle shows, all curated to keep viewers entertained.

2. Ad-Supported Revenue

The catch, however, is that the content is interspersed with advertisements. These ads are not random; they are specifically targeted based on the type of business and its customer demographics.

3. Advertisers Foot the Bill

The primary source of revenue for Atmosphere TV comes from these advertisers. Companies pay Atmosphere TV to place their ads in front of the viewers in these business establishments.

While this model ensures that businesses receive engaging content for free, it raises several concerns about whether Atmosphere TV prioritizes the interests of these businesses.

Concerns About Atmosphere TV

1. Customer Experience vs. Advertising Intrusion: The primary goal for most businesses using TV services is to enhance the customer experience. However, frequent interruptions by ads can disrupt the viewing experience. The ads inserted by Atmosphere TV might annoy customers, leading to a negative perception of the business using their service.

2. Lack of Control Over Content: Businesses have limited control over the ads shown to their customers. This lack of control means that the advertisements may not always align with the values or branding of the business. For example, a family-friendly restaurant may not appreciate ads for products or services that don’t align with their image or mention a competing brand.

3. Hidden Costs: While the service itself is free, the cost that ranges from missed marketing opportunities to the potential customer dissatisfaction. Businesses must weigh the trade-off between saving money on TV content and possibly alienating customers with unwanted content and advertisements.

4. Ad Revenue Prioritization: Because Atmosphere TV’s primary revenue source is advertising, there is a strong incentive for the company to prioritize the interests of advertisers over the businesses hosting their service. This can lead to a gradual increase in ad frequency and ad types that pay them more money, further detracting from the hosting business’ customer experience.

5. Limited Content Options: Because Atmosphere TV is footing the bill for the content they provide to businesses, they are likely to prioritize playback of content that will cost them less to display. They are also less likely to purchase new content if they can get away with playing older, less relevant, content at a lesser cost. This can leave businesses with looping video playlists that repeat often and end up being a bother to customers and staff.

Top Alternatives to Atmosphere TV

Business owners looking to provide quality entertainment without compromising customer satisfaction should consider alternative non-cable solutions:

1. Custom TV Services: Services from leaders in custom TV like It’s Relevant TV, offer a customizable experience tailored specifically for businesses. It’s Relevant TV provides a mix of content and advertising options that align with the business’s branding and customer demographics. This service also ensures compliance with public performance licensing requirements, eliminating legal concerns associated with using personal streaming services like Netflix.

2. In-House Content Curation: Some businesses may benefit from creating their own content loops. This could include a mix of branded content, customer highlights, and non-commercial entertainment, ensuring full control over what is displayed. If you don’t have hours of your own content you can combine what you have with network tv content by using services like RELE.TV.

3. Digital Signage Solutions: Businesses can also explore digital signage solutions that allow for custom content curation. This includes promotional materials, local news, weather updates, and more, without the intrusion of third-party advertisements. This option does tend to lack in engaging TV content people typically enjoy watching, so sticking with a custom tv service might be a better option.

“You Get What You Pay For”

While Atmosphere TV offers an enticing free service, its ad-supported business model may not always align with the best interests of the hosting businesses. Just remember, if you aren’t paying anything, you may not be getting much– or worse, you might actually be losing something. The potential for customer dissatisfaction, lack of content control, and lost opportunities to promote your own business the way you want, are significant drawbacks. Business owners must critically evaluate whether the minor savings justify the possible major impact on their customer experience and brand image.

Exploring alternative entertainment solutions that comply with licensing requirements, solely exist to support your brand, and offer customizable content may ultimately better serve the interests of both your business and your customers.

Ad-Free TV for Your Business

Keep ads out of your business!

Business owners are looking for solutions to remove ads from their TVs. Whether you operate a restaurant, retail location, medical office or car dealership, you’d likely prefer an AD-FREE TV option for your visitors to enjoy. But cable TV is riddled with ads, and streaming services like Netflix aren’t legal to use inside of a business. So what can you use that gets rid of the ads, is legal, and will still entertain and inform your visitors?

There are a few “custom tv” options out there today that can help you achieve these goals. They are all services that have secured content for commercial display to save you from licensing worries, but they are not created equal. The services differ in the following ways:
1. Size of Content Library
2. Variety of Content
3. Cost

If you don’t care to read about all of the details and would rather skip to the punchline, we believe that It’s Relevant and Rele.TV are the best options for Ad-Free TV.

1. Size Matters (for content libraries)

Q: What’s worse than seeing a TV filled with countless ads?
A: Seeing the same programs over and over on an endless loop

Many companies that provide tv services to business operate with a limited library of content. Content is costly, and many of the largest custom TV operators purchase their content to use forever. And they only purchase just enough content in order to keep their expenses low and maximize their profits. This leads to a lot of looping channels, and unsatisfied viewers.

As a business owner you want to find a company that works with TV networks and content producers regularly to make sure you have fresh content year round. The more content they have the less “loopy” you will feel watching the TV.

2. The Greater the Variety, the More People You Will Please

No matter what you do you can’t please everyone all of the time. But if you use a TV provider that is only offering a limited set of content, or only a handful of channels to choose from, it’s even harder to make your visitors happy.

Many industry folks think that their visitors want to hear about their industry while they wait. But it’s just not true.

Just because you are at a car dealership waiting for your car to be repaired, or at the doctors office waiting to be seen by a doctor, does not mean you want to hear about car or medical stuff the whole time. People in those situations are typically happier when they can take their minds off of the fact that they have to be there. Location owners can do their visitors a great service by putting a variety of content in front of them.

A lot of services tout their ability to remove outside ads from TV, but they also remove TV programming from the TV at the same time! A lot of times these services are referred to as “digital signage” and they have pretty much tossed the baby out with the bathwater. They use a television to display a looping set of videos or image slides (signage) instead of TV programming. And who wants to watch a sign???

3. Ad-Free Doesn’t Mean It’s Free. You Still Get What You Pay For

The third thing to look out for when selecting an Ad-Free TV provider for your business is cost. Cost is typically the top of the list for most businesses when considering their options, but the TV is one area you do not want to skimp on.
Here’s why:
1) The TV shapes visitors impressions of your business environment.
2) The TV can be a great tool to communicate with your visitors.
3) What’s on the TV can generate more business for you, or take business away.
4) Positive waiting experiences lead to better online reviews.

A lot of business owners gravitate towards “Free TV Services” for their businesses. And who wouldn’t want something for free? Well the old saying “you get what you pay for” holds true here. Free TV services typically have limited content, and are often ad-supported. And if you can’t control the content and/or advertising, it’s not worth it. Not even for “free”.

There are a number of services you can find for under $100 a month that will give you better content, an ad-free experience, and provide ways to promote your own business on the TV. We recommend taking a look at It’s Relevant TV and Rele.tv for feature-rich ad-free TV options.

These platforms include licensed television shows without the commercials that usually accompany them. So the content is high quality, but the focus remains on you, and providing your visitors with a great experience. And unlike the majority of television, these are built for your business, not for advertisers.

Free TV for Medical Waiting Rooms

Looking for a full-featured TV service for your medical office waiting for free?

There is no such thing as a free lunch, but is there a good free TV solution?

We all know that free isn’t usually free. There is typically a catch. We’ll examine the things to look out for in this article, but if you want to cut to the chase, TV services like this one, are as close to free as you’ll get; with features that make it worthwhile, and tools to even offset the cost.

Many of the self-proclaimed “free” TV services are giving you TV while they are taking something away from your office. Let’s examine some of the ways that “free” service can actually cost you:

Most free services will put pharmaceutical ads on and confuse your patients into thinking you are endorsing the drugs on the TV. This can lead to a lot more patient examination time having to answer a bunch of questions that were generated in your waiting room.
Most free services have limited content that they provide. Many of the TV providers are operating with a limited library of content. They will continue to loop the same set of videos over and over, making your patients feel like they are waiting even longer than they really are. It can lead to poor online reviews and overall attitudes.
Most free services have boring content. While many of the medical related TV services provide specialty videos and seem great on the surface, the content can be very off-putting to your patients. Medical content played over and over has been known to create a nervous/anxious atmosphere for folks as they wait. No matter what your medical profession you want to create a healing environment, not one that makes people feel worse when they come in.

Free isn’t always the best option

We all know the phrase “you get what you pay for”, well when something is “free” what are you getting? When something is branded as “free” it’s likely taking advantage of you in some way.

Is it too good to be true?

A free TV plus videos that you pay nothing for may seem like a win, but beneath the surface there is almost always something else going on. Because as a medical office with a waiting room, you have something these service providers want; a captivated audience.

Those folks who are waiting in your office are taking in what you provide them on the TV. It’s your choice what you want to provide them. Would you rather share messaging for outside businesses, drug companies and emerging brands, or would you rather have it focus on you and your partners? You have the choice.

Recommended Read: “Top 5 Reasons a Free TV Service is Bad for Medical Offices“

Free Waiting Room TV that’s paid for by a local partner

You don’t want someone you don’t know to be controlling your TV and reaping all of the benefits from it. So there is an alternative that lets you pick your partner, have the partner pay for the service and you keep control.

It’s Relevant TV, provides custom TV networks that does just that. It offers medical offices a $0/month Sponsor-Supported package in which you choose a trusted company, organization, or partner to cover the cost. In exchange, you feature their brand and messaging on your TV in a way that is mutual, non-intrusive, and most-importantly; safe for you and your patients.

If anyone should be making money off of the TV in your business or medical office, it’s you, or a partnered brand.

Can I Play YouTube Videos In My Medical Office?

Can you play YouTube videos on your waiting room TV?

The short answer is no, not unless they’re Youtube videos you created and own the rights to all of the elements of. The reason you can’t play someone else’s videos in your medical office is because of video licensing. Video licensing prohibits playing any videos in a business without expressed permission. That cool YouTube series that’s fun, family friendly, and seems 100% perfect for your waiting room? No dice — it isn’t legal to play those on your TV without the creator’s say-so. No matter how much visitors would enjoy it or how great you think it would look.

Fortunately — if you had your heart set on a specific kind of content there are other ways to get good, quality videos on your waiting room TV. This article will suggest one or two ways you can achieve that goal, however the best solution will always be getting creating a custom TV network with video licensing built in.

How to Play YouTube Videos on your Waiting Room TV | LEGALLY

Contact the creator of the video or series you’d like to play in your waiting room — plain and simple. Try sending them a direct message, or email them if you know their address. Sometimes all it takes is contacting them, however creators are often going to want compensation in exchange for using their content. And in other cases a YouTube user may not have all of the rights themselves to everything in their video. So they might not have the ability or necessary clearances to even give you permission to use it. Remember; this is only if you want the rights to play a specific video or series in your waiting room.

YouTube videos aren’t enough on their own.

However funny or relevant the content is, relying on a YouTube playlist for your TV solution is a bad idea. Here’s a short list of reasons why:

1.) Playlist features work best on computers and smartphones. YouTube’s UI (user-interface) is designed for a viewer to have on-hand control at a moment’s notice in order to switch playlists or watch something else.

2.) Playlists are often short. Once in a while you’ll find a playlist with a LOT of videos, but more often than not you’re looking at 10 to 20 videos in a series. This becomes VERY repetitive for visitors and staff alike.

3.) Playlists end. No matter how you look at it, the end of a playlist is bad news. If it doesn’t loop, you’re looking at a TV that’s stuck on the video-select screen. Worse is if you have Autoplay toggled, at which point any “related videos” might play. Never mind not having the rights to those new videos, but ANYTHING could be vaguely “related” to that last playlist. There’s no reliable way to police what comes on next without dedicating staff to constantly manage the TV; which is just as silly as it sounds.

That’s where custom TV networks come in handy.

Custom TV Network for your Waiting Room | It’s Relevant TV

Custom TV networks are great because they deliver exactly what you were trying to achieve by playing YouTube videos in your waiting room. Whether you’re new to the idea of a custom TV network or are simply browsing options; It’s Relevant TV is the best place to start. They will show you what’s possible and can help give you an idea of what to expect from other services.

If you were looking for YouTube videos to play in your waiting room, It’s Relevant TV’s got you covered. They also have access to a ton of network TV content as well! They have the licenses you need to play anything they provide.

It’s Relevant isn’t playlist-based. It streams videos directly to your TV based on any categories (over 40+) you have selected. The technology is 100% automatic and customizable; there’s no need to hover in front of the TV in order to keep it going, and you can change your TV’s setting from your computer or smartphone.

IRTV let’s you control your TV from anywhere. You can even block out specific videos and keywords!

It’s Relevant TV licenses content from countless creators in order to give you access to over half-a-million entertaining family-friendly videos. Better than YouTube, it gives you the ability to uploads ads and personal messaging on the side. Between that, and features such as live social media integration, there’s no better way to communicate with your visitors.

You can reach out to a TV expert at ItsRelevant.com using the form on their site if you have any questions about creating a custom TV network for your waiting room.

Free Waiting Room TV Service | Businesses & Medical Offices

Looking for free waiting room TV service for your business or medical office? Cutting cable in favor of waiting room TV software is a step in the right direction; but settling on one of the self-proclaimed “free” TV services is just as bad, if not worse, than what you just got rid of. If you take anything away from this article, let it be not to fall for “free.” You always get what you pay for. Certain waiting room TV services, like this one, are as close to free as you’ll get; with features that make it worthwhile, and tools to even offset the cost.

If you’re paying $0/month for waiting room television, it shouldn’t be because it’s costing you $0/month. It should be because it’s generating enough revenue to cover the monthly cost.

Why is a Free Waiting Room TV Service a Bad Idea?

When something is advertised as “free,” it generally means that it isn’t costing you any money. However, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t costing you something else. Free is good when that free thing is complimentary, or a bonus; a thank-you for choosing X, Y or Z, with the hopes of leaving a good first impression. When that free thing is a TV service, or a brand-new television; or both, chances are that provider is taking advantage of you in some way.

How can you tell if you’re being taken advantage of?

If something is too good to be true, more often than not that’s usually the case. A free TV + content that you pay 0$/month for? It might seem like a win-win, but beneath the surface there’s something disingenuous going on. There’s no two ways of looking at it — whether you’re a restaurant, a gym, salon, dentist, or even a hospital, you have something these service providers want; a captivated audience.

Day-in and day-out, you’ve got visitors coming in and waiting — sometimes for 10, 15, or even 30 minutes. That’s a long time, and that’s precisely what these providers are looking for; to turn your TV into an electronic billboard. For who? Themselves, and their happy advertisers. They might throw you a bone and give you the ability to upload your own ads on the side, but not without your messages competing for the spotlight.

If you thought commercials were bad…

Try endless looping commercials for drugs, treatments, or nonsense-conditions that you or your doctors don’t endorse; it’s on your TV, visitors will associate it with your brand, and nothing short of turning it off will stop to it.

Recommended Read: “Top 5 Reasons a Free TV Service is Bad for Medical Offices“

An Alternative to Free Waiting Room TV Software that’s still Free, and 100% Safe

One of the downsides of a free waiting room TV service, as described above, is that fact that someone else is reaping all of the benefits while you’re stuck with their ads playing on your TV. But what if that “someone else” was someone you chose to instead? Someone you trust, or a non-competing brand that your business supports.

It’s Relevant TV, a company that provides custom TV networks to businesses, is unique in that it offers shoppers a $0/month Sponsor-Supported package in which you choose a trusted company, organization, or fellow business owner to cover the cost of your monthly subscription. In exchange, they get to feature their brand and messaging on your TV in a way that is mutual, non-intrusive, and most-importantly; safe for your business.

Check to see if there are any local businesses that you can partner with!

Choosing a brand that pairs well with your business, who has your best interests at heart, is a lot better than letting someone you don’t know; who you’ve never heard of, profit off of your business’ TV. Partnerships are, and always will be, a great marketing strategy.

A Safer Way to Shop for Waiting Room TV Software

The best way make sure that you’re getting a TV system that’s built to serve your brand is to consult with someone in the industry itself. The TV experts at ItsRelevant.com are there answer any questions you might have about what to look for when it comes to waiting room TV technology. Schedule a call with them, or ask to arrange a demo if you’re serious about a custom TV network.

If anyone should be making money off of the TV in your business or medical office, it’s you, or a partnered brand. Your TV, your space, and your visitors are extraordinarily valuble to these advertising companies; so much so that these “free TV services” are able to deal out free TVs and iPads like playing cards. The cost of that technology is nothing compared to what they’re making off of you.

Change can be Hard. But It’s Worth it for Your Business.

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but building the new.”

-Socrates

Hesitant to Change Your TV Service? You’re not Alone.

Services like cable and satellite are bought and subscribed to as early as the point of purchasing a TV. From there on out, one’s choice of provider tends to adopt a Set It & Forget It sort of mentality. You’re comfortable with what you have, you don’t ever think to replace it, and you’re “happy“ with it.

But what does “happy” mean here? Are you excited? Does it help your business every day? Or is saying you are “happy” more like a nice way of saying that you’re settling for what you currently have because the alternative is something unfamiliar. Very few business and offices really LOVE or even LIKE the TV service they subscribe to.

Many of our clients hesitated at first to change from away from the TV service they had. Reasons included many false assumptions like needing to schedule an installation, reading long contracts, or having to make phone calls. These can all be avoided.

The single worst feedback we’ve heard is that some business owners don’t care about what’s on their TVs! Even if you don’t care, your customers DO! If you care about them, it’s worth considering what you put in front of them. Our clients find their visitors enjoy the programming more, complain far less, and leave better educated about their business. This can lead to a real return on investment from your TV. On top of the benefits, it’s also quite easy to make the switch. The installation is simple and doesn’t require scheduling an “appointment window”. You can install it yourself in under 5 minutes.

Why Fix what isn’t Broken?

Business owners and office managers should not settle. If there is something that is better and most cost-effective for our businesses we should explore it.

People tend to favor what’s familiar to them, pure and simple. That’s because with familiarity comes a sense of trust, reliance, and security. While there isn’t anything wrong with this, it can leave you blind to alternatives better suited for your needs. It’s less about fixing something that isn’t broken, and more about upgrading to better options.

airplane-open-seats-1

If you were in an airplane, squished in between two people for a flight, and were given the opportunity to sit in a set of seats completely open next to you, would you move? Of course you would! Your seat may not be broken, but it’s just not as comfortable as the open seats will be. The better option is worth taking, and the sooner you make the decision to move the more time you have to enjoy the results of the change.

Fit Your Business with something Made for Business

It’s Relevant TV is a cable alternative that’s designed for the business setting. It compliments the brief time that people are exposed to the TV and is tailored to the casual attention span of your visitors. It’s Relevant’s short-form content is easy to watch. And the diverse library of content gives your business enough categories to choose from, to be relevant to as many people possible.

Why It’s Relevant TV?

With It’s Relevant in the picture, you’re able to explore the ways in which your TV can be used to transform your business. Beyond short-form content that’s family-friendly, IRTV allows you to expose visitors to your social media and educate them about the services you provide. They become interested and engaged, come back more, and spend more on each visit. That’s where It’s Relevant TV excels. It’s built specifically for you, and it’s designed to MAKE your business money.

Generally speaking, when you see something new that you’re interested in, you look into it for more details. You take a closer look in order to see if it’s better or worse than what you currently have, and in the end chose whether or not to replace the old with the new. If you operate a business, office or public space with a TV take a few minutes to explore It’s Relevant TV. You can reach out to the staff for a personalized presentation by calling 855-ITS-RELE or emailing support {at} itsrelevant.com.

Controlling Multiple TVs Across Your Business or Organization

Easy to Manage One or Multiple Business TV Screens

Do you have a business or practice with more than one location? Many managers, franchise owners, and practice managers have found it to be increasingly difficult to get a consistent message out to multiple locations.

Printing and distributing fliers or emailing announcements often get overlooked, and are hard to police. We’ve found that being able to put the messaging up directly is the best way. But how can you control all of your TVs from one place? It’s Relevant TV makes it easy.

iPhone X (iPhone 10) - Home Screen — iPhone X (Apple iPhone 10)

It’s as easy as accessing logging in to the website or free iPhone/iPad app and selecting what you want to have shown on your screens. The settings can be updated 24/7 from anywhere.

You can control one or multiple screens at once. This gives national brands dual level control. You can design ads, mix in images, change your social media preferences, and upload videos of your own. And best of all, the messages you distribute get seen! They garner more attention by being mixed with TV programs your customers want to watch.

It’s your TV, make it work for you!

It’s Relevant features more than just TV content. Custom messaging and weather from each location’s zip code are easily added and managed. The service gives you the ability to reach out to visitors in ways you can’t with basic cable. IRTV can be linked to your social media feeds, showcasing your most recent posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

It’s Relevant TV’s platform boasts a number of features that make the digital signage/video service an invaluable tool for businesses. Its library of 500,000+ short-form content licensed for public display is the largest of its kind, with the videos are spread across 40+ categories – allowing you to customize your waiting room TVs in ways that just aren’t possible with basic cable. One might expect a system as innovative as IRTV to be complicated, or run the risk of being too confusing to operate – but it’s easy!

You’re Always in Control

One of It’s Relevant’s most handy features, is Competetive Ad Block®. Competetive Ad Block® does what it says, it blocks competitive ads from showing up on your TV. With it in place, you never run the risk of people in your business seeing an ad for a “better” or more enticing deal across the street. Businesses that settle for basic cable have no control over outside messaging.

The most valued feature of It’s Relevant TV is the free ad space which allows you to expose visitors to your brand and promotions. Between, and during videos, you have the option to showcase your brand on the side of the screen and inform visitors of any services or specials you want them to see. New products and services, catering, limited-time offers, members rewards, or even staff highlights, are just a few of the things you can promote.

It’s Relevant TV is found in restaurants, medical offices, malls, retailers, sports arenas, car dealerships, pharmacies, salons, spas, and more.