many business travelers want the news, weather, and such both for their current location and for other places
unlike a local news channel that might rely on previous knowledge of the "troubled mayor" or "controversial highway project" CNN and especially HLN explains everything from the beginning every time (which is why it makes you mental to watch it for any length of time)
the channel will never play a horror movie or CSI Extra Gross Unit, nor a movie of the week about a dying baby which might upset someone
because it's so repetitive, you will be driven to change the channel eventually and that might lead you to choose a pay pre view or the like