I only think you need to provide cable if 1) you think your target guest will want it and 2) your pricing will make you able to recoup your costs. Personally I think it’s a waste of money if you can’t charge more than your competitors who aren’t offering it and most guests won’t even use it. 1 time fixed costs like an antenna and a internet connection device is a lot more affordable. Most of my stays are couples and families staying several nights and I don’t think many of them watch TV. It would make no sense for me to spend and additional $60-100/month for this, and then you open up to complaints of “they offered cable and I was shocked they had no movie channels, or they offered Showtime but not HBO!”. So much easier to just say internet connected TV with local channels only, etc. because “cable” means different things to different people.
I don’t have any such service, but I could watch YouTube.
Internet should be a given, but for television cable would do for me.
A surprising number of my guests use the TV (with cable/HBO). 1. families with infants/young kids where the parents want to watch Game of Thrones after the kids go to bed 2. Older people (55+) who like to watch television 3. People of all ages/demographics who want to watch a particular game. Many sporting events don’t seem to be available on basic network television.
My guests skew older (35+) so I think that makes a difference.
Smart TV alone is fine. I would suggest getting a TV with Android built-in. It allows any phone, Android, or iOS to play content from the phone on the TV without installing extra software. If you also add a Roku HD, there is an option to have a fish bowl screen saver being the first thing you see when you turn the screen on. This is a nice atmospheric touch and it also saves the screen if your guests leave it on all day.