Someone (I think Truffaut) asked Hitchcock about a dark scene in one of his movies, “Where is that light coming from?”
Hitchcock answered, “The same place the music’s coming from.”
Hitchcock also said, “My lead characters don’t call the police because that would be no fun.”
To bring things full circle, adverts for the upcoming TNT mini-series Mob City, set in 1947, heavily feature shots of a hotel with a blinking neon sign. So, you know, scene-setting shorthand.
Inevitable (related) TV Tropes link: Signs of Disrepair
It predates TV by quite a long time. Films of the thirties often used it as a setting, and it was pretty routine in film noir.
The Hot L Baltimore was an award winning play and a short-lived TV series that nodded toward the concept and was set in a rundown hotel.
I have a habit of yelling at the T.V. “Turn off the cricket machine!”